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DeDoncker completes triathlon in 12 hours

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By Deirdre Cox Baker | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 |

John DeDoncker's performance in the Ford Ironman Arizona triathlon exceeded expectations,especially those of the 43-year-old competitor from Bettendorf.

DeDoncker finished the full endurance test in 12 hours, 11 minutes. "I would have loved to have broken 12 hours," he said, "but given the miserable conditions on Sunday (April 13), to come very close was satisfying."

DeDoncker participated in the Tempe, Ariz., event and raised money at the same time for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. That was done in the name of Wally Hilgenberg, DeDoncker's friend as well as a former University of Iowa and pro football player. Hilgenberg, originally from Wilton, Iowa, has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Weather conditions for the swimming portion of the three-part event were fine, and DeDoncker finished that 2.4-mile course in 1 hour, 20 minutes. But during the 112-mile bike race, he ran into what he described as a "brutal headwind." That took him 6 hours, 12 minutes.

He finished with a marathon run of 26.2 miles in 4 hours, 27 minutes. Newspapers reported that 378 of the 2,100 participants did not complete the triathlon and that more than 300 did not finish the wind-hampered bicycle portion of the race.

DeDoncker has raised more than $18,000 for the MDA, which includes ALS, a terminal illness, among the 48 neuromuscular diseases it supports the fight against.