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Chester County Press

At 11, Nikolas Toocheck completes marathons on seven continents

09/10/2014 06:02PM ● By Lev

Nikolas Toocheck, seen here with his father earlier this year, has completed marathons on seven continents.

On Sept. 6, Nikolas Toocheck of West Chester became the youngest person in the world to complete a marathon on all seven continents with his final run in Asia.

True to his word, 11-year-old Nikolas Toocheck ran all seven continents to raise money and awareness for Operation Warm in his campaign, “Running the World for Children,” and he did it in less than two years. Operation Warm is a national non-profit founded by Nikolas’s grandfather in 1998 which has provided over 1.4 million new winter coats to impoverished children living in the United States.

At 9, Toocheck began his journey to complete all seven marathons. He is also the youngest to complete a marathon on Antarctica. “It has been an awesome experience!” he said of his accomplishment. “I have been to amazing places, met the coolest people, and seen how other kids live. I know how lucky I am, and I want to help other kids by raising money for new winter coats.”

To date, his “Running the World for Children” campaign has provided new winter coats to more than 2,000 children in need, raising more than $40,000. He set a goal to raise $1 million –  that $1 for each one of his steps in his seven-marathon goal – resulting in 50,000 coats for children across the country.

“I realized early on that you don’t have to be big to make a positive difference in the world,” he said.

To learn more, visit www.nikrunstheworld.com.

Operation Warm, Inc., is one of the nation’s largest non-profit providers of new winter coats to children in need. To date, Operation Warm has served more than 1.4 million children across 43 states. For more information, visit www.operationwarm.org.