Grace Thek’s Journey from NCAA XC Champ to IRONMAN 70.3 Success

She might not be one of the best-known athletes competing at the second-to-last IRONMAN Pro Series race of 2024, but Australia’s Grace Thek has quietly amassed an impressive series of 70.3 performances throughout the year. Thek has yet to do an Ironman, so she’s not in the running for a top-10 finish in the series, but she’s an impressive 23rd in the standings with only four 70.3 races counting. That means she could move up a bit in the overall results with a solid finish of her season here in Busselton, or Taupo in a couple of weeks.

Like so many triathletes, Thek is an oft-injured runner who did lots of cross-training before moving to the sport. Despite dealing with lots of injuries during that running career, the Melbourne native enjoyed more than a bit of success. She represented Australia at the World Cross Country Championships as a junior and was the country’s national U20 cross country and 5,000 champion before she headed over to the US to compete for Providence College. In her final year at Providence, Thek was the instrumental fifth runner that helped the team take the NCAA Division I title.

She returned to Australia, though, dealing with glandular fever (mononucleosis for us North Americans) and a battered body, taking a year to “just get my body healthy again” and embark on her physiotherapy studies. She found herself a triathlon coach, and it wasn’t long before she was hooked. She started with shorter races, but eventually moved up to the half-distance. Her first professional race was IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong in 2018, where she came within seven seconds of taking the win.

Thek continued to work part time as she pursued her pro career, but went “all in” with triathlon at the end of the COVID pandemic in 2021. Last year she took three half-distance wins – Challenge Wanaka, 70.3 Geelong and Challenge Salou. While Thek hasn’t topped a podium in 2024, she’s had an impressively consistent season with runner-up finishes at the IRONMAN 70.3 races in Tasmania, Geelong and Zell am See, along with three fourth-place finishes in Oceanside, Mont-Tremblant and Tallinn. She also competed at four T100 races – San Francisco (12th), London (16th), Ibiza (16th) and Lake Las Vegas (DNF – she was recovering from COVID).

All of which sets her up for the speed-fest we’re likely to see this weekend in the penultimate IRONMAN Pro Series race. Despite the stakes, Thek isn’t putting much pressure on herself this weekend.

“Honestly, I’ve kind of taken off the full-pressure expectations – it’s been a long year,” she said. “I started … the first weekend of February at Ironman 70.3 Tasmania … so I’m just here to have fun, do my best and if that gets me on the podium, that would be great. But, I think there’s a lot of really talented women in this field and it’s going to be hard. Anyone could win it, anyone could podium. At the end of the day, I’m just here to do a good performance and get some confidence going into Taupo.”

After missing the 70.3 worlds the last two years due to injury, Thek is looking forward to finally getting back to that event in a couple of weeks.

“Sometimes making the start line can be an achievement in itself,” she said. “Obviously, it’s always a privilege to race the best in the world.”

IRONMAN Racing

So why haven’t we seen Thek take on a full-distance race?

“Well, to be honest, I still feel like I’m somewhat of a rookie, but when I reflect on it, I’ve been in the sport since 2018.” she said. “I think that there’s so much to try and improve on in a 70.3 that it has always seemed a little overwhelming going to a full Ironman, cause it’s even more to consider. But, I once said that I’d gift it (an IRONMAN race) to myself for my 30th birthday. I just turned 33 and I still haven’t done an IRONMAN. Next year is the year that I think I’ll give it a crack.”

First things first, though – there’s the 2024 season to get finished, starting with the race here in Busselton in two days, followed by the big day in Taupo in two weeks. Thek might not be gunning for a top finish in the IRONMAN Pro Series, but she’ll certainly be a crowd favourite here on home-soil this weekend.

Grace Thek’s CADEX Triathlon Bike

Tags: