Born and raised in Chandler, AZ, Keith Eckert did not grow up wanting to be a muay thai fighter. While he always loved boxing as a kid (and watched pay-per-view fights with his family) muay thai wasn’t something he discovered until much later in life.

But that’s not to say he wasn’t extremely athletic. He attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he was a division 1 wrestler. He also played other sports as a kid and eventually started adventure racing and running ultramarathons in 2016.

Eckert’s first was a long run was roughly 50 miles up Santiago Peak in Orange County, CA. From there, he ran multiple 100-mile races in the Arizona desert and then transitioned to running 200-mile races. In 2018, for example, he ran BigFoot 200 in Washington, as well as the Moab 240—a 240.3-mile footrace through some of Utah’s most stunning and challenging terrain. Also, this past February, he raced 350 miles on the Iditarod trail of Alaska in temperatures as low as -50. He covered 35 miles a day and finished in 10 days.

Eckert was only recently drawn to Carlsbad Kickboxing Club in July of this year because he liked the idea of combing kicks with punches. “After my first training session earlier this year, I was hooked,” he says. “I became even more hooked after participating in the fight night.”

He currently trains 5 to 6 days a week—attending classes and taking private one-on-one training from Joey Siplyak. “As I continue training my goal is to travel around with the team and compete in fights.”

But furthering his muay thai training isn’t the only thing he thinks is worth fighting for. This coming February, he will be heading back to the Iditarod trail in Alaska to race the full 1000 miles on foot. “I need to cover 34 miles a day for 30 straight days to finish in the allotted time.”

His future adventure goals? To expand more into mountaineering and climb the 7 summits. “I have already completed Kilimanjaro and am looking to head to South America to climb Aconcagua towards the end of 2021”

So what’s on your bucket list? If muay thai is on the list, or even helping prep you for any of your other fitness goals, contact Carlsbad Kickboxing Club to learn more.

To visit Keith Eckert’s website to read a bit more and donate to his next adventure visit
https://guardianrevival.org/iti-1000