FEATURE FRIDAY: DAN PASQUALE

FEATURE FRIDAY: DAN PASQUALE

Racing for more

Dan Pasquale's Story

"Racing is a ton of fun and a great way to promote fitness, positive self-image and longevity. However, racing for others in their time of critical need is a life changing experience that can bring together people and communities as they strive for a common goal."


Like the majority of the working world, I get up in the morning, kiss my wife and kids goodbye and go off to my job, ready to tackle another day. The difference is that with my job, I run the risk of not coming home.

My name is Dan, I am proud to say I am a police officer in Northern California. I feel, as most officers do that we have the best job in the entire world but regardless of people’s view of law enforcement, no one deserves to have a family member taken from them forever based solely on their job description.  

To show my support and raise awareness for fallen California police officers I am raising funds by racing Ironmans in full police uniform. This past weekend on May 13th, at the Santa Rosa Ironman 70.3, I biked the 56 miles on a police-issued mountain bike in full uniform and then ran the 13.1 miles in full uniform including duty gear to honor our fallen brethren.

This took some very non-traditional training to accomplish! While my traditional triathlon training comprised the majority of the training program, my coach (Paul Kinney) I had to add some creative workouts as well. I took my tank of a patrol mountain bike out on a few longer road rides, which after the first time called for a few “comfort” adjustments.

Ever try to ride a mountain bike seat on a road for 30 miles? Not advised!

I switched out the saddle with an ISM racing saddle, added my road-cleat pedals and inflated the knobby mountain tires to their max, which was still an insanely-low PSI of only 50. After work, I would jump on the department gym treadmill in an older uniform and run 20 to 30 minutes. The first time I did this was eye opening as well. That heavy leather duty belt bounced and rubbed and required a lot of adjustments! Plus all that body heat from running gets trapped with nowhere to escape creates for some interesting moments. But on May 13th in Santa Rosa’s inaugural Ironman 70.3 race, it was all worth it!

I received such overwhelming support for the cause and for law enforcement in general. The other competitors and spectators really helped push me through the race with their support. In two weeks we raised over $3,500 for the cause and a ton of awareness! That was only the beginning!

On July 29th, I will be donning my police gear and racing the full 140.6 miles of Ironman Santa Rosa again for the cause including full uniform with long pants and duty gear for the run. My fundraising and awareness campaign will continue with even more races and events throughout 2017.

Racing is a ton of fun and a great way to promote fitness, positive self-image and longevity. However, racing for others in their time of critical need is a life changing experience that can bring together people and communities as they strive for a common goal. I encourage each of you to find a reason to Race for More!

Follow Dan's "Iron Cop" journey on his social media.