The fast Aussie Dan MacPherson

March 24, 2013

Dan MacPherson is a fast Aussie age grouper, but he may be best known for his acting job. He currently resides in Los Angeles and is getting ready for the 70.3 California event in Oceanside. We had a few words with him about various topics.

ST: Dan, it is good to chat with you.

Dan: Thanks very much, I’ve been a longtime fan of slowtwitch.com!

ST: Have you done all the work for Oceanside?

Dan: Yeah I think so! I had a really solid base coming off IM WA in December, and rather than take the usual festive season break in Australia, I actually had to fly back to LA the day after the race. So instead of beers and BBQs at home in Sydney, I was pretty much straight back into training a week later. I had a nice little warm up race at the Desert Tri a couple of weeks ago, and despite some mechanical issues (my own fault!) had a good race. So yeah, I’m ready to roll!

ST: What is your goal?

Dan: I’d love to qualify for Vegas this year. If not here at Oceanside, perhaps at Honu or Vineman. I know my swim and bike are in good enough shape to be at the pointy end of a very competitive age group, but my goal is to run well. If I can run well, then I think I’ll have a solid day overall.

ST: Does the bike course at Oceanside suit you or do you think the one in Vegas is more your cup of tea?

Dan: I've been spending plenty of time cycling in the canyons of Malibu and off the PCH, particularly over the last 6 months. I just love great climbs like Latigo Canyon. Fresh air, amazing views, few cars, and its seen a great improvement in my cycling. I guess that will hold me in good stead for both, but I am quite looking forward to the Oceanside course. Having not raced either Oceanside or Las Vegas before, it is hard to say, but they both have solid reputations.

ST: Who is helping you in terms of coaching, or are you handling that yourself?

Dan: I’ve been in the sport since 1991. I grew up in Cronulla in Sydney, and did a lot with Cronulla Tri club as a junior. After a long break from the sport, in 2006 I teamed up with former Australian Ironman champ and IM OZ run course record holder, Tim A’hern. He has a great coaching business in Cronulla. The last 12 months, again after 2 years away from the sport, I’ve been working very closely with coach Kristian Manietta, of TriSpecific. My acting and hosting career takes me between LA, Sydney and Melbourne, so we have to be quite flexible, and maintain good communication, but it’s been working well. The goal is to get back to Kona again this year. I’m also swimming with Gerry Rodrigues at Tower 26 here in LA, which I really enjoy. They are a great bunch.

ST: Is Ironman Canada the big target this season?

Dan: It is! To be honest, I’m just excited to be back racing, and to be fit enough to enjoy it! I’ve got a lot of races penciled in this year, mostly to see more of the US and North America. My girlfriend and I moved to LA last year to pursue our acting careers, but I’m a little distracted with all these awesome races! I have been to Whistler in the winter, but never in summer, and I think it would be a spectacular place to race an ironman, so I signed up straight away. And also plenty of Kona slots on offer.

ST: After going to Kona in 2009 you took a few years off. Why is that?

Dan: I was completely exhausted to be honest, physically and mentally. I’d been working on a TV series in Australia, and racing a lot also. Then in 2009 I raced Ironman China during a 2 week filming break. It was a brutal race, 110+ and windy. I managed to suffer through and win my age group, with an 11.01!! Did I mention it was brutal? I took my Kona slot, then flew back to work and back to filming. By June I was working seven days a week hosting Dancing With The Stars on weekends and shooting my cop show during the week. I was training for Kona in the little spare time I had. I somehow managed to make October in good shape, went around Kona in 10.31 and I was satisfied, but wrecked. It was a huge undertaking, and although both TV projects and my Kona race were successful, I needed a break. So I took 2 years off, focused on my career and just waited for the fire to come back. It took a while, and I wondered if it ever would. Finally it did, 12 months ago.

ST: You seemed to have stayed fit though as you did well in your first race back in LA.

Dan: That was quite a surprise! But luckily work had been very quiet, so I had been enjoying a lot of time discovering the rides and trails of LA! On the day of LA Tri the surf was huge too, and being from the beach in Sydney, I was really excited to have a proper surf swim. I managed to get a great wave nearly all the way from the final can up onto the beach. Kristian and I had been working really hard on improving my running, so it was nice to put it to good use. I was stoked to win my age group, but fastest age grouper was a nice surprise.

ST: Plans to go back to Kona?

Dan: Absolutely. I think ‘unfinished business’ is the term haha. Ideally this year, but we will see. And obviously everything changes when work gets busy. In the past few years I’ve been out to Kona to watch and support friends, but I have spending more time in LuLu’s than on the Queen K. I plan to change that this year… at least until after the race!

ST: We recently featured your colorful bike. Why the Giant and why the color scheme?

Dan: I’ve been riding Giants since 2006, not only as an ambassador, but also as good friends with ‘Giant Family’. I honestly love the bikes, and the last 2 years have seen some incredible high-end road and TT bikes come through. I ride a TCR zero road bike and a Trinity TT. My current Trinity was custom painted by Giant in Melbourne. I asked for Matte Black/Carbon/Blue and got Matte Black/Carbon/Pink!!! I really wasn’t sure when I saw the first picture, but now I love it. I’m not sure the reason behind it, I should find out. Do they think I need more pink? Is it because I’m an actor? Are they trying to tell me something?

ST: The crew at Giant Australia seems to be super passionate about triathlon. Is that an accurate picture?

Dan: Absolutely. They have built a brand on a passionate ‘family’ culture. Lots of ‘Giant’ group coffee rides, and great ambassadors like Mitch Anderson, Clayton Fettell and Tim Berkel in Australia, who really give a great voice to the brand. Huge support for road cycling and also womens cycling through LivGiant. And that’s not even starting on MTB….

ST: Take us back to your start in triathlon. How did you get involved?

Dan: It was 1991, I was 11 years old, and a chubby little junior rugby player in Sydney. My rugby coach, John Holt, started the Kurnell Tri series, which is still going today. Affectionately known as the Kurnell World Champs to the locals. My father, also a solid ex-rugby player, signed up to the first race of the series, and I signed up with a mate to do the kids race on the Saturday afternoon. 300m/10km/3km. I came 33rd out of 42 competitors! But I kept training, and kept improving and finally a few years later was racing pretty well. My dad gave up after that race though haha.

ST: Have you been back more recently to race a Kurnell Tri?

Dan: I was entered to race there in January this year! But sadly had to change my plans to get back to LA for a work opportunity. It still draws a great caliber of athletes, plenty of past champions as well as first timers. Whenever I am back in Cronulla I train on the Kurnell Tri course. It was actually at a Kurnell triathlon where I met my first acting manager in 1996. We were both working as volunteers and got talking about acting, and had a meeting a few weeks later and I landed my first job on the Australian soap ‘Neighbours’ about 9 months later.

ST: Talking about acting, is your day job busy, or does it depend?

Dan: It depends on what I’m working on. I’ve done a lot of long running series TV, where you shoot 36-48 weeks a year, and days are mostly 630am-630pm. Shows like DWTS or X factor are less time commitment but still exhausting. And generally, work involves a lot of travel. When it’s really busy, I am juggling more than one job at a time. In 2011 I did 65 flights in 5 months juggling two shows. I’ve been fortunate enough to shoot all around the world, living in London for 5 years also.
Now we have moved to the US, I’m auditioning, but not shooting anything yet, so I have much more time to train. I ‘m really enjoying it to be honest!

ST: So how many hours do you train in a week?

Dan: About 20 at the moment.

ST: Is there anything else we should know?

Dan: I’m an ambassador for the charity, The Indigenous Marathon Project, started by champion marathon runner Robert De Castella. It provides opportunity for Indigenous Australians, often from very remote and under privileged areas, access to running coaching and support, and each year a squad is chosen to travel to and race the NYC marathon. Not only building fitness, but self-esteem and inspiring healthy lifestyles in Australians. www.imp.org.au