Zoot Stormtrooper Bryan Dunn
Bryan Dunn is a fast age grouper who resides in Arizona, and in addition to triathlon he also is passionate about his family, Star Wars and science fiction.
Slowtwitch: How are you Bryan?
Bryan Dunn: Very good, Herbert, thank you so much for the opportunity to be featured!
ST: You finished third this past weekend at the Deuces Wild Tri and 1st in your age group.
Bryan: I was 3rd overall behind local pro Lewis Elliot and a swimmer from ASU who was out of the water 5min before me. The race was over by T1 but I was very happy with the result. I should note I also was the beneficiary of some bad luck that befell two other guys I know well and who are very competitive.
ST: What kind of bad luck?
Bryan: One flatted and had no repair kit and the other I caught around mile 13 of the bike and he was feeling dizzy, maybe an effect of the altitude.
ST: Your 58:35 bike split was only bested by Lewis Elliott.
Bryan: Well, being a pretty average swimmer, I need to make hay when the sun shines. Although I have split 58 for 40k a few years ago, but it’s worth noting the course was a bit short. I think I did a good job managing my effort, this race is at 6200 feet elevation and for me that presents itself as a lower HR for the same perceived effort. It’s a beautiful and pretty fast course despite that. My wife and I own a cabin near the race location and I ride the course frequently.
ST: Did you stay at that cabin on the race weekend?
Bryan: You bet, it’s only 3 miles from the race venue.
ST: Is that Deuces Wild race important in terms of bragging rights in the area?
Bryan: It used to be a very competitive race but a brief change in race management resulted in a poorly run event last year that may have scared off some participants. That has been corrected and I hope people who had a less than stellar experience in 2014 will begin to come back. It’s a two day festival with an Olympic, a Half, and an XTERRA on Sunday as well as a kid’s race. Very family friendly and in a great location up in the White Mountains of Arizona.
ST: Fountain Hills is where you reside, but I think you are originally from the East Coast. When did you move there and why?
Bryan: I grew up in Greenwich, CT and went to college at Tufts University in Boston. I moved to Arizona in 2003 having endured one winter too many for my tastes. Discovering all that Arizona and the Southwest have to offer has been a wonderful experience for us. As a family we love to be outdoors and there are so many activities and opportunities we can afford ourselves of thanks to the weather.
ST: What would it take to convince you to move back to the Northeast?
Bryan: I have had that very conversation with my wife and my family back east. The answer is a resounding, definitive, unequivocal NEVER. Living in Arizona is remarkable, I can be in the desert around where we live and a two hour drive later I can be up at 8000 feet in the mountains surrounded by pine trees or camping down in the Grand Canyon. There so much variability. There’s even a ski resort 45min. away from our cabin. The only thing I miss is the ocean.
ST: You have at least for now gone away from long distance races and are focusing on shorter stuff. But that was all sprung to your mind after a crash during 70.3 Worlds in Vegas in 2013.
Bryan: Yes, a moment of inattentiveness resulted in a slow speed collision with another age grouper. We were both ok and I helped him get underway again when I noticed my pedal was broken and my day was over. As I stood there out by Lake Meade with my broken bike, I considered all the training, time, and resources I put into being there and all I felt was an overwhelming sense of ambivalence towards the race and the DNF. I just didn’t care and I knew right then I needed a break after 7 straight years of Ironman and 70.3 World Championship races. It takes too much to not really love it and I had fallen out of love. I found it very liberating actually and in 2014 I put my efforts into qualifying for Worlds Team USA at Age Group Nationals. I also finally went and raced Escape from Alcatraz and I found both events really terrific fun and for the first time saw the world of triathlon that lay beyond WTC.
ST: Word has it that your relatively new young son helped you with that decision.
Bryan: Standing there I knew, well, when I eventually figured out how the hell to get back to Lake Las Vegas, that he was with his mom waiting for me and the thought of seeing him made me very happy, more so then trying to earn a finishing medal for a race I had done so many times. I also am proud that I have managed to accomplish a number of my goals in Ironman racing. I’ve never done an Ironman or 70.3 and not qualified for the World Championships, I managed to win my AG at IM St. George 2012, yes, that year, and I made the extended podium at Vegas 70.3 Worlds in 2011 with a 4th place finish. I think being a new dad and a sense of satisfaction when I considered my results over the past 7 years helped make that decision easy.
ST: How old is he now and does he keep you in check?
Bryan: Jensen was born march 5th, 2013. He is our only child and it’s been an amazing experience becoming a Dad at the age of 45. It would be easy to say that having a baby presented a challenge to my life that would make long course training more difficult, but that’s not really the case. Certainly plenty of other parents manage having kids and competing at a very high level in triathlon. For me having Jensen has simply made Ironman racing seem somewhat less important in my life. When I first went to Kona in 2007 we brought my mom along. She is a 3X age group champion in Kona from the ‘80’s and hadn’t been back since her last race there in ’89. So that was really special to share with her. I think I would like to share that Kona experience with Jensen but he is still so young. Someday, but I want it to be special again.
ST: What other races do you have on your bucket list until Kona tickles you again?
Bryan: I would really like to go back to Alcatraz. I messed up the swim in regards to sighting and had a terrible bike putting me 4th in my AG. I would also really like to try Wildflower, which looks like a lot of fun and a great course.
ST: Nothing abroad?
Bryan: The only race abroad I have thought of is Ironman New Zealand. We spent 2 weeks there back 2005 and love New Zealand.
ST: You have been involved with Zoot now for a long time. How did that start?
Bryan: In 2008 I applied for what was then the Zoot Ultra Team and was accepted. Zoot has been incredibly supportive and generous towards me and my racing efforts, I am so grateful to be associated with such wonderful and dedicated people and an amazing brand. In 2013, I along with a few other Zoot Ultra athletes came up with the concept for Team Zoot which is now in its second year. We have approximately 150 age group athletes across the country, concentrated in regions which have either a large Ironman race or RnR marathon, or both. We also have some exceptional Team partners that include Ceepo Bikes, Boom Nutrition, Garmin, Smith Optics, Speedfil, and Fuel Belt.
ST: What exactly is your role with the squad?
Bryan: I am one of about 12 regional team captains. My region is the Southwest although all of the 22 folks on my squad live in Arizona. We train, race, and have frequent happy hours together. We also try and not only be good brand ambassadors for our team sponsors but also be supportive and involved in our local endurance sport community.
ST: Chicago WTS Finals is your big target. What do you think is possible?
Bryan: I have absolutely no illusions of being very competitive at the World Championships. I’m going to swim 22-23min. and that’s game over. Long course being more bike heavy plays much better to my strengths. Having attended other World Championship events, I am very excited to have this experience, which I think will be very distinct and unique.
ST: Have you raced in Chicago before?
Bryan: No, I haven’t.
ST: Will a Star Wars character on your bike make sure that the force is with you?
Bryan: If someone could please make me a helmet that makes me look like a Stormtrooper, I will be eternally grateful. True story, at IMAZ 2007, my first Ironman, while on the run in an effort to distract myself from the abject misery I tried reciting all the dialogue from A New Hope in my head. I never made it much past “There will be no escape for the Princess this time”.
ST: Talk about your bike setup.
Bryan: So as a Team Zoot Captain, we are all on Ceepo. I ride their TT specific bike the Viper. I really can’t say enough about how supportive Ceepo has been towards Team Zoot. This is our second year with them and they really make the effort to make us feel like part of their family and that our team is important to them. I love the bike, it has a very robust and well-designed front end that is super stable even when turning while in the aero position.
ST: What kind of components are on that Viper and do you ride with power?
Bryan: I switched over to SRAM Red 22 11-speed last year. I was skeptical that I would even notice the difference but I have to say I love having that little bit of extra gearing. I have Zipp Vuka Bull bars and a few different combinations of Zipp race wheels. Apparently I am the last man on Earth that still doesn’t use power. I feel like a Luddite. I have always trained by HR and RPE on the bike and have a very deep understanding of what my HR is telling me when I train and race. I have also been resistant to power simply because it’s One More Thing for me to obsess over and I felt that I needed that like a hole in the head. But Garmin, who has also been a terrific Team Zoot partner, has offered to let me try Vector 2 so I am going to give it a crack this year.
ST: You tend to obsess?
Bryan: Triathlon is the perfect codependent partner for those of us with a wicked case of OCD.
ST: Is there anything else we should know?
Bryan: I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to publicly thank my wife Jamie. She is also a runner and triathlete as well as a fitness instructor with a full time job and baby. She has been very supportive of my racing efforts but more importantly to me is she has also kept me grounded in reality. For as many times that she has been proud of me for a result she has also read me the riot act when I lose perspective and I love her so much for that.
