FAYETTEVILLE — John McDonnell is on the last leg of his long, glorious run at Arkansas.

When the NCAA Outdoor Championships end June 14 in Des Moines, Iowa, McDonnell will step down after 36 years coaching the Razorbacks’ cross country and track and field teams.

McDonnell, 69, announced his retirement Monday effective at the end of the outdoor season. His resume at Arkansas includes 42 NCAA championships, 83 conference titles, 185 All-Americans and 23 Olympians. His retirement from coaching at Arkansas will not affect his status as an assistant coach for the U. S. Olympic track team this summer in China, an obligation he plans to fulfill.

“I never thought it would happen, because John has been retiring now for about 10 years,” said Mike Conley, a 1992 Olympic champion in the triple jump who led the Razorbacks to their first national team championship in 1984. “I thought they’d have to come in with a tow truck and drag him out of the office.

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“ But I think this is good for him. John always talked to us about life after track, and now he’ll get to enjoy other things in his life.”

McDonnell said his main motivation for retiring is to spend more time with his wife, Ellen, and their children, Heather and Sean.

“My wife has sacrificed a lot for the sake of track and field,” said McDonnell, who choked up when he spoke about his family. “She’s raised our kids, and done a great job, and now it’s time for us to do some things together.”

McDonnell said he hopes to travel around the country with his wife.

“I’ve flown over every state, probably, and been to a lot of them, but you just fly in, live in a hotel and don’t see anything but where we’re having the meet,” McDonnell said. “I want to see the things I’ve been missing.”

Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said he knew it was likely McDonnell planned to step down after this outdoor season.

“I certainly left it to him to make the decision,” said Long, who succeeded Frank Broyles in January. “He certainly has earned that and I respect that totally.”

Arkansas Chancellor John White said he knew McDonnell had been contemplating retirement for at least three years.

“I’ve talked him out of doing this several times, but I wasn’t able to do it this time,” said White, who is leaving his post this summer. “I can understand. He feels like he’s ready.

“ But it’s going to be a big loss... because no one has come close to doing in their field what John McDonnell has done in his.”

McDonnell said the timing was right to announce his decision with the Razorbacks set to compete at the Penn Relays this weekend.

“The worst thing is leaving the current athletes,” McDonnell said. “That’s tough.”

Long will lead the search to find McDonnell’s successor, but replacing the Arkansas legend figures to be impossible.

“He is the best there has ever been. There isn’t anybody who comes close,” Texas A&M Coach Pat Henry said of McDonnell. “There have been some big names in track and field the last 50 years, and he has to be at the top.

“ He’ll be missed in our sport because of his integrity. You always knew where he was coming from. The biggest part of his legacy is he made the sport better.”

McDonnell, an Irish immigrant who became a U. S. citizen in 1969, was hired as Arkansas ’ cross country coach and assistant track coach in 1972. In 1978, Broyles promoted McDonnell to head track and field coach after observing his gung-ho approach to coaching a cross country team that won the Southwest Conference championship.

Broyles, Arkansas’ athletic director from 1973-2007, recalled seeing McDonnell lead the cross country team on long runs and come back still ahead of his SWC championship squad. “If he could outrun them all, he sure could coach them,” Broyles said. “So we promoted him and I have been very proud and appreciative of everything he’s done. He’s done it with integrity, he’s done it with dignity and he’s always kept his humility. He’s exactly what you want in a coach. ”McDonnell said he believed Broyles took a gamble.

“ I guess he saw something in me that I didn’t think I had myself,” McDonnell said. “It all worked out really good.”

Former Arkansas NCAA champion and U. S. Olympian Reuben Reina spoke with Mc-Donnell and learned of his plans before running the Boston Marathon Monday.

“John definitely will go down as the greatest coach of all time in track and field, and probably in any sport,” Reina said. “He can’t do any more, to tell you the truth. He has to stop some time.”

McDonnell will be stepping down before Arkansas hears the result of its appeal to the NCAA Committee on Infractions, which earlier this school year stripped the Razorbacks of two national titles because of violations committed by former sprints coach Lance Brauman.

“That bothered me a lot, because I’ve worked very hard over the years to run a program with integrity,” McDonnell said. “I don’t know what (the Committee on Infractions ) is going to do, but I cannot hang around forever.

“ If I was 10 years younger, I’d still be coaching, believe me.”

White said McDonnell isn’t retiring because of the NCAA investigation and sanctions.

“I don’t want anyone to associate his decision with that case,” White said. “That pales in significance to what John McDonnell has accomplished here.”

McDonnell met with his team Monday before making his formal announcement.

“With this being his last year, we want to make it one of his best years, but that’s hard to do because he’s done so much,” Arkansas junior All-American sprinter J-Mee Samuels said. “We definitely have some extra motivation. We want him to go out on top.”

David Swain, a Razorbacks All-American from England, said McDonnell’s legacy at Arkansas runs far deeper than the championships his team won.

“His legacy is also about people, his athletes,” Swain said. “John is like a father figure to most of us, especially the foreigners.

“ We came here at an impressionable age and were a long way from home, and we came into a big family here at Arkansas. He made it a family atmosphere.”

McDonnell suffered a fractured sternum in November when he was injured by a bull he was trying to sell at an auction in Joplin, Mo., but soon was back at work. He also returned to coaching in 2001 after suffering a mild heart attack.

McDonnell said he feels fine physically, but also knows he’s turning 70 on July 2.

“I don’t know how many years I’ve got left,” McDonnell said. “But I hope to try and make the best of them.”