Not world class, but not bad for a "celeb". She ran Dallas 1/2 in 1:33 in December, so her next marathon should be quite a bit faster than 3:45. Also, I wouldn't mind following her along for 26.2 miles...
She is good friends with Ashley Eckhoff (10:46/5:05 in HS) who originally enrolled at UW I believe but ended up running at TCU (~16:20-16:30).
Ashley is a renowned fitness instructor and Gracie is in her classes. Ashley is also a wonderful human being.
She's honestly very good but I think her specialty could be the half. On her social she mentions 13-14 mile training runs, which dovetails with her 1:3x half splits these past few races. Depending on if she over-distanced her LRs to 16-18 miles, she could dip below 1:30 easily. She's able to run faster than most women and men in her age group (20-25-ish).
On the Boulder split she was at 9.5 miles at 6:42 pace, not bad at all.
But as most know with 26.2, that's an entirely different beast!
This post was edited 40 seconds after it was posted.
I think she's a legit runner (she's a lot faster than I am right now; very sobering and it's a reminder to work harder) but some don't. I respect her for what she's achieved in her life; she's worked hard to run well.
The study concluded that a “good” marathon time for an elite female between ages 20 and 30 was … three hours and 19 minutes. Gracie Hunt, 23, rolled out of bed and is apparently an episode of The Office (with ads) away from being an elite female marathon runner. Call me a skeptic, but I can’t believe that. Again, big Gracie Hunt fan. Frankly, she’s coming close to unseating Pageviews Paige Spiranic as the gold standard of OutKick stars. But I have to be objective around here, and I’m officially calling BS. Anyway, apparently she’s competing in the Boston Marathon later this spring, so I reckon we’ll have a true answer in a few months.
The outkick article reads like it was written by someone who can't run a 3:45 marathon. As someone already pointed out, 3:45 is not "fast". It's 8:35 pace.
It's totally plausible that she ran a legit 3:45.
We all know (or know of) that runner who played soccer for years then turns out to be a strong HS runner. Recreational marathon running is all about the legs, and if you're strong enough, you don't have to be exceptionally fast to run a reasonable time. A lifetime of soccer builds a huge aerobic engine. She maybe wasn't doing marathon-specific training, but she's clearly fit.
P.S. I call BS on these click bait articles that are labeling it an "elite" performance. Yes, it's faster than 90% (or whatever) of the population, but the US trials qualifying time is 2:37 - over an hour faster! Last time around over 500 women ran in the trials. 3:45 is not an elite time.
I'm not going to comment on her looks, but just point out that having had a suitemate in college who was dating a beauty pageant contestant it's a long-term job that rewards family money heavily, and she had plenty of it. They don't just run for the pageant. They go up from local to eventually state and national, and they need coaches and expensive clothes, makeup, etc. to get far. As for the running, 1:33 is legit and predicts 3:20s at worst with a good training program. Soccer does not prepare most people for it, though, because a lot of coaches don't think running is important and don't do much of it. Most soccer kids I see can hardly make it through two laps of their soccer field at a glacial pace.
Splits not available for Aspen race in July but it is a point-to-point course on what looks like a single road. Only way to cut that would be to get off course and get on a bike or into a car. Unlikely.
Boulder marathon in October has splits. Course has several out and back turnarounds. Based on the comment made today, it looks like "Heywood" must post here!
This is interesting data, sorta like my 3:20 bonk. 1:33/1:46 for me; she went 1:36/2:09 (!). In fairness, she was higher up and had hills. So with better pacing, she probably could have gone 1:49/1:41 and finished 3:30 (even on the harder course). And at a sea level course, she would be sub-3:30, which dovetails with her 1:33-1:36 half time.
Her 20-mile split of 2:36 is solid too; that puts her at 3:18-3:20-ish without any sort of bonk (42-44-ish 10k normally). I think she's a very good runner with solid times and NO XC/Track background from HS to college.
Thank you for posting this.
Your conversion of HM x2 +10 minutes is very unlikely for a first marathon. It would've been a nice goal to run sub 3:30 with a HM PB of 1:33 for a first-timer.
I'm not going to comment on her looks, but just point out that having had a suitemate in college who was dating a beauty pageant contestant it's a long-term job that rewards family money heavily, and she had plenty of it. They don't just run for the pageant. They go up from local to eventually state and national, and they need coaches and expensive clothes, makeup, etc. to get far. As for the running, 1:33 is legit and predicts 3:20s at worst with a good training program. Soccer does not prepare most people for it, though, because a lot of coaches don't think running is important and don't do much of it. Most soccer kids I see can hardly make it through two laps of their soccer field at a glacial pace.
This. I think she also had someone who trained her in fitness classes. Regardless of money or looks, to have running talent on top is another blessing. Some people are just naturally blessed and gifted BUT I also get the sense she works very hard to achieve her goals and nothing was handed to her either. Competition at beauty pageants is stiff.
My wife does Irish dancing and it's like that, but on a lower level...very hard competition and lots of mental tricks to get ahead.
I can imagine E! or TMZ or some other celebrity-focused or lifestyle outlet making the error of calling 3:45 "world class," but its pretty embarrassing for an outlet with "Sports" in the name to do that.
Having looked at a bunch of her TikToks now, she seems like a pretty decent person. Not what one might expect with her privileged background. Kudus to Ms. Hunt.
If she seriously ran 3:45 in Aspen at 8,000 feet in the middle of the summer heat with no training then she will run faster than 3:20 at Boston. I just don't think she did "no training."
To you, G Hunt is just another pretty multi-millionaire. I know of her as H L Hunt's great granddaughter. H L Hunt was in the inner circle of JFK assassination conspiracy.
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