Joe Tolles
Joe Tolles is a semi-retired, professional hockey player, CrossFit gym owner/operator, organ donor, and inspiration to others.
More Than Our Story
Megan Eckert
Image credit: © Mount to Coast 2025
Megan Eckert shares her story of transformation from a hesitant runner to the epitome of physical and mental grit. She explores the limits of what is humanly possible, shattering world records along the way. She highlights the incredible support and camaraderie found within the ultrarunning community, the importance of her crew, and how she gives back as a special education teacher and high school track and cross-country coach.
Women’s 6-Day World Record*: 603.156 miles (970.685 km), 2025 GOMU 6-Day World Championship, Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, France (*pending ratification)
Backyard Ultra Women’s Best: 362.529 miles (583.434 km), 87 hours (yards/laps), 2024 Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, Bell Buckle, Tennessee, USA
Highlights
I was living a very unhealthy lifestyle. Late nights, bars, and things that I shouldn't be doing all the time. It hit a point where I realized I needed to make a change, so I picked up running. There was a nice trail behind my house, and I would do a mile, most of it walking, and then it slowly increased to the point where I was doing two miles every other day... I started seeing health benefits. I started feeling better. I started thinking clearer and started wondering what the human body was capable of.
On Marshall Ulrich’s 2011 book, Running on Empty:
The story is just incredible. The idea that somebody can one day decide to run across the country like that, just pick up and say, 'I'm going to run 3100 miles from San Francisco to New York'. It's just a testament to what we're capable of. You know, I read it in 2005, and didn't actually start running until 2016. But that book has always been in the back of my mind; that people can do stuff like this, that they can run continuously, that they can run across the country, they can do ultras, they can run trails. There's all this potential to be active.
There's a multi-dimensional approach to running that I've learned. When I first started running, it was just all about the running. It was all about getting out and doing the miles. Now I've realized there are other aspects to running that aren't running... I started lifting weights, I'm working with a nutritionist to tune in my diet. I may not take a full rest day all the time, because I believe in movement as medicine - I'll take a slower day. I might go on a hike instead of going on a run. There are all these other aspects, other than running, that I think make a stronger runner, keep you healthy, keep you moving.
On preparing for long races:
I gotta be honest, I really don't have a game plan. As an adult, I was diagnosed with ADD. That was in my early 20s. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't finish college... But I find that it's actually beneficial in ultrarunning... It's the only time I’m quiet, and I can narrow in on that. I'm running this long distance, there's nothing else going on, I can't think of anything other than, 'What I'm going to eat next, who I'm going to see, when I'm going to see my crew again.' It becomes this tunnel vision thing that I don't tend to experience anyplace else but ultrarunning.
My first experience with ultrarunning wasn't even running a race; it was volunteering at an ultra. I sat at an aid station for 16 hours for this 100K (Crazy Desert), and we made PB and Js and filled water bottles. If you've ever tried to fill a hydration vest for the first time... it's really hard if you’ve had zero experience. These runners were so patient with me... The course was even long, they'd come through and they'd be like, ‘Yeah, the course is a little long this year, that's okay, we're fine with it, we're ultra.'... It was absolutely crazy. The positivity, the energy. Once I finally got on the trail myself, on the other side, not volunteering, but running, there were so many experiences I've had where runners come together to support each other.
I DNFed (my first) race, went back the following year to run it again, and there were some of the same runners there, some of the same volunteers. There was a group of three of us that finished really close together. We ran most of the last loop together. So there was just this really cool, community feel to ultrarunning.
On coaching track and cross country:
A lot of it stems from the fact that I was so reluctant to try running beyond my sports, which were basketball and volleyball. I was so reluctant to run in high school, and so terrified of it, that I want to make it more welcoming. I wish now that I had that experience when I was younger and had been able to run track, or run cross country. I didn't, and it's one of my regrets. So, I try to encourage the high school students to at least come out and try it. Not that they have to stay for a season, not that they have to do all the events, but just to experience running, and just to experience the community.
We're all a team. We share experiences. When I go to one of their cross-country meets, or I go to one of their track meets, their successes - I feel. When they're excited about their throws, they're excited about their run, they're excited about the course, I know what that feels like, I know that feeling. I recently started sharing my own experiences through running with them. Maybe there's a weekend when I'm going to do a 50K, I'll come back and I'll tell them about it. So, it's a shared thing, and we share back and forth. I would say that their experience on the track empowers me to be a better runner, and I hope that a little bit of what I share motivates them.
There are two things that I really want (my athletes) to learn. I really want them to learn that even though I'm the one developing a training plan for them, I want them to learn to listen to their body and to be honest with me about how they're feeling... And that coincides with the next goal, which is that I want them to be a lifelong athlete. Not that they have to continue to run, but just continue to move, and have some passion in their life, it doesn't even have to be athletic-wise. It could be art, it could be music, it could be anything. But I want them to find their passion. Athletes are lifelong learners.
Backyards don't distinguish between men and women; there's the world record, and then there's the women's best. I have the women's best (87 yards).
On the backyard format:
You do 4.17 miles every hour, the top of every hour, for as long as you can possibly make it. You go out for a loop... and if you come in in 55 minutes, you have five minutes to eat, retie your shoes, change your socks, whatever you have to do. Then you go back out on that same 4.17-mile loop again. Each hour is called a yard.
There was a Backyard Ultra, Saguaro Showdown, in Arizona, which is just a few hours away from me, and a friend of mine said, ‘Hey, why don't you go try this ultra out? It's a silver ticket,’ a silver ticket means if you win that event, if you're the last one who's able to complete a yard, you automatically get to go to the Big’s (Big's Backyard Ultra World Team Championship). So I said, ‘Sure. Why not?’ I went out there and ran it and had the best time (I won).
Speaking of the community, everybody sets up 10’ by 10’ tents. Your 10’ by 10’ tent is touching another person's 10’ by 10’ tent, so it becomes like this big festival. Everybody meets in this small little square area at the top of every hour, and you run with everyone... So each hour you're in this new community of runners, and sharing stories, and you start looking as time goes on, and you go, ‘Oh, no. So-and-so left; we were talking about this. Where'd they go?’ It becomes like this little family. You just want it to keep going.
I run to work in the morning, and then do my work all day, then there's about an hour break before I have to go to the high school. So, I have this multiple-run-a-day thing going, usually 2 or 3... At first, it was hard to get up in the morning... It was much easier to drive. But over time, it's become something I enjoy, and my days don't seem right if I don't start with a run.
Training for these multi-day events, time on your feet, is most important.
On recovery after multi-day events:
It’s definitely a listen to your body situation. Last June, I was able to walk three miles after the event pretty quickly, like within 2 or 3 days. However, I had a lot more soreness going on in my legs, a lot more swelling, a lot of fatigue, and I think it had to do with the international travel. It took me a lot longer - a full week - to be able to get out and run a few miles again, and it's taken me about a month to really feel back to normal; back to running continuously again.
I don't vary my training too much between events. I'm not a very rigid person when it comes to training. I am more spontaneous; I run with how I feel... I would say the biggest difference is that it's more of a time thing than it is a training thing.
My favorite format would have to be backyard, because I am able to get on trail. I am a trail runner at heart. I love the mountains.
The first thing about the crew is that they take a lot of that mental strain off the runner. It was explained to me very early on that crews are there to do all the mental work, and the runner needs to do the physical stuff.
I have a crew that I trust with everything. My crew chief is always my husband. It doesn't work for everyone; it works amazing for us... It took us a little while to figure out how that was going to work. Now we're at this point in our crew runner relationship where when we get out there, and we're doing a race, we're so good at separating the husband and wife aspect and just focusing on the race.
I am really excited about Mount To Coast. We partnered last year shortly after 'The Dome' (Six Days in the Dome). What they've done is they've taken a basic running shoe, and said, ‘Hey, let's develop a running shoe for the ultrarunner.’ For me, it was a game changer. I needed shoes to run ‘The Dome’ in, and they had sent me up a pair and said, ‘Hey, try these out and tell us what you think.’ I didn't have a shoe that would go that distance at the time, and that shoe did.
What I want to do is go as far as the human body possibly can before breaking down, which is my goal.
We've seen a trend with (ultrarunning) growing. There's more and more races. More 200s, more 300s. We're seeing the distance growing both on trail and on road. I'm excited about the new uptick in six-day races. There is a new interest in them; (they) date back to the 1860s, 1870s, so it's an old race that just fell by the wayside for a while, and to see it now gain popularity again is really exciting.
I have a few pacing duties this summer that I'm really excited about. I get to go out and be on the other side of the racer; I get to be the crew, the pacer, and the support system. And then, I'll also be testing my navigational skills at John Cappis. So I'm really excited to see what happens in the high altitude.
I'll be doing Badwater 135 (later this year). That's another one where the crew is really important because they follow you in a support vehicle... It's a road course through Death Valley, up to Mount Whitney Portal, and the crew of 3 to 4 people (follow) in a vehicle, supplying you with everything you need along the way.
I'll be doing Badwater 135 (later this year). That's another one where the crew is really important because they follow you in a support vehicle... It's a road course through Death Valley, up to Mount Whitney Portal, and the crew of 3 to 4 people (follow) in a vehicle, supplying you with everything you need along the way.
(Running) has taught me patience and perseverance - more than anything else. It's one of those things where very few people start, myself included, and are instantly good at it. I wanted to run in the mountains, and it was hard when I was living at sea level. But I would still come out and do those high-altitude races. It's one of those things where it's not an overnight deal, but if you continue to get out there, the progress happens.
Megan Eckert
Visit Megan’s Instagram page to follow along on her adventures.
Mount to Coast
Mount to Coast is a performance footwear brand rooted in long-distance running. We create shoes that meet the standards of the world’s toughest races and allow ultrarunners to test their limits.
Daniel
Daniel is an extremely curious person, a wealth of random knowledge and facts. Extremely passionate about a vast array of interests ranging from health to history, science to athletics, everything culinary and the list goes on. Trust us, you would want to be on his team for Trivial Pursuit.
Daniel is also years into his battle with brain cancer. He experienced a seizure while on a Zoom call at work in late 2020 and quite literally, his life changed within minutes. After his operation he started to talk about his story but had always known it was more than just him. From then, More Than Our Story became a PROJECT that has evolved into the starting point it is today.
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