College of Charleston Finance Major Runs the World

Nik Toocheck could never sit still.

As a 3-year-old growing up in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, he remembers watching his father lace up his running shoes and go for a run. One day, he asked if he could join him. His father said yes.

“I never stopped, and I never got tired,” recalls the senior finance major, who serves as the president of the College’s chapter of the co-ed Phi Chi Theta Professional Business Fraternity. “I went as far as he did, and it was like, wow, this is kind of crazy.”

At the age of 6, Toocheck ran his first 5K race. A short time later, he started competing in 10K races. Then, a few weeks after his 9th birthday, Toocheck completed his first half-marathon. Afterward, during the long car ride home from the race, he decided to take his racing to the next level. He told his father that he wanted to run a marathon.

Later that year, Toocheck did so in Lewes, Delaware. He had a blast and wanted to continue running marathons.

Being a kid with big dreams and having parents who loved to travel, Toocheck came up with the idea to run a marathon on all seven continents. In the next two years, he ran marathons in Chile, Antarctica, Australia, Zimbabwe and Switzerland. In September 2014, the 11-year-old Toocheck finished a marathon in the Republic of Georgia and thus completed his quest.

But he was just getting started.

Within days, he began a new pursuit: to become the youngest person to run a marathon in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. After two and a half years, the 14-year-old Toocheck completed his goal. He still holds the record as the youngest person to run a marathon on all seven continents and in each of the 50 states.

He received the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition Community Leadership Award in 2015.

But racing was not the only motivation for Toocheck. During his trek worldwide, he created the Running the World for Children Foundation. The foundation raises money and awareness for Operation Warm, a nonprofit organization that manufactures brand-new, high-quality coats and shoes for children in need. When he started his journey to run all 50 states, he decided to raise money and awareness for the Seva Foundation, which develops programming to prevent and treat blindness around the world. Altogether, he has raised more than $50,000 for the two charities.

Now on a mission to climb the seven highest volcanic summits in the world, Toocheck is taking his adventures to new heights and raising money through his current philanthropic campaign, Nik Climbs the World.

Soon, one of his most significant quests will come to an end. This spring, Toocheck will graduate from the College with a degree in finance and a minor in art history. But until graduation day, expect to see Toocheck running around the streets of Charleston.

“It’s the one thing that always makes me relaxed and comfortable,” he says. “And it always makes me feel like a kid again.”