Heather Wurtele (née Danforth, born 12 July 1979) is a retired Canadian professional triathlete who raced long-distance, non-drafting triathlon events.

[3][4] Despite her size being an advantage in the latter two sports, and excelling as a middle blocker in volleyball, she admitted that she was not very good at basketball and had no ball handling skills.

[5] She then attended the University of British Columbia where she was on the varsity rowing team for four years and would earn a degree forest genetics.

[5] Wurtele participated in adventure racing for two years, but grew tired of the equipment intensive sport and didn't enjoy orienteering.

After a year as a full-time student she put getting her Ph.D. on hold and returned to North America where she began intense training as age-group athlete.