William Donakowski (June 21, 1956 – October 15, 2017) was an American distance runner. He represented the United States at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, and

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

. He was the men's winner of the 1986 Twin Cities Marathon. He is a brother of Gerard Donakowski.

Running career

Donakowski studied and ran at University of Michigan. At the 1978 Tennessee Dogwood Relays, he recorded 28:25.8 in the 10,000 meters. Which still stands as University of Michigan 10,000 meter school record. He ran his personal best time over 10,000 meters at the 1979 Penn Relays, where he finished in 28:13.9. After his studies, he transitioned into a marathoner. He won the 1986 Twin Cities Marathon in a personal best time of 2:10:40, taking home $25,000 in prize money. He was a pre-race favorite at the 1988 US Olympic Trials for the marathon, but dropped out due to a sore achilles tendon.
Phil Hersh. Chicago Tribune: ''LONGSHOT WINS MARATHON AT OLYMPIC TRIALS''. April 25, 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donakowski, Bill 1956 births 2017 deaths Michigan Wolverines men's track and field athletes American male long-distance runners Sportspeople from Flint, Michigan