Gerard Donakowski

Gerard Donakowski (born February 20, 1960) is a retired distance runner. He was especially successful in the 10,000 meter event, finishing as the men's runner-up in the 10,000 meters at the 1986 Goodwill Games. He was the men's winner of the 1987 Charlotte Observer Marathon. He is a brother of Bill Donakowski.

Collegiate

At the University of Michigan as a cross country runner he was an All-American in 1983.^[2] He was also an All-American in both indoor and outdoor track and field along with being a 3-time Big Ten Conference champion.^[3]

Post-collegiate

Donakowski was the runner-up in the men's 10,000 meters at the 1986 Goodwill Games.^[4]

On January 3, 1987, Donakowski won the Charlotte Observer Marathon in 2:20:17 in a close finish over Budd Coates.^[5] He got $2,000 in prize money for the win that day.^[5] Later that year, he won the men's 10,000 meter winner at the USATF Championships. This entitled him to compete in the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in the 10,000 meters. Although he was listed as a competitor, he was a no-show for the competition.

On July 15, 1988, Donakowski finished in fifth place of the first heat in the men's 10,000 meters at the USATF Olympic Trials, advancing to the finals.^[6] The conditions during the first heat race were hot enough that six of 17 runners in the race dropped out, among them being Nike Coast runner Jay Marden who was carried off the track in a stretcher.^[6] On July 18, 1988, Donakowski finished in 8th in the men's 10,000 meter final in a time of 29:46.04.^[6]

On May 20, 1990, after leading for the first two miles, he finished in third place at the Trib 10K in 28:28.^[7] He got $1,000 in prize money for the performance.^[7] The course was downhill^[7] and was not eligible for records or rankings.^[8]

References

1 2 3 4 "Gerard DONAKOWSKI - Athlete Profile". IAAF.
↑ "U of M Men's Cross Country". Bentley Historical Library.
↑ "Six Former Wolverines Selected for U-M Track & Field Hall of Fame". April 18, 2012.
↑ "1986 Goodwill Games Medalists". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
1 2 Mark Will-Weber (January 19, 1987). "Coates Makes His Pocket Jingle More Than Bells". The Morning Call. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
1 2 3 Richard Hymans (2008). "The History of the United States Olympic Trials - Track & Field" (PDF). USATF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-27. Retrieved 2015-02-06.
1 2 3 John Geis (May 21, 1990). "Vera Runs Smart, Wins Trib 10 Kilometer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
↑ Association of Road Racing Statisticians - Race profile: San Diego Tribune 10 km. May 20, 1990.

External links

Gerard Donakowski at World Athletics

v t e US National Championship winners in men's 10,000-meter run
1876–1878 New York Athletic Club	1876–79: Not held
1879–1888 NAAAA	1880: James Gifford 1881: W. C. Davies 1882–83: Tom Delaney 1884: Geo. Stonebridge 1885: Peter Skillman 1886–87: Edward Carter 1888^{Note 1}: Thomas Conneff
1888–1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1888–91^{Note 1}: Thomas Conneff 1892–93: William Day 1894: Charles Bean 1899: Alex Grant 1900: Arthur Newton 1901: Frank Kanahy 1902: Alex Grant 1903: Not held 1904: John Joyce 1905: Frank Verner 1906: Wm. Nelson 1907: John Daly 1908: Fred Bellars 1909: Harry McLean 1910: William Kramer 1911: George Bonhag 1912: Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) * Harry Smith 1913: Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) * Joie Ray 1914: Ville Kyrönen (FIN) * H. E. Weeks 1915: Hannes Kolehmainen (FIN) * Oliver Millard 1916: Joie Ray 1917–19: Charles Pores 1920^OT: Not held 1921–23: Earle Johnson 1924: Ilmar Prim 1925: George Lermond 1926: Phillip Osif 1927: Willie Ritola (FIN) * Russell Payne 1928^OT: Joie Ray 1929-31: Lou Gregory 1932^OT: Tom Ottey 1933: Lou Gregory 1934: Eino Pentti 1935: Tom Ottey 1936: Don Lash 1937–38: Eino Pentti 1939: Lou Gregory 1940: Don Lash 1941: Lou Gregory 1942: Joe McCluskey 1943: Lou Gregory 1944: Norm Bright 1945: Ted Vogel 1946–48: Edward O'Toole 1949: Fred Wilt 1950: Horace Ashenfelter 1951–54: Curt Stone 1955: Dick Hart 1956: Max Truex 1957: Doug Kyle 1958: John Macy 1959: 1960: Al Lawrence (AUS) * Max Truex 1961: John Gutknecht 1962: Bruce Kidd (CAN) * Peter McArdle 1963–64: Peter McArdle 1965: Billy Mills 1966: Tracy Smith 1967: Van Nelson 1968: Tracy Smith 1969–70: Jack Bacheler 1971: Frank Shorter 1972: Greg Fredericks 1973: Gordon Minty (GBR) * Ted Castaneda 1974–75: Frank Shorter 1976: Ed Leddy 1977: Frank Shorter 1978–79: Craig Virgin 1980: Rodolfo Gómez Garry Bjorklund
1980–1992 The Athletics Congress	1981: Alberto Salazar 1982: Craig Virgin 1983: Alberto Salazar 1984: Jon Sinclair 1985: Bruce Bickford 1986–87: Gerard Donakowski 1988: Steve Taylor 1989: Pat Porter 1990: Steve Plasencia 1991: Shannon Butler 1992^OT: Todd Williams
1993–onwards USA Track & Field	1993: Todd Williams 1994: Tom Ansberry 1995–96: Todd Williams 1997: Michael Mykytok 1998: Dan Browne 1999: Alan Culpepper 2000^OT: Meb Keflezighi 2001: Abdi Abdirahman 2002: Meb Keflezighi 2003: Alan Culpepper 2004: Meb Keflezighi 2005: Abdi Abdirahman 2006: Jorge Torres 2007–08: Abdi Abdirahman 2009–16: Galen Rupp 2017: Hassan Mead 2018–19: Lopez Lomong 2021^{2020 OT}: Woody Kincaid 2022: Joe Klecker 2023: Woody Kincaid 2024: Grant Fisher 2025: Nico Young
Notes	Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event. 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Distance: Until 1924 the event was 5 miles; from 1925–27 and from 1929–31 it was over 6 miles.

Authority control databases: People	World Athletics

Post-collegiate

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