Natalie Grabow, 80, of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey Makes History Becoming the Oldest Women to Finish the IRONMAN World Championship

October 15, 2025

Grabow opens the first F80-84 category at the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship finishing in a time of 16:45:26

KONA, Hawai`i (October 15, 2025) /SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ – Natalie Grabow, 80, of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey captured the 2025 IRONMAN<sup>®</sup> World Championship women’s 80-84 age-group title in Kona, Hawai`i on Saturday, October 11, the first to ever do so. She finished the IRONMAN World Championship with a time of 16:45:26 (swim: 1:47:41; bike: 7:51:27; run: 6:40:11), becoming the oldest female finisher in the history of the IRONMAN World Championship at the age of 80, surpassing 2025 IRONMAN Hall of Fame inductee Cherie Gruenfeld who completed the IRONMAN World Championship at 78 years old in 2022.

The 2025 IRONMAN World Championship triathlon kicked off on Sunday, October 11 in the waters of Kailua Bay, as athletes tackled the 2.4-mile (3.8km) ROKA Swim Course before heading out on the 112-mile (180.2km) ZOOT Bike Course, renowned for its historic long sustained climbs, strong crosswinds, and exposed terrain beauty with lava fields on one side and the ocean coastline on the other. The final leg of the race saw athletes take on the 26.2-mile (42.2km) HOKA Run Course. The out-and-back course took athletes past the spirited crowds on Ali`i Drive, up Palani Road to the Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway, and to the infamous HOST Park at the National Energy Laboratory Hawai`i Authority (NELHA). Athletes completed their journey to the roar of thousands of spectators as they crossed the historic Ali`i Drive finish line. More than 1,600 registered athletes from 78 countries, regions and territories swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and ran 26.2 miles, in triathlon’s pinnacle event of triathlon.

Coverage from the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawai`i, is available on the IRONMAN YouTube channel and @IRONMANTri social channels.

Full results can be found at www.ironman.com/im-world-championship-kona-results. For more information about the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship in Kaulia-Kona, Hawai`i, please visit www.ironman.com/races/im-world-championship-kona. For more information on the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 brands and global event series, visit www.ironman.com. Media inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com. 

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About the IRONMAN World Championship

On February 18, 1978, 15 competitors came to the shores of Waikiki, Hawai`i to take on the first-ever IRONMAN<sup>®</sup> triathlon. It was an idea hatched by John Collins, a Naval Officer stationed in Hawai`i, and his wife Judy during a swim club gathering. Collins’ proposal was a friendly test of fitness combining the three toughest endurance races on Oahu into one race: The 2.4-mile Waikiki Rough-water Swim, the 112-mile Around-Oahu Bike Race, followed by a 26.2-mile run on the Honolulu Marathon course. That first race would set the stage for what IRONMAN triathlon would become: the most-challenging single-day sporting event in the world, and a brand symbolizing the belief that “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^®.” Since its inception in 1978 on the Island of O`ahu and continued history in Kona on the Island of Hawai`i with recent stops in St. George, Utah and Nice, France, the IRONMAN World Championship^® triathlon has etched its name in history through historic performances, inspiring athletes, and a lifetime of memories that define the sport of triathlon today. The IRONMAN World Championship remains the most iconic single-day endurance sporting event in the world and is the culmination of 40 global IRONMAN events with over 94,000 athletes around the world striving for one of the coveted qualifying slots of any sporting event in the world. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/races/im-world-championship.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group is the world’s largest operator of participation sports with a portfolio of brands, events, media, partners, merchandise, and digital platforms operating in over 50 countries worldwide. A global portfolio consisting of hundreds of events includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, 5150^® Triathlon Series, IRONKIDS^®, premier running events including the Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Running Series, the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and City2Surf^®, the UTMB® World Series of trail running, the Epic Series™ of mountain biking including the Absa Cape Epic^®, and a collection of road cycling and other multisport races. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, millions of athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. From its beginnings as a single race among friends in Hawai’i, The IRONMAN Group has become a global sensation and collection of high-growth lifestyle brands that inspire people to unlock their potential in life. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about/ironman-group.