Joe Klecker (born November 16, 1996) is an American

long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling *Long-distance operator *Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths *Long-distance trail *European long-dista ...

runner. After a successful collegiate career with the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder. The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden ...

he turned professional in 2020 joining the

On Athletics Club On Athletics Club (OAC) is a training group of professional Distance running, distance runners sponsored by On (company), On. The team is coached by Dathan Ritzenhein and was founded in August 2020 with eight original members. OAC trains primaril ...

coached by

Dathan Ritzenhein Dathan James Ritzenhein (born December 30, 1982) is a retired American long-distance runner, and current head coach of the On Athletics Club (OAC). He held the American record in the 5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009 to 2010, until it was broke ...

. Klecker holds personal bests of 3:37.00 for 1500m, 7:34.14 for 3000m, 12:54.99 for 5000m, and 27:07.57 for 10000m, all set as a part of the

. Klecker attended

Hopkins High School Hopkins High School is a public high school located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States. Hopkins High School is part of the Hopkins School District 270. History In the 1970s, there were two high schools in the district: Dwight D. Eisenhow ...

Minnetonka, Minnesota Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of Minneapolis. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's popu ...

. He graduated in 2015 and attended the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

in the Fall. At Colorado, he was a 9-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in all 3 running sports including 2 runner-up finishes. He is currently the school's record holder in the indoor 5000m.

Personal and early life

Joe is the son of Barney and Janis Klecker, both professional marathoners (winners of

Grandma's Marathon Grandma's Marathon (sport), Marathon (Grandma's) is an annual Road running, road race held each June in Duluth, Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota, in the United States. The course runs point-to-point from the city of Two Harbors, Minnesota, Two Harbor ...

and

Twin Cities Marathon The Twin Cities Marathon is a marathon in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area which normally takes place the first weekend in October. The race is often called "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America" due to a course that winds through down ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

) and both US national record holders, in the 50-mile and 50K run, respectively. In 2022, Klecker married fellow

alum and

teammate Sage Hurta. Klecker had a successful high school career, leading to two individual state championships his senior year. He was also named the Gatorade Minnesota Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year during his senior year. Klecker set a 1600m state record of 4:06.54. He considered Minnesota, Furman, Georgetown and Tulsa before choosing Colorado.

Collegiate career

2015-16

Klecker chose to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

his Freshman season of Cross Country but competed in indoor and outdoor track, setting PRs of 3:44.55 for 1500m, 7:59.77 for 3000m, and 13:44.23 for 5000m. The 5000m time was good enough to qualify him for the West Preliminary round, the outdoor qualifier for the NCAA DI Championships.

2016-17

Klecker picked up his first all-american honors at the 2016 NCAA DI XC Championships, placing 28th. He ran track PRs of 7:51.43 for 3000m, 13:42.64 for 5000m, and 3:41.69 for 1500m. Klecker placed 4th at the 2017 NCAA DI Indoor Track and Field Championship in the 3000m, and 7th in the Outdoor Championships for 5000m.

2017-18

Klecker won the NCAA Mountain region championships and placed 2nd at the Pac-12 Championship for Cross country. Klecker did not repeat his All-American status his Junior year of cross country, placing 67th at the championship race. He did not race indoor or outdoor track for Colorado the following winter and spring. Klecker ran a PR in the 5000m in June 2018, with a time of 13:30.09.

2018-19

In 2018, Klecker repeated as the Mountain Region Champion, and placed 8th in the NCAA XC Championships, his first time in the top 10. On February 23, 2019, he ran 3:58.51 in the Mile in Seattle, WA. In doing so, he became the 538th American to break 4 minutes in the Mile. He finished 2nd in the NCAA Indoor 5000m to

Morgan McDonald Morgan McDonald (born 23 April 1996) is an Australian distance runner. McDonald is a two-time Olympian who competed at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics. McDonald contested the 5000 metres at the 2020 Olympics, 2024 Olympics, 2017 World ...

and 3rd in the 3000m to McDonald and

Grant Fisher Grant Jackson Fisher (born April 22, 1997) is an American middle- and long-distance runner who is the world record holder in the short track 3000 m and 5000 m. Fisher also holds American records in the 3000 m, two mile, and 10,000 m events. ...

. He did not race in the outdoor championships due to a mid-season injury.

2019-2020

During his 2019 XC campaign, Klecker won the Pac-12 Championships. At the NCAA Championships, he finished 2nd to Edwin Kurgat, leading Colorado to a 3rd-place team finish. Klecker went on to run a 3000m personal record of 7:47.57, but the indoor championships were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

as well as the entire outdoor season.

Professional career

2020-2021

In August 2020, Klecker became a professional runner for

, a newly formed group mostly composed of recent collegiate runners including

Oliver Hoare Oliver Reginald Hoare (18 July 1945 – 23 August 2018) was an English art dealer, described as arguably the most influential dealer in the Islamic art world. Early life and family Hoare was born on 18 July 1945 to Reginald Hoare, a Norfolk lan ...

and

Alicia Monson Alicia Monson (born May 13, 1998) is an American long distance runner, long-distance runner who primarily competes in the 5000 metres, 5000 meters and 10,000 metres, 10,000 meters. She holds the List of North, Central American and Caribbean rec ...

. The group is coached by

. Under Ritzenhein, Klecker ran personal bests of 3:37.55 for 1500m, 13:28.98 for 5000m and 27:35.57 during the second half of 2020. On February 6, 2021, Klecker opened his season at the Prickly Pear Invitational in Phoenix, AZ. He placed fourth to

Bowerman Track Club The Bowerman Track Club (BTC) is an American training group sponsored by Nike, Inc. It previously featured a professional team last coached by Jerry Schumacher and assistants Shalane Flanagan, Chris Solinsky, and Alex Ostberg. The non-professional ...

teammates

Marc Scott Marc Scott (born 21 December 1993) is a British long-distance runner. He took his first global medal with bronze in the 3000 metres at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. He is the European indoor record holder for the 5000 metres. Scott re ...

, and Sean McGorty. Klecker's time of 7:39.18 was a personal record and his first time under 7:40. One week later, he competed in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in New York, NY. He finished 2nd to

Justyn Knight Justyn Knight (born 19 July 1996) is a Canadian long-distance track runner. A successful collegiate runner during his time at Syracuse University, he was the school's most-decorated distance runner in cross country and track. On the professional ...

in the 2-mile with a time of 8:14.20. His 3000m split en-route was 7:44.91, good for an indoor personal best. On March 6, 2021, he ran a 22-second personal best of 13:06.67 for 5000m at the Sound Running Invite in California. This performance earned him fourth place (again behind Bowerman teammates Fisher, Scott, and McGorty) in the race and made him the 18th fastest American ever over the distance. He ran a 10,000 m personal best of 27:23.44 in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

on May 14, 2021. Klecker made his first Olympic team on June 18, 2021, at the U.S. Olympic Trials. He finished 3rd in the 10,000m running 27:54.90 with a final lap of 54.54 behind Bowerman athletes Woody Kincaid and Grant Fisher. He became the first U.S. athlete with the "On Athletics Club," coached by

to make the Olympic team. At the 2020

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, Klecker finished 16th in the men's 10,000m final with a time of 28:14.18. After the Olympics, he set a personal best of 8:11.55 in the 2 Mile at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic is a track and field meet held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Organized by the Oregon Track Club, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, and ...

. He finished 11th at the

Fifth Avenue Mile The Fifth Avenue Mile is an annual road race on Fifth Avenue in New York City, United States. The race begins at 80th Street and heads twenty blocks south to 60th Street. First held on September 26, 1981, the race is currently organized by ...

2022

On May 29, 2022, he won the U.S. championship 10000m. With a final lap of 54.81, Klecker finished in 28.28.71, qualifying for the U.S. Team at the World Athletic Championships and edging new American record holder

. Fisher had set an American Record of 26:33.84 in March. On July 16, 2022, again at

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the Northwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campu ...

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

at the WAC, Klecker ran with the leaders for over 23 laps, a tactical race, finishing 8th in 27:37.73, behind the winner

Joshua Cheptegei Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei (born 12 September 1996) is a Ugandan Long-distance running, long-distance runner. He is the current world record holder for the 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres, and held the world best time over the 15K run, 15 kilomet ...

. In that race, Fisher took fourth in 27:28.14, just a quarter second behind the silver medalist.

2023

On January 27, 2023 Klecker broke the 13 minute barrier in the 5K, running 12:54.99 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic held at Boston University. He finished second in the race to Woody Kincaid, who broke the American record in 12:51.61. Klecker was paced for just over two miles by teammate

Ollie Hoare Oliver 'Olli' Hoare (born 29 January 1997) is an Australian middle-distance runner who primarily competes in the 1500 metres. He notably won the 1500 m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in a Games record of 3:30.12. Career Early years Hoar ...

and led after Hoare stepped off the track. He was able to gap Kincaid by over a second heading into the final lap, but Kincaid closed in a fast 26.27 seconds for his final 200m while Klecker could only manage a 31.03. Klecker's time was good for 7th fastest ever in the world indoors and 3rd fastest American indoors. He became the 11th American to break 13 minutes in the 5K. Two weeks later, Klecker finished 3rd place at the Millrose Games in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at the Armory. His time of 7:34.14 was a personal record and ranks him 4th on the all-time American indoor list. Klecker placed 4th at the Diamond League 5000m in Oslo on June 15th, with a time of 12:56.59. At the

2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from July 6–9, 2023. They served as USA Track & Field's (USATF) national championships in track and field for the United States. The results of the ...

in July, Klecker ran the 10,000 and 5,000 with the top 3 in each event being selected to the US team for the World Athletics Championship. Klecker placed 2nd in the 10,000 to Kincaid, running 28:24.50 with a 56.88 final 400m. He missed the 5000m team, qualifying for the final but placing 4th, one place out of qualification in 13:25.98. At the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

held in Budapest in August, Klecker placed 20th in the 10,000m final with a time of 29:03. This was a poor showing by Klecker's standards, given he was closer to last place (29:10) than 19th (28:50) and he had placed in the top 10 the prior year.

2024

Klecker opened his 2024 season on January 26 running a 5000 m at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic with the goal of hitting the Olympic standard of 13:05.00. Disappointingly, he finished just shy of that mark, running a time of 13:06.02, 11.03 seconds slower that he had at the same meet a year prior. A similarly unfortunate outcome awaited Klecker at the

Millrose Games The Millrose Games are an annual indoor athletics (track & field) meet held each February in New York City. Among the world's most prestigious indoor track meets, the games started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after ...

2-mile, his second race of the year. He finished in 9th, over 20 seconds back of 1st place finisher Josh Kerr and almost 10 seconds back of his personal best. On March 16, Joe competed at

the TEN The TEN is a track and field meeting held at the JSerra Catholic High School track in San Juan Capistrano, California, United States. Since 2023 it is a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver level meetingthe third-highest level of international ...

San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (also known colloquially as San Juan or SJC) is a city in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 35,253 at the 2020 Census. Named for Saint John of Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano was founded ...

running 27:09.29 over 10,000 m, missing the Olympic standard of 27:00.00. Despite not achieving the mark, he stated he was happy with the result saying he had only been running 30 miles in recent weeks due to adductor strain and a stress reaction in his pelvis. Ultimately, the injuries significantly disrupted Klecker's training and he did not contest the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials.

2025

Klecker made his half marathon debut at Houston Half Marathon, running 1:01:06 for 18th place. He raced in the

USA Half Marathon Championships The USA Half Marathon Championships is the annual national championships for half marathon running in the United States. The race serves as a way of designating the American national champion for the half marathon. The men's race was first conteste ...

on March 2nd in Atlanta, finishing in 8th place in 1:01:34. This was not good enough to be automatically selected for the World Championship team, where the top 3 earned slots. https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/joe-klecker-14576389

Competition record

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klecker, Joe 1996 births Living people University of Colorado Boulder alumni American male long-distance runners American middle-distance runners Track and field athletes from Minneapolis Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Colorado Buffaloes men's track and field athletes Colorado Buffaloes men's cross country runners Hopkins High School alumni 21st-century American sportsmen