FORMER CAPE MAN COMPETES IN IRONMAN COMPETITION

When John Schneider turned 35 years old, he thought he should get "a little more active," so he started training for a triathlon.

On Saturday, the former Cape Girardeau resident will race in the premier event for the sport, the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii.

Schneider, 39, is the son of John and Loretta Schneider of Cape Girardeau. He lived in Cape Girardeau until 1985, when he moved to North Carolina.

"Actually I have kind of always been active, but I felt like I needed to get a little more active," Schneider said in an interview from Hawaii. "I saw a triathlon advertised, and thought, `I think I'll try that.'"

Schneider finished the race, but didn't place very well.

"I thought to myself, `I think I can do better at this.'"

So he trained a little harder, entered another race and did much better.

"I got hooked," Schneider said.

An engineer by day, Schneider has competed in several triathlons over the past four years.

He was training up to 30 hours a week to prepare for the Ironman competition in Hawaii.

On Saturday, he and about 1,500 other competitors will swim 2.4 miles, bicycle 112 miles and then run a 26.6 mile marathon. Schneider said he will take about 10 hours to finish. The race is scheduled to be televised on Dec. 20.

Schneider will compete for standings in his age group, men ages 35 to 39, but he will race against everyone.

Competitors come from around the world. To compete in the race, athletes much qualify at one of 11 preliminary meets. Schneider qualified in August in Philadelphia. He placed in the top three of his age division.

Schneider, his parents and wife, Susan, have been in Hawaii all week.

"It's kind of a week-long event getting ready," he said. "It's a big event here."

This week he is training a little and resting a lot.

"There is not much difference between finishing pretty well and a disaster," Schneider said. "Everything has to go just right."

Schneider said his wife travels with him to races. "I couldn't do it without her. We've learned how to have fun doing this. And my mom, well, she's my biggest supporter."

In the early 1980s, Schneider competed in the first Old Appleton triathlon, but didn't compete in another until 1993.