Luke Creger is the only human who ever fell in love with running on the treadmill. (Probably.)
He’s also that rare unicorn who discovers relatively later in life — i.e. in his early 20s — that he’s a ridiculously talented endurance athlete. Like, pro-level incredible: He outright won his very first IRONMAN (IMCA 2024, 8:15:10), and is eyeing the Olympic marathon trials for LA28 after posting a mind-blowing 2:21:56 at the Houston Marathon in January. (For the stats geeks, that’s 5:25 pace.)
Luke is 26. Just six years ago, he was still in college, getting his BA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, where a student science showcase listed him as an “avid fisherman.” (Title of his project: Too Many Dam Problems.)
Lest you begin to think his insane ascension to the tippy top of IRONMAN and marathoning makes him unrelatable, consider this: His journey started because he wanted to loose his freshman (and sophomore and junior) 50.
“I was just eating mac and cheese, drinking Lagunitas, playing video games, cranking beers,” he says. “I wasn’t even less happier, I was just like, shit, I have to loose weight!”
So just before Covid hit, the second half of his junior year, he jumped on the treadmill in his apartment building gym—with a sports background that included playing relief pitcher in high school, then facing baseball burnout his senior year.
“The thing I liked about the treadmill is it taught me to have a process,” he says. “That you have to be disciplined over time. I’m not going to lose 40 pounds in one night.”
But, for a while, Luke got too into weight as his KPI. “I got a little toxic,” he says, giving himself eating windows, cutting carbs, going to bed hungry. “I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone.”
“I lost weight, then I’d pick weight back up,” he says. Then there was a shift. He knew he liked running, but he needed a metric that wasn’t pounds to keep him engaged and healthy. “I had to take my mind off of body image to feel like I was succeeding, and make my only north star getting better, faster.”
Then Covid sent him back home to finish out college in the gentler climate of Southern California, and Luke began to unleash the beast inside. His runs got longer. He picked up a bike. He raced a sprint tri, and the Malibu Triathlon. He moved to North County San Diego after graduation and made friends who were racing 70.3s and IRONMANs, and they became friends and training partners. He started crushing.
Luke ran his first full marathon in 2022 in Ventura, in 2:42, and started winning nearly every triathlon he entered, including IRONMAN California, and 70.3 Washington Tri-Cities. He also became a sought-after anchor leg for ROKA STNDRD Racing relay teams, recently running the team to victory at 70.3 La Quinta.
“A lot of time and patience went into getting here,” he says. “My biggest thing is to race happy.”
Below, some tips for crushing from the master of mindset.
SET BIG GOALS
“Set something that is so out of reach so you have no option but to train your ass off to get close. If you get in striking distance, you’ll probably accomplish a lot.”
“I need a super far-out goal or I’m not going to have enough motivation for the smaller, short-term goals.”
GET AN ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY (OR TEAM!)
“Being on the RSR team sparked most of the motivation to continue being really good and training.”
EMBRACE THE PRE-RACE JITTERS
“I have them every race without fail. It just means you care. It’s excitement in disguise.”
HAPPY = FAST
“A lot of triathletes and runners get tied up thinking everything’s at stake. In reality, we’re just doing this to have a ton of fun. The race is just a big celebration of all your training.”
“If I catch myself in a race getting too stressed, I use the [2x Olympic marathon champion and former marathon world record-holder] Eliud Kipchoge trick: Force a smile. A happy triathlete is a fast triathlete. Happy equals fast.”
LUKE’S FAVES
Swim: 1000 easy
Bike: 2 x 45 minutes @ 70.3 effort, long climbs at 70.3 pace
Run: 2x4 miles at 70.3 pace - “It’s good before every race in a build. It’s a good indicator of my fitness.”
CHEERS
“Pre-race night, I drink hard kombucha Juneshine, Midnight Painkiller flavor. It’s a tradition of mine. They didn’t sell it in Boston at the time, when I ran the Boston Marathon. So I flew out an 8-pack, because I needed my pre-race ritual. And I ran a great race!”
We're so proud to support Luke, the ROKA STNDRD Racing Team, and all athletes brave enough to toe the start line.
