Joe Klecker (born November 16, 1996) is an American distance runner. He finished 2nd in the NCAA DI XC Championships in 2019 and turned pro with

On Running On, sometimes referred to as On Running is an athletic shoe and performance sportswear company originating in Switzerland that designs and markets sports clothing and running shoes. As of 2019 the company held 40% of the running shoe market in S ...

, coached by Dathan Ritzenhein in 2020. Klecker holds PRs of 3:37.55 for 1500m, 7:39.18 for 3000m, 12:54.99 for 5000m, and 27:07.57 for 10000m, all of which were set in his Professional Career. Klecker attended Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota. 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: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

in the Fall. At Colorado, he was a 9-time All-American in all 3 running sports including 2 runner-up finishes. He is currently the school's record holder in the indoor 5000m.

Family

Joe is the son of

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and

Janis Klecker Janis Kristin Klecker (née Horns) (born July 18, 1960 in Bloomington, Minnesota) is a former United States, American long-distance track event, long-distance runner who is a two-time United States national champion in the marathon. Biography Kl ...

, both professional marathoners (winners of

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and

Twin Cities Marathon The Twin Cities Marathon (TCM) is an annual Marathon (sport), 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 ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

) and both US national record holders, in the 50-mile and 50K run, respectively.

Running career

High school and recruitment

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

Klecker chose to

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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. 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. 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. 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 and 3rd in the 3000m to McDonald and

Grant Fisher Grant Fisher (born April 22, 1997) is a Canadian-born American professional middle- and long-distance runner. He placed fifth in the 10,000 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and fourth at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Fisher holds No ...

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

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as well as the entire outdoor season.

Turning Pro

In August 2020, Klecker became a professional runner for

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

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

. The group is coached by Dathan Ritzenhein.

Professional career

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 teammates Marc Scott,

, 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 10K p.r. of 27:23.44 in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

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 Dathan Ritzenhein to make the Olympic team. At the 2020

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, 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, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University o ...

. He finished 11th at the Fifth Avenue Mile. On May 29, 2022, he won the U.S. championship 10000m. With a blazing final lap of 54.81, Klecker finished in 28.28.71, qualifying for the U.S. Team at the World Athletic Championships (WAC) 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 northwest 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-campus ho ...

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

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at the Armory. His time of 7:34.14 was a personal record and ranks him 4th on the all-time American indoor list.

References

{{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