Taking on even a half Iron Man event is more than most people even in their prime consider, but not Jean Donnelly.

Even after having half her hip resurfaced with metal. And overcoming breast cancer. And losing 80 pounds. And traveling from her New York home to considerably hotter Tempe.

Donnelly will race the IronMan Arizona 70.3 on Sunday, Oct. 16, in Tempe. The 70.3 refers to the half Iron Man distance, split between swimming, biking and running.

A part-time Village of Oak Creek resident, Donnelly, a journalist working for a women’s fashion publication in New York, wasn’t always so ambitious.

The obstacles she’s overcome have been many and began with shedding 80 pounds decades ago, before she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She said she had been “fat her whole life” and was fortunate to lose the weight when she did, because that allowed her to more easily find the lump that led to her diagnosis. It was in an early stage, called ductal carcinoma in situ, which she said meant the cancer was still enclosed within the growth.

Two surgeries and six weeks of radiation later, the cancer went into remission. She can now say she is cancer free after going 22 years without a resurgence.

It was after this fight that she got into triathlons. A graduate of New York University, she discovered there was a alumni club triathlon program led by coach Scott Willett.

“I was terrible,” she recalled, but her coach didn’t give up on her. “He treated me just like athletes who did it their whole lives. He expected the best, no matter what that was.”

So began a career of endurance that is now in its 21st season. This particular race has a special meaning above the rest for the 2010 VOC transplant — it will be one year to the day after her hip resurfacing.

Donnelly said her recovery has gone well though her range of motion is still not quite full. The process involved replacing the surface of the ball joint in one side of her hip with metal. She keeps a card with her that visually shows the amount of work done, as it is enough to trip metal detectors at airports.

The debilitating effects of her hip didn’t come on in a flash of pain, however. Donnelly said it wasn’t until her recovery that she fully realized how much she struggled. After putting off the surgery for a decade, the inability to move like most was showing. When she hit the biking portion of her races, she had to mount her bicycle by laying it down and stepping over it. Even on city curbs, she always ascended using her other leg. It only took her a week after the procedure to start using a spin bike on a regular basis.

Another rehab item she noted was a weight-reduction treadmill, which allowed her to only have a certain percentage of her weight bear down on her as she ran, using special leggings that inflated to decrease the weight she carried.

Although able to poke fun at herself and see where she needs to improve, she said there was a determination in her that forced her to finish. She will need it for the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and half marathon run she will encounter Oct. 16. There is an eight-and-a-half hour time limit to officially finish.

“I’m crossing the finish line, even if I have to crawl,” she said.

In order to keep her body on pace with her mindset, Donnelly has been training with her husband, who will also race, running all summer and scouting the bike course, which she described as being quite technical.

“It’s tough to get better with age,” Richard Donnelly said, noting their flat comparative times.

All competitors who finish receive a completion medal, which Jean wants to bring back to show her hip surgeon.

One of the challenges she has had little ability to account for is weather. Donnelly said the heat could be an issue, but the fact it is a dry heat is better than humid New York springs.
Dehydration can creep up during humid races, especially when a cool breeze comes in.

Once all is said and done, she said recovery time should be only a couple days, and the two plan on catching a Cardinals vs. Jets football game afterward.

In addition to this race, the Donnellys are participants in the annual Sedona Turkey Trot.