Getting up at 4:30 a.m. and running 8 to 10 miles and maintaining a Spartan training regime has its benefits for Melbourne's Ed Donner.

The training has allowed the 31-year-old financial adviser to not only become an Ironman-distance triathlete (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) but also has landed him on Men's Fitness magazine's list of its 25 fittest males.

He's listed in the June/July issue along with names such as golf superstar Tiger Woods, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn and Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley.

Not bad company for a guy who works for a living and competes as an age-group amateur with no real aspirations to turn pro.

Donner reads the magazine and submitted a photo of himself for consideration as one of the fittest athletes and about three weeks later found a reply from Men's Fitness in his junk e-mail box asking him for more information.

"This is a reason to check your junk box," he said. "I went through for some reason and was deleting them all, and I saw something from Men's Fitness and I clicked on it and it said, 'We like your photo . . . and you have a very high probability being one of the fittest guys.' "

Donner submitted several more photos and was then contacted for an interview and a formal photo shoot and now his "body" will be in the hands of the 7.5 million readers the print magazine claims and the 250,000 unique visitors to its Web site. He no longer will be known as just another triathlete when he competes.

His next races are the Melbourne Beach Rotary's Pineapple Man sprint-distance (.3-mile swim, 15-mile bike, 3.3-mile run) on June 1 and the Ford Ironman USA Coeur d'Alene in Idaho on June 22.

"The only thing that I thought of is I'm in a race and somebody recognizes me, and they may, they probably will in the triathlon community, it might be an extra reason to run faster or bike faster," he said. "In my mind, I know what they're thinking. It's all a competition. It's all for fun. I don't make a living doing it."

Speaking of competition, since the members of the top 25 come from such different disciplines, it would be impossible to gauge who among them is more fit or more athletic than the other. It truly is apples and oranges, Donner said.

"Let's compare me and Barack Obama physically. I was reading somebody's blog and he said his (Obama's) fitness is mental fitness, and I'm sure he has a heck of a mental fitness game.

"You have UFC fighters and you have actors and , of course, a basketball player. There's no way I could be in the NBA."

But he is on the list.

"For me, it's just amazing," he said. "I had no idea doing what I love doing, triathlon and fitness, would ever lead to something like this."

Although Donner has competed at mainstream triathlon's longest distance and will be racing in Coeur d'Alene for a berth in its ultimate event -- the Ford Ironman World Championship in Hawaii in October -- he has been involved in the sport only since 2006. His dedication to his training and his fitness and good fortune in avoiding injury have allowed him to progress rapidly and he is content to continue his involvement as a serious hobby.

"I love what I do," he said. "My 10 years I've been a financial planner . . . I enjoy it. I don't have any (professional triathlon) aspirations, but I would just love to be able to give them (pros) a run for their money at a race, just to say that in a different life I could have pursued that."

So in essence, he's just a regular guy with a serious bent for fitness and just the kind of guy the magazine was looking for.

"The first thing we wanted to do was to give the everyday guy an opportunity to be on this list," said Roy S. Johnson, editor-in-chief of Men's Fitness. "This list has been around for many years and it has typically only included athletes, celebrities, people who are in the spotlight."

Donner was chosen from about 1,000 submissions.

"We said why don't we recognize a regular guy who epitomizes what we are trying to do?" Johnson said. "So we created an opportunity . . . and our editors took those nominees, looked at who they were, what they did, how far they've come, how much they have a passion for fitness and seek to live a fit, healthy lifestyle and made our selection based on that criteria. He jumped, he was one of the few who jumped to near the top of the list immediately and then ultimately became the selection."

Contact DeCotis at 242-3786 or e-mail mdecotis@floridatoday.com

Melbourne's Ed Donner, a financial planner by day, is listed as one of the fittest males in America, thanks to a strong training regimen he uses to participate in triathlons. (Craig Rubadoux, FLORIDA TODAY 2007 file)