Dan Benjamin raced Ironman Arizona and he made two volunteers very happy with a kind gesture along the way, and despite a close encounter with an elbow during the swim he considers his day to have been epic. Dan resides in Maple Valley, WA and he was bib number 2222 in his first Ironman race.

Slowtwitch: Do your friends call you Dan or Daniel, and how should I address you?

Dan Benjamin: I generally go by Dan. My really good friends call me Smokin’ Dan.

ST: Is it because you are very handsome or because you actually smoke or used to do that?

Dan: Haha, certainly neither of those. No, it is a nickname that I somehow ended up with back in high school, and it has stuck for over 20 years.

ST: Ironman Arizona is in the books. Are you content in general with your day?

Dan: Content is an understatement; it was an epic day. I think I had a smile on my face the entire race!

ST: How big of an entourage did you bring to Arizona?

Dan: My wife and 2 daughters made the trip down with me. My folks live down in Tucson, so they were able to be there. An unexpected treat was that several of the team member friends that I train with also made the trip down to cheer me and a few other teammates on.

ST: What team is that?

Dan: I train and race with an incredible team called “Raise the Bar” out in Covington, WA

ST: How big is the team and what kind of bar are you raising?

Dan: There are little more than 200 people on the team and I know that the “purpose statement” for the team is “we create opportunities for fun and personal achievement through multisport.”

ST: When you first learned about your bib number were you happy, or is it just another number?

Dan: Um, 2222? Coolest number ever! What are the chances I end up with that number?! I was stoked! Ever since seeing that I was assigned that number, I have been saying that the number 2 is definitely my lucky number from now on.

ST: I know that you made a volunteer very happy at the run special needs station. And I think that person (Alan Greening) will volunteer now more often after that interaction with you. How did you pick that station or was that one of many?

Dan: I have to say that it is so cool to hear that I somehow brightened his day! I really wanted to do something simple and tangible to express my thanks to the volunteers that were out there on the course. I purchased a couple of Starbucks gift cards to throw in both my “special needs” bags, and I wanted to pull those out of the bags and hand them to whoever helped me out at those special needs stations. It was a huge motivation for me, I really couldn’t wait to get to those stations so that I could give those to the folks who dedicated their day to making sure mine was as smooth as possible. At the run station in particular, it was really fun to stop and visit with Alan as I chomped down a piece of pizza that I had thrown in my bag. And to all the folks that made fun of me for putting pizza in my special needs bag, ha, that is the only thing I really wanted at mile 13.

ST: How did that idea come up to do something for the volunteers?

Dan: I was on a Facebook forum and we were discussing what to throw in Special Needs’ bags and someone mentioned candy for the volunteer. I wasn’t into the candy thing, but thought I could do something cool for them.

ST: Were those volunteers surprised when you handed them the gift cards?

Dan: Both seemed pretty taken aback. It was a fairly quick interaction on the bike so I did not get too much of a chance to speak with the girl who handed me my bag there, but she seemed surprised and grateful. I was able to spend more time at the run special needs station and it was just so fun to chat with Alan there. He was a super nice guy!

ST: I think your day in AZ started with a busted wetsuit zipper. Were you calm or did you panic?

Dan: Yeah, things went from super calm, to stressful very quickly. I definitely did not panic; it has happened before so I knew how to fix it, but it is a bit tricky and I needed to work quickly in order to get in the water in time for the canon. I was about 1 minute away from giving up on the zipper and going in sans-wetsuit. I got it fixed in the nick of time though.

ST: Was the wetsuit issue still on your mind as you entered the water, or better said, were you confident it would hold?

Dan: Once it was zipped up and it held, I knew it was good. I was able to calm down and do my best to find a spot where there were not too many people right on top of one another.

ST: I think you swam longer than you had hoped.

Dan: On any given day, I would do a 1:15 fairly easily, but I quickly learned that doing an Ironman swim is a bit of a different story. I am used to the thrashing of a swim start and I do just fine in that environment, but what I had not fully anticipated was how much knocking around there would be throughout the entire 2.4 miles. Given how difficult it was to ever find nice open water to get good strokes in, I will take my 1:23:34 every day of the week.

ST: Word has it that you still have a souvenir from the swim.

Dan: LOL, you mean my lovely, bright red eye? Yeah, I took a pretty strong elbow to my face that knocked my googles off to the side. My eye started stinging after that. I assumed that it was the baby shampoo that I had put on the lenses that mixed with some of the water that was causing the sting. After finishing the race and seeing the horror show in my eye, it was clear that the elbow was a little stronger than I realized at the time.

ST: So it did not bother you the rest of the race?

Dan: Not enough to negatively affect my race or my attitude. It was inconvenient, but I am a big boy, I dealt with it.

ST: How about that bike ride? Was it windy enough for you?

Dan: That was something. I heard that it was the windiest in Ironman Arizona’s history. Of all the disciplines, biking is my thing so I knew I could handle it. I went in to the race thinking I could do a 5:30 or better for the bike portion, but as I rounded Rio Salado to McClintock, I quickly realized that it would be a different kind of day. I have certainly never ridden in headwinds like those ever before.

ST: But the return trips with the tailwind must have found you and all the other competitors well?

Dan: I was a kid in a candy store once I hit the turn-around up at the top of the B-Line. Having that tailwind and the nice decline back into town, I was able to push speeds up to almost 40mph. I love riding fast!

ST: Were you glad though when it was time to start the run?

Dan: I was super excited to get running! I got off my bike and felt completely fresh. As I got geared up in T2, I already knew that I had this thing in the bag. I also knew that I would have a chance to finally interact with my family, friends, volunteers, complete strangers, etc. The run was so fun. From the crowds that were cheering nonstop, to the hilarious group of folks that were peddling bacon, and the most encouraging thing was seeing my beautiful daughters holding signs that they had made for me. It was an incredible experience.

ST: Did you have any bacon?

Dan: There was a big part of me that wanted to grab it just to say I had bacon during my Ironman, but I did not partake. My palate was just not in the mood for bacon at that point.

ST: That bacon might have been nice on that pizza.

Dan: Yeah you are definitely right about that, but I did have some prosciutto on my pizza so I was still covered in the smoked pork family

ST: What went through your mind when you ran down the finish chute?

Dan: I did it! I was 275 pounds a few years ago and now I’m a freakin’ Ironman!

ST: How long ago was that and where are you know?

Dan: I topped out there in 2008. I hover around 200 now.

ST: Do you have a specific target or is it just about being healthier?

Dan: It is really about being healthy and training correctly now. When I got into triathlon in 2009, I ended up going all the way down to 185, but I was also not training and racing smart. I got myself injured in late 2011, and I had to stop training. I fell off the wagon and jumped back up to 245. This past year has been dedicated to preparing for Ironman Arizona and doing that in a way that I do not tear my body to shreds.

ST: I think your wife was a super fan. Did you thank her properly when you saw her?

Dan: Cheering someone on during an Ironman is hard. I know she worked her butt off to track me and be in the right places when I would be coming through. I saw her immediately after I crossed the finish line and I was able to share the moment with her through a fence right past the finish. I sure hope she got the message of how thankful I was that she had supported me so incredibly. If I didn’t say it loud enough, “Molly, you are my rock, I LOVE YOU, thank you for supporting me in Ironman and all things in life!”

ST: So what is next?

Dan: Oh man, Kona? I have my fingers crossed that somehow my name will be drawn in the lottery. If not, I think I will do Ironman Canada next summer.

ST: Good luck Dan and thanks for your time.

Dan: My pleasure!