Meet the Oldest-Ever Woman to Compete in Kona

At 80, Natalie Grabow races with gratitude - and grit.

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At 80, Natalie Grabow will be the first woman to ever compete in the 80-84 age group at the Ironman World Championship in Kona this weekend. (Photo: Michelle Lake/Fiv3 Racing)

As a longtime Ironman athlete, Natalie Grabow is no stranger to Kona. After all, she’s competed there several times, dating back to 2006.

But this year, she’ll enter uncharted waters: the 80–84 age group.

Having celebrated the milestone birthday in August, Grabow, of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, is set to become the first woman ever to compete in the 80–84 age group in the race’s 47-year history – and, if she finishes, she’ll be the oldest woman to ever cross the famed finish line on Ali’i Drive.

It’s a lot of expectations to put on her chiseled shoulders, but Grabow is ready for what’s before her. At the same time, she’s realistic about the hurdles she’ll have to clear in order to get to the finish.

“A few very talented women have failed to make the cutoffs in Kona when they were around my age,” she says. “So it’ll be a challenge to make them.”

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A resilient racer

Grabow is not averse to challenges. In order to qualify for her Kona slot, she competed at Ironman Maryland, where she battled flooding and a flat tire, finishing in 15 hours, 53 minutes as the first female 75–79 finisher in the race’s history. This past July, at Ironman 70.3 Musselman, when many others struggled against the rough conditions in Seneca Lake, Grabow fluidly maneuvered through the choppy whitecaps, going on to bike and run her way to yet another age-group win, her third of the year at the distance.

“Natalie’s just so resilient,” says Grabow’s coach, Michelle Lake. “That’s the one word I’d use to describe her. And she’s competitive. She doesn’t just race against her peers – she studies the men in her age group and finds ways to beat them.”

Giving it another go

A longtime runner, Grabow found triathlon in her early 60s after running injuries forced her to rethink her sport. She learned to swim, took on her first Ironman, and finished third in her age group at the 2006 Ironman World Championship in Kona. Since then, her racing career has been nearly uninterrupted, with only the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 breaking her streak.

And her results are just as consistent: She has won every race she’s entered since 2022, when she finished second in her age group in Kona – a rare off day that nearly made Grabow give up her world championship dreams for good.

“It was my 10th time racing in Kona, and the first time being there without my husband, whose health doesn’t allow him to travel anymore,” she says of the race three years ago. “I had a slow time, and I said goodbye to the island. But when I qualified at Ironman Maryland last fall, I realized I’d be the oldest ever to compete at the world championships. So I decided to give Kona another go.”

Finding the edge

Quitting, it seems, is not in Grabow’s DNA. And discipline comes naturally. “She doesn’t miss workouts,” Lake says. “Her training volume is high for her age. She loves long bike rides on the trainer, has mobility routines, and even when I suggest rest, she keeps moving. Watching her passion and dedication is inspiring.”

She’s also meticulous in her preparation. This year, to build her strength and agility, she added one-on-one personal training to her weekly schedule. She also bought super shoes to shave time off her run splits. “She calls them her ‘fast shoes,’” laughs Lake. “She wants that edge.”

Racing with gratitude

While yes, Grabow wants to win (and break 17 hours on the Kona course), she’s also in it for the experience and recognizes how extraordinary it is to still be chasing finish lines at 80.

“All of us in sport are competitive and want to do well, but it’s the journey that matters. If you’re an age-grouper, people rarely remember how you did in a race, but they remember that you had a good attitude, had a smile on your face, and were happy with your effort,” she says. “I’m so lucky to be able to do this, so I race with gratitude.”

For Lake, that attitude is what sets Grabow apart. “Kona is a huge goal – and there’s no such thing as certainty, especially when you’re 80,” she says. “But if anyone’s going to do it, it’s Natalie. She’s just an amazing human.”