Son of Barney and Janis Klecker of Minnetonka, Minn...His father owns the U.S. record for the 50-mile ultramarathon (4:51:25) and his mother competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics (marathon) and won two U.S. marathon national championships...both ran track and cross country in college...Klecker is one of six children...three of his siblings run at college: Mary at Augsburg, John at Augustana (S.D.), and Sarah at Minnesota...his two other siblings, Elizabeth and James, are in high school...growing up with the Minnesota range as a backdrop to his cross country training, Joe Klecker is a bona fide All-American athlete...nordic skiing, snowshoeing and running through the icy winters fortified Joe’s spirit...Part of the track and field team during his time at the University of Colorado, Joe is a Pac-12 champion, seven-time All-American and a two-time NCAA runner-up...he studied biochemistry, ecology and evolutionary biology at Colorado.