METRO AREA — Ryan DeCook is an unassuming young man, who appears to be, maybe, four or five years younger than 31.
And so, upon meeting him — at his home in Washington Township or on the job as assistant controller at Roy O’Brien Ford in St. Clair Shores — you’d never imagine that this mild-mannered individual is one of only 11 of the absolute best off-road male triathletes in the U. S.
To clarify a couple of terms: a “triathlete” is one who competes in a three-stage race without stopping in successive events, usually long-distance swimming, bicycling, and running.
An “off-road triathlete” competes in three stages, too, but on a much more harrowing scale. The one-mile swim in a lake, river or ocean is followed by a 19-mile mountain-biking stage (vertical climbs and descents, sharp turns through trees, rocks, logs, streams and other obstacles) and a nearly 7-mile trail-running stage (up and down hills or mountain sides, through forests, streams, riverbeds and other obstacles).
DeCook says “it’s the ultimate endurance test.” His favorite stage is biking. “You have to be thinking constantly. It’s extremely stimulating. All your senses are working.”
Now we can understand why DeCook is a slender, almost wiry, 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds.
He’s up at five in the morning to run, stops off after work for a swim, and weekends are dedicated to rigorous workouts.
He ran track and cross country at Troy Athens High School and for a couple of years at Michigan State University (an accounting major), before joining a campus triathlon club.
His senior year, he ran a tri-meet at Stony Creek Metro Park. “It was so much fun, I couldn’t stop. I knew I wanted to be a triathlete.”
Since 2006, DeCook has been an elite professional member of Team USA competing for cash prizes and sponsorships in the XTERRA race series, which is considered to be the world championship of the sport. This year’s world race will be Oct. 28 in Hawaii, where he finished 37th in 2009.
He’ll tune up for that challenge with races this summer in Virginia, Utah and Colorado.
But, why?
“I’ve been given a gift of athletic endurance and competitiveness,” he says. “I don’t know why I have this gift, but it allows me to glorify God.”
“Ryan is passionate about his Catholic faith,” says his mother, Cindy. “He openly expresses his love for God to the people he meets all over the world through his sport.”
An active member of St. Andrew’s Parish in Rochester, where he has been a Eucharistic Minister for many years, DeCook has raced in nearly a dozen countries. “Everyone knows that wherever I go I find a Mass to attend,” he says, adding, “except in China.”
His faith and his sport were put to a severe test the last couple of years. He underwent two surgeries for major ligament reconstructive surgery on his left knee.
He was “thrilled” with his 2 hour, 22 minute time May 20 in Alabama that placed him seventh best among American triathletes and 15th best overall.
However, the time away from competition and rehabbing from his surgeries presented DeCook an opportunity to spend time with his father, Arthur. “We grew extremely close, becoming increasingly more devoted to God and faith.”
“The last time I talked to my dad was May 19, 2011, the day before my (second) surgery,” DeCook says. “He died the next day” from cancer.
Two days before the race in Alabama, DeCook attended the funeral of a close friend. “I celebrated their lives, honoring them, friend and father, in my race. I never felt so blessed being out there, never experienced such peace.”
Afterward, he told his mother: “He was with me.”
