Grace Tame reveals she’s running 100km a week in order to make the Australian team for the 2028 Olympics

Grace Tame has revealed that she is running a whopping 100km-per-week as she admits she would ‘love to go to the Olympics‘.

The Aussie distance runner, aged 29, added that in order to have a chance of qualifying for the games, she would have to change her schedule around – with Los Angeles set to host the Olympics in 2028 before Brisbane in 2032.

Tame, who is an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, zoomed her way around the course at the Great Ocean Road Running Festival in May, to become the first female competitor across the finish line in the 60km ultra-marathon.

She blitzed the course in just under four hours and 43 minutes.

The 2021 Australian of the Year could not hold back her joy as she burst into floods of tears following the race, having battled strong headwinds and rain throughout.

Tame has previously posted sub-two-hour marathon times, and when pressed by ABC News Australia during a podcast over whether she would ‘have a crack’ at trialling for a spot at the Olympics, the 29-year-old remained open to the idea.

‘I’d love to go to the Olympics,’ Tame told ABC, when asked if she had gotten any ideas from watching the marathon at the Paris Games.

‘I’m not going to ever put a limit on myself.

‘I just have to work on my speed and my consistency and probably shift a few things around in terms of my work priorities because the cognitive load is something that needs to be considered. I’ve got a pretty high cognitive load on any given day and I would need to reduce that to realise my potential as a runner.’

During the podcast, Tame, also opened up on her journey in running, why she loves the sport and why she believes it is a fantastic way for people to unwind and relax.

Tame said she began running as a child in school and was inspired by her cousin Elouise, a triathlete, to get into the sport.

When asked if she would ‘legitimately have a crack’ at qualifying for the Olympics, Tame, was again, not ruling anything out.

‘I would legitimately have a crack at anything if you haven’t figured that out,’ she said tongue-in-cheek.

‘I’d have to shave a bit of time off my marathon time,’ she added.

‘I’m certainly not running the same volume that the Olympic athletes do. They’re running as many as 200kms-per-week, that’s twice what I’m doing right now.

‘I’d have to adjust my plates [schedule],’ she said.

Tame was groomed and sexually assaulted by her 58-year-old teacher Nicolaas Bester at the age of 15 when she was a student in Year 10 at St Michael’s Collegiate Girls’ School in Hobart. Bester was subsequently convicted and jailed.

The 29-year-old has since stepped into activism and has worked to raise awareness about child sexual abuse and advocated for legal reforms. 

The distance runner also founded the Grace Tame Foundation. The organisation looks to support schemes aimed at stopping child sexual abuse and help survivors.

During the podcast, the Australian also opened up on what running means to her and her journey so far in the sport.

‘I am nowhere near an elite-level runner,’ she said. ‘I’ve really got into running and realised that I enjoyed doing it when I was young and was in primary school.

‘My cousin Elouise, who now coaches me, was doing triathlons and she stayed at our house a lot. 

‘We’re about four years apart but I think I must have been around six or seven years old when she was going for a run one morning and I asked if I could come along with her.

‘Since then, over the past 25 years or so, since that first fateful run, we’ve covered hundreds, no, thousands of kilometres. I have never looked back.’

Speaking on her relationship with running, she added: ‘My relationship with running often reflects my relationship with myself and my stability in life. It’s been a turbulent journey where I’ve had significant periods off because of trauma and or injuries.

‘On the whole, it is such an integral part of being a human being.’