S8E5 -- UM Australia Athlete in Profile | Matthew O’Brien

A flipped boat, a blinking EPIRB, and a helicopter descent into a sunset—Matt O’Brien’s life pivot starts there. From mining shifts and weekend benders to air rescue work, and a growing list of endurance adventures; Matt’s story is a blueprint for rebuilding a life around endurance and purpose.

We unpack how he cracked into rescue aviation by cold-messaging mentors on LinkedIn, tackled a fitness test he once thought impossible, and learned to swim from scratch as an adult. Matt shares the nuts and bolts of training through a harsh roster—day shifts as recovery, nights for volume, and two weeks off to stack big sessions—plus the mental habits that made those choices stick. If you’re navigating shift work training, adult swim relearning, or prepping for Ultraman distances, his playbook is practical and honest.

Matt also takes us 4,200 kms across Australia from Fremantle to Sydney on an unsupported bikepacking journey defined by mechanical chaos and grit.  He rode through the Nullarbor with breaking spokes, limped into Ceduna to swap a rim, and woke to find his bike stolen—only to track it with an AirTag on his keys and get it back.  Along the way, we break down roadhouse food realities, water carry strategies, and the small logistics that make or break an ultra-distance plan. And we revisit his first Ultraman finish, where pacers and crew helped him slip under the run cutoff by minutes, setting clear goals for a calmer, faster return to UM Australia in 2026.

If you’re a beginner eyeing your first triathlon, a FIFO worker balancing training with fatigue, or an endurance fan who loves a hard-earned comeback, this one’s for you. Follow Matt’s coaching at Lantern Endurance on socials, and keep an eye out for the website launch soon. Enjoy the conversation, then subscribe, rate, and share with a friend who needs a push to start their own first. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• UM Australia 
• Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)
• Ultra 355 Australia
• Cupcake  Cartel
• Indipac

Shout outs and mentions in this episode:

• Casey Neistat
• Jeff Morris (S7E11)
• Andrew Trout
• John Domandl (S7E7)
• Tony Horton
• Nikki Fox
• Michael Wakeman   
• Belinda Sansom
• Kim Jenkins
• Janita Ray
• Troy Ridgley
• Michelle Barratt 
• Nick Mallett (S2E12)
• Carl Gillies
• Kate Bevilaqua

Chapters

• 0:00 Live Coverage Plans And Guest Intro
• 2:16 Tattoos, Identity, And Ultraman Pride
• 5:30 Mining Life To Near-Fatal Boat Flip
• 8:20 Rescue, Reflection, And Career Pivot
• 11:41 Breaking Into Air Rescue And Fitness Tests
• 15:00 Learning To Swim From Zero As An Adult
• 18:00 Shift Work, Training Blocks, And Recovery
• 21:20 Emergency Health Diploma And Scope
• 24:14 Ultraman 515: First Attempt And Cutoffs
• 27:30 Crewing, Pacing, And Community Vibes
• 30:10 Goals For UM Australia And Training Gaps
• 34:10 Building A Crew For The Return
• 36:08 Riding Unsupported Across Australia
• 39:00 Mechanical Mayhem On The Nullarbor
• 42:30 Stolen Bike, AirTag Hunt, And Recovery
• 46:00 Food Logistics, Roadhouses, And Weight Gain
• 49:00 Coaching Beginners And Shift Workers
• 52:00 Links, Live Race Plans, And Closing

Transcript

Larry: 0:29

This may I will be teaming up again with UM Australia to bring their race to live on the 515 YouTube channel. Today's afternoon profile will be taking a second cry at the YouTube course. This time hoping to enjoy the experience without the fear of the 12-hour cutoff. My next guest to the podcast had an interesting 2025. He completed his diploma in emergency health, began work as an online distance coach, rode his bike across the continent of Australia, and got a tattoo. No, it wasn't an M dot because he's never done an iron distance race. Joining me from his home in Brisbane, Australia, welcome to the podcast, Matt O'Brien. Hey Matt.

Matt: 1:16

Thank you, Larry. Thank you. Morning, how are you?

Larry: 1:19

Uh good evening. I'm good.

Matt: 1:22

Oh yeah, yeah, it's right. Oh, very good.

Larry: 1:25

Yeah, we're uh we're doing this from uh across the planet. I'm up in Van British Columbia, Canada. You're down in Australia.

Matt: 1:34

Yeah, technology's amazing, isn't it?

Larry: 1:36

It is. It it even allows us to uh do something like this for an entire race for 36 hours, which uh you're gonna be a part of coming up here this year. This is gonna be a fantastic event.

Matt: 1:49

Yeah, it was an incredible and really strong FOMO last year watching it all unfold. It was.

Larry: 1:57

Yeah, well, that was that was the point of it. We want to get more people wanting to get over there and do that race.

Matt: 2:03

It was effective.

Larry: 2:07

Well, out of that introduction, I think the first thing I would like to talk to you about, if you don't mind, is um I saw you posted that you got a new tattoo. And from the looks of your Instagram, um, I don't think that uh it was your first tattoo. So do you feel like sharing what you got?

Matt: 2:26

Um yeah, so I I wanted something after Ultraman, and granted it took me a bit of a while to get around to it, but I just got the Ultraman logo um and then my race number as well, as you keep your race number in Ultraman. So yeah, as a good little reminder to me about you know, one of the really hard things that I've taken on. So yeah.

Larry: 2:49

Oh, that that's awesome. Can we can we get another look at that for the people on the uh yeah, it's a bit hard to see, but yeah, oh yeah, awesome.

Matt: 2:58

Yeah.

Larry: 2:59

So 368.

Matt: 3:03

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good number. I did have to check, did have to check all of my photos and everything about 30 times before I got that tattooed unbutt, because usually got a pretty good attention to detail, but I could just see myself, you know, going back next year and then realizing I've got the wrong number or something.

unknown: 3:28

Yes.

Larry: 3:28

That was the big risk. That would be a little upward for sure.

Matt: 3:32

Yeah, yeah.

Larry: 3:34

No, it looks good. Um, thank you. What what other tattoos do you have?

Matt: 3:39

Oh, I've just I've got a few. Um there's uh a YouTuber that I loved called Casey Neistat, and he's got a tattoo that I loved. Um and it just says do more, and I've got that on the inside of my arm there in in my handwriting. Um, just as a yeah, I just I like that philosophy. You know, there's always a bit more you can do, and it keeps you positive, I suppose, keeps you from getting too overwhelmed or laid down. And the other ones are just yeah, nothing exciting.

Larry: 4:08

Oh yeah, yeah. But yeah, you're you're the two important ones.

Matt: 4:13

Yeah, absolutely.

Larry: 4:14

You're the the usual suspect though, where once you got one, you uh you had to get more, right?

Matt: 4:20

Unfortunately, that that's a real thing, yeah. I don't subscribe to the it's a good pain thing. Some people say, you know, it's a good pain. I don't subscribe to that at all. It's not a good pain at all. But they they are one of those things I think that once you get one, it's kind of like, oh, I'm like at that one day, and yeah, over time it compounds.

Larry: 4:40

Do you do you go to the same artist all the time? Do you want to give a shout out to your tattoo artist?

Matt: 4:45

No, I don't I don't even think I've been to the same one twice, to be honest. Oh, okay. Not through um not through any like intentional reason. I just seem to they seem to be fairly short planning, like you know, like I'll I'll plan it then a week later it happens. And because I've been traveling around so much with work and whatnot, it's yeah.

Larry: 5:06

I get it, yeah. Well, let's uh let's let's talk a little bit about what you do for a living. Uh I understand that before you got into Ultra, you were working in the mining industry. Um, and and maybe you weren't as fit as you are now, you look quite fit. Uh, what was your life like at that time when you were in the mining industry?

Matt: 5:30

Actually, it's funny, I have got one other tattoo that is probably an important one. And it's on the back of my arm there, um, 52.8. So I'll explain that a tiny bit. So when I worked in the mines, um, I was a production superintendent of one of the really big mines in New South Wales. And I just worked huge hours. I lived at work and I spent my time off on the weekends drinking, you know, quite large amounts of alcohol and partying. And I had a had a pretty big boat at the time. And my mates and I had just spent the weekend, you know, drinking and partying and having a good time. So there was no real consideration into eating healthy or anything like that. And that combined with my roster and the big hours I worked, um, led me to be in quite poor shape. So the heaviest that I ever got to was 152.8 kilos, um, hence the 52.8. So I was um it's uh it's quite quite, I don't know, it's I don't want to say humbling, it's quite interesting, but to look back at photos of back then and yeah, see the difference.

Larry: 6:40

Yeah. And and for our American friends that are listening or watching, that would be upwards of 330 pounds. It's like three 335.

Matt: 6:53

Yeah, yeah. It's it was big, hey. Some of the photos are quite um, I don't say hard to look at, but you kind of look at them and just think, I don't I don't really know how that was acceptable.

Larry: 7:06

Yeah. Well, you yeah, you you mentioned uh a boat, and um I I understand that you had a life-threatening experience that kind of put you into a totally completely different road with your life. Um can you tell us about that?

Matt: 7:25

Yeah, that's actually how I that that turning point changed so much in my life. So we used to do a lot of fishing um for for game fish, so way out to sea, um like over the continental shelf um off New South Wales. So we'd be, you know, we'd leave home in the dark and spend an hour or two traveling out into the ocean and then fish all day and then come home in the dark. Uh, we had a bit of an incident one day. We're about 80 kilometers out to sea, so say 35, 40 nautical miles out to sea, and we flipped the boat onto its roof with two of us on board. Yeah, so all happened very quickly. Um, a couple of things went wrong, and yeah, next thing you know, boat's upside down. So thankfully, in that process, we'd set the e-perb off. So we kind of scurried onto the boat and yeah, waited there looking at this piece of plastic with a light flashing, hoping that you know it's working. Because that's what you don't think with e-perbs. Like you assume they work, but when you need one, you you know, it's just a plastic box with a light flashing, and you're just a hoping that it's doing its job.

Larry: 8:35

But so for for those of us that aren't boaters, what's what's an e-perb?

Matt: 8:41

So it's um, yeah, so it's just a satellite GPS device. So it's always inactive. It has a like a tab. When you open the tab and push the button, it sends your GPS coordinates and position to AMSA, which is the Australian Marine Safety Bureau. Okay. And they can tell there's an e-perb going off in that location, and they'll send resources that are appropriate to wherever it is. Okay. So we we floated around the water for a while, and then the Westpac helicopter um actually came overhead and they yeah, they winched down and they winched us both into the helicopter. The boat sank that night and was never seen again.

Larry: 9:21

So how how long how long were you sitting on on the boat tipped over while you were waiting for the rescue?

Matt: 9:29

Yeah, for us in the water, to be honest, it feels like 10 minutes. Um, apparently it was pretty close to an hour by the time it was quicker than normal because they were on a job and they got rediverted. But yeah, from what I could talk from get from talking to the crew and that, it was about an hour in the water, maybe just a bit less. But it felt like five or ten minutes it it flew. Yeah.

Larry: 9:52

Wow, I would think it would go the other way.

Matt: 9:55

Yeah, you'd think so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You'd think so, but no, not the case. It it went really quickly. That did. Yeah. Yeah. And that was, I guess, the big turning point.

Larry: 10:06

Yeah. So so tell us about that. What what did this uh do to you this this experience? What made a turning point?

Matt: 10:13

It's it's it's hard to explain. I think it's a mixture of quite a few things with you know quite a few emotions, I guess, in there as well. But I can very distinctively remember. So the boat was um floating, floating bow up. So I was kind of standing on the windscreen, um, looking up in water, kind of up to my chest. And I can remember like looking up and the helicopter comes down above us, and you know, the crewman's winching down or the paramedics winching down. And I can remember looking back towards the coast, and there was like this amazing sunset. And as traumatic and as terrible as the circumstances were, there's also that small part of you that kind of has to take that in and go, like, this is actually quite incredible, you know. Like, thankfully, most people would go their lives without experiencing something like that. But it was hard to kind of not take in this incredible sunset and then this massive helicopter above you. And then um, yeah, a couple of months later, I decided to take some time off work. So we actually built another boat and fished another season, and then I took a bit of time off work and did a lap around Australia, and I got maybe uh maybe a month, two months into my trip, and was I just thought, I I want to go and try and do that for a job. And that was yeah, yeah. So at the time I was still probably 150 kilos, zero exercise, just yeah, in my dual cad land cruiser traveling around, and then yeah. Just it just kind of clicked clicked one day, and I I just thought, no, I I need to give this a shot, and yeah.

Larry: 11:48

So so when you decided that you wanted to give that a shot, um, what did that entail for you? What did you have to do? Did you keep working in mining and do some transitional education? Yeah, what what was going on?

Matt: 12:01

So I I yes, I started on LinkedIn actually. Um, because it's it's it's quite hard to find information about how to get into that industry because a lot of the people in that industry have either been in it for ages or have kind of came straight across from defense. So for a civilian looking to get into the industry, there's not heaps of information online. So I just went on LinkedIn and then kind of just cold messaged maybe only four or five people and were just like, I didn't tell them about the boat thing. I just said, hey, you know, this is my name. I do this for a job now. Um, this is you know the industry I work in, but I'm really interested in this role. I just wanted to see if you guys could give me, you know, five minutes for a chat, and they all replied and were phenomenal. I actually work for one of them now. I do.

Larry: 12:50

That's awesome.

Matt: 12:51

But they they laid out a very clear pathway for me. They were kind of like, these are the things that you'll need to do, this is the training you'll need, this is the fitness test, you know, criteria. These things are pretty much non-negotiable. So it would have been probably the best part of 18 months between making that decision, if not a bit more, um, between making that decision and then yeah, kind of getting, you know, an interview and a role out of that.

Larry: 13:19

And and did you continue working during that time or were you focused thing on getting ready to do that?

Matt: 13:24

Yeah, so I so I worked full-time in the mines still for the majority of that time. And then I just decided that it was all getting a bit too much, and I just needed to um commit to it. I kind of got to the point where it was I need to burn all the bridges and just fully commit to this. And if it doesn't, you know, if it doesn't work out, then I can always go back to the mines. I'm leaving on good terms, but it was too hard trying to juggle my training and what I was trying to achieve while I was working 12 hour days, six days a week. So I actually quit um my mining job and went and worked at a gym for it wasn't long, it was maybe two months at the gym, and then yeah, my phone rang one day and yeah, after probably the fifth of interview, I I got a start. So wow.

Larry: 14:15

Yeah. So so you were saying that you there was a physical fitness test, and when you were talking earlier about being at the mine and and being, you know, 152 kilos. What did you have to do like an extreme exercise program then at that point to try and get ready for this new position?

Matt: 14:37

Yeah, so I did the first, so I had to focus like pretty heavily on weight loss, and then the other thing that was a real killer for me was swimming. So I probably did the first 20 to 30 kilos of my weight loss really bad. Um, I just kind of lived on a thousand calories for you know months, and um yeah, looking back in hindsight, it was effective, but it was pretty detrimental to my you know energy levels and training overall. Yeah. Um but I got like probably the biggest takeout of it, and this is one of the I think it was like a really big highlight for me, especially when I finished day one at UM. When I first spoke to these guys and they kind of gave me the fitness test, I went to the pool. I remember I was in Broom and I I tried to swim and I could do like six or seven strokes and had to stop because like I'd always been around the water, but I'd just never been a good freestyle swimmer. Like it was just, you know, we'd go out to the shelf and jump in the water and swim around the boat, but you'd just float around and do breaststroke like I'd yeah. You'd not even realize it at 25 meters. Yeah, I know. Yeah, so like when I first started, I couldn't even do a lap at a 25-meter pool. So then to have the fitness test, which was a 700-meter swim in less than 16 minutes, which isn't aggressive, but you know, when you can't even swim 25-meter lap, it's aggressive. So yeah, I ended up learning to swim again as an adult. Went and did swim classes a couple of days a week with watching the seven-year-old kids smash me.

Larry: 16:17

Quite hopefully.

Matt: 16:22

But we're all in the same pool. So it's hard to not realize that the kids next to you are, you know, doing two laps to your one.

Larry: 16:30

Well, did did you have a sporting background as a kid if you weren't in the water like every other Aussie? Were you playing footy or soccer?

Matt: 16:40

So uh played footy when I was very, very young, but pretty much my teenage years and all through high school, just DMX's and stuff like that. And then when I first got into the mines, I did a lot of powerlifting and weightlifting and bodybuilding and that kind of stuff. So never anything endurance. So I'd always kind of especially after doing a lot of power lifting and stuff, I'd always kind of hold myself and justify to myself, like, you'll never be a runner, like I'm not not built to be a runner, and I won't lie, I still think there's a bit of truth in that, but you know, I've done some pretty good runs now, so I don't think it's fair to say that really anymore.

Larry: 17:22

And when you were working now in this job, I understand that you also like you you've got your two weeks on and you're two weeks off. And yeah, yeah, yeah. I I guess how does it work for you? Are you you're stationed at some base somewhere and then you get calls out, or you're doing you're doing like practices or how do you get your training in when you're when you're got your two weeks on, or do you get any training in?

Matt: 17:52

Yeah, no, I've I've got a pretty good system most of the time. Um obviously you can land the best week you can, but then when you work a job like we do, like we'll just randomly end up on overtime some of those when a job goes over or something. So you just kind of make it work. But I do seven days, a 24-hour shift, and then seven nights. Um, so the day shifts can be a bit of a challenge. So how I kind of structure my training, especially at the moment, is that day shift week is kind of my recovery week. I don't plan that to be a very big week just because I know it's difficult to train. Night shift week for me is mecca. I can train on night shift, you know, because you got all day, I don't start till 5 p.m. So um I train pretty hard on night shift, and then my two weeks off are the same, basically for the two weeks off. I have no distractions really from training and eating, so it's really good.

Larry: 18:48

Yeah. And and what is your life like at home when uh when you are home for two weeks?

Matt: 18:55

Yeah, really good. It's it's kind of like you could pair it, you can compare it to going on holidays every two weeks, to be honest. Because you know, you finish work and then you you have two weeks to you go back to work and you know, no real you know, work or job commitments um during that two weeks. So it's just travel and catch up with friends and train. Train, trying.

Larry: 19:21

So no, no family, no kids that you have to chase around or take places.

Matt: 19:25

It's no none. No, yeah, yeah, yeah, just just me.

Larry: 19:30

So yeah. That's that's that's gonna make it easy then. Compared to a lot of these people. Yeah, you know, that you you you compete against all these dads that are trying to squeeze that training in, and yeah.

Matt: 19:45

I I I really don't know how they do it, to be honest with you. So I was working at a similar roster when I trained for UM last time, and my partner and um well my partner at the time, she was just incredible with being accommodating and you know, it never being an issue. But yeah, it I did reflect quite a few times, like if I worked Monday to Friday, had a family, and was training for this, it would be such a different world.

Larry: 20:15

Yeah.

Matt: 20:15

Um, I take my hat off to them. I don't know how they do it.

Larry: 20:21

Uh so in January last year, you completed a diploma in emergency health. Um, I assume this is part of what you're doing in your job. Is it a requirement or is it just something that you did as um, I want to have the extra training?

Matt: 20:38

Yeah, that that's right. So it's not a requirement. We always fly with a paramedic and then you usually a doctor as well. Um so for me it was more about just giving me a bit more of a better understanding of what was going on in the back of the aircraft when they were with patients. So when we when we do winch jobs, it's very regular just myself and the paramedic. And then you you do get pretty hands-on sometimes with those patients. So just it doesn't give me any different scope or anything. It just gives me a better understanding, be a bit more helpful with them and have a bit better situational awareness of what's actually going on while they're doing the treatment.

Larry: 21:16

Right. Yeah. And and what's the intensity of a of a program like that? How long does it take? And are you able to fit it in with your your work, or are you now trying to study while you're at work?

Matt: 21:29

Yeah, um, I can get a bit of study done during work hours, which is really good. Our our maximum hours we can work are happy by CASA, which is the civil um aviation authority. So we we can't just, even though we're rostered on, say seven till five, we we can't stay at work seven till five every day because we just run out of hours. So we do kind of go in, check all the aircraft, do all our checks, make sure everything's sweet, and then you'll you go back to the accommodation and just be on standby. So there is a Opportunities to do study at work, which is really good. It was a two-year diploma, and I did it in about a year and a half. And that's just due to really good opportunities like that. And to be fair, my two weeks off. That's really easy on my two weeks off to get training. Um, you know, training in just jump on the laptop for a few hours somewhere and yeah.

Larry: 22:21

Oh, that's great. And does this now open up other job opportunities for you in the future? Should you want to? Is that is that part of it?

Matt: 22:29

It will help contribute to that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't say it directly would open up any opportunities, but I guess every bit of training you do and every bit of experience you get over time, you know, builds that resume and builds your experience and makes you more employable.

Larry: 22:45

Yeah. Would would is this the would you be considered a paramedic at this point? Would you be able to go into a ground ambulance and be a paramedic?

Matt: 22:53

No.

Larry: 22:53

So still a level below that.

Matt: 22:55

Nah, no, much different roles. Okay. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, much different. Much different roles still. Yeah.

Larry: 23:01

Okay. We will be right back to my conversation with Matt. But first, I want to share a preview of what is coming up in the next episode of the podcast. I will be speaking with the former UM athlete turned Dream Team member Peter Hudson. Many athletes race to fundraise for a cause. Here's a short clip from our conversation where Peter is speaking to how racing for a cause made it even more rewarding. And his was attached to his mom.

Matt: 23:43

But what I found was like it was just easier to get out, and I felt like more committed to doing things when I was doing it for someone else. So the second I started fundraising, everything just became a little bit easier. Like someone donate $20 and I go, I'm doing this for Cancer Council for Bow Cancer Australia. Like I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for something bigger. And um, yeah, that like to turn around at the end of the day and raise, I think, over $10,000 three or four times is like that's the my that's just really rewarding to me more than crossing the finish line myself or anything like that, but actually having an effect and like I say, like even the smallest ripple can start the wave. So just ten thousand dollars fundraising. Hopefully it builds over time when we do something else soon. But yeah, it's sort of more the bigger pictures, the fundraising and things like that for me, as opposed to what I get out of it just myself.

Larry: 24:44

That's Hutto, a major part of the UM Dream team, who will be the guest in my next episode. Now back to my conversation with Matt. In this part, we start to get into the various events that he's participated in. Let's talk a little bit about your your races. I I mentioned in the beginning that you've never actually done an Iron Man event, uh, which is interesting, or an iron distance event. Yeah. Uh you've done a handful of 70.3s, you did the Ultra 355 that they used to have. Yeah. Um what convinced you to try and and go to the UM Australia?

Matt: 25:23

Um Jeff and Andrew Trout, I will directly blame them too, I think. I think I can I think I can directly blame them too. And John Demandel is the other one. He was very much to blame for that as well.

Speaker 4: 25:39

Oh yeah.

Matt: 25:40

Um so did did 355, and then we went out to dinner on day three, um, and the decision was kind of made that night. Um I think it was Tony who'd kind of suggested, would you consider doing UM one day? And I kind of was like, Oh, I can't. I've never done a full distance Iron Man, like that's the prerequisite. And they were kind of, you know, oh well, you've done 355 now. You know, we'd we'd accept that. And then I I think I registered about a week later.

unknown: 26:10

Oh yeah.

Matt: 26:12

Yeah, yeah. It was those guys are very strongly to blame for that, thankfully.

Larry: 26:18

Yeah. So that's uh Tony Horton that you mentioned there, the the owner of the of the race, the guy who started it off, and and Jeff Morris is the race director.

Matt: 26:27

Jeff Morris, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Larry: 26:32

Yeah. Well, when you did your first one in 2024, um, I don't know what your goals might have been, maybe to get it done, as as most people do when they do their first UM 515 distance race. But uh you you were one of those guys that wants to add a little bit of drama to the race. Uh, can you tell us about what happened?

Matt: 26:57

I on day three, I made the run cut off by it was like two and a half minutes. Um, not intentionally either. And even running down the beach, I was convinced we weren't going to make it. But yeah, we did by two and a half minutes. Um yeah, it was quite an experience, I must admit.

Larry: 27:23

Yeah, and and who was who was on your crew that was helping you to push and get that under-the-wire finish?

Matt: 27:32

Yeah, I had a had a really good crew. So I had a a pacer lined up and then kind of a few that were tentative, but nothing really locked in. So the two pacers that I ran with, I didn't actually meet until the athlete briefing briefing. Um and they were both just phenomenal. Um Nikki Fox and Michael Wakeman, and they were just yeah, I there's there's no way I would have finished day three, at least not within the cutoff if it wasn't for them too. Which was a big shift for me, because going into going into Ultraman, and I guess you don't know what you don't know. I like I didn't really want to have a pacer. I was just kind of like, no, I'd prefer to just do the day by myself, you know. And I'll I look back now and that was insanity, but you know, you don't know what you don't know. There's no way I would have finished day three if it wasn't for them, um, for multiple reasons. And then the other part of my crew was the part my partner at the time, Belinda Sampson, um, John Demandel and his wife Kim. And those three were just superstars. They yeah, I could not speak highly enough for how incredible they were.

Larry: 28:49

Yeah, yeah. And and we had John on the podcast last season after the UM race.

Matt: 28:56

Yeah, yeah.

Larry: 28:58

He unfortunately for that, yeah. Yeah, he had a DNF at that race after crashing twice.

Matt: 29:04

Uh yeah, yeah. You couldn't make that up. That's so sad.

Larry: 29:10

Yeah, yeah. But uh he he had a great attitude about it in that episode. He was still, you know, and and he got engaged, so yeah, how good.

Matt: 29:21

Yeah, I love watching that. That's so good. Yeah, John's a super resilient and positive guy. It'd take a lot more than that to shake him as disappointing as disappointing as it was. He's he's a really good dude.

Larry: 29:35

And and obviously, all of these experiences that you had and the FOMO from watching it last year online has got you signed up to go back again, and that's why we got you here today to talk about what's coming up for you. Um, yeah, what is it about that whole experience? Is there something other than what you've already said that's like forcing you to I gotta go do that again? Or is it I gotta beat that time, or what what is it for you that's that's taking you back again this year?

Matt: 30:07

I I definitely have some um unfinished business with day three, that's that's for sure. But that's that's not the reason for going back, I think. The reason for going back is the atmosphere, and then you combine that with the you know the other athletes and their teams. It's just yeah, by far the best event that you know that I've I've I've been involved in. It's not as flashy as you know, Iron Man. You see Iron Man with the red carpet and allowed music, and it's a pretty awesome atmosphere, but you can't compare that, I don't think, to the vibe you get from Ultraman and the people there. It's yeah, yeah. Plus the distances are cool. Like it's fun to tell people I'm training for, you know, training for an 84 kilometer run on a 10k ocean swim.

Larry: 30:53

Yeah. Was that the first time you got to 10k on on a swim was when you did the Ultraman?

Matt: 30:59

I I did one in the pool. So I was working in East Timor at the time. Um, and I did a pool swim that was 10k in an 18-meter pool. So it was like 500 and something laps.

Larry: 31:12

How did you count?

Matt: 31:15

But I just watch strictly watch. I was a cat to about five, and that's it. Yeah, but um, I'd done a couple of reasonably long open water swims and a couple of reasonably long pool swims as well. So yeah, I kind of went into it fairly positive and got out of the water. I don't remember my time, it was slower than I'd wanted.

Larry: 31:39

It was 424. 424 was perfect, thank you.

Matt: 31:44

So slower than I wanted by a fair bit, but at the same time, it was kind of I got out of the water, I wasn't cooked, I felt really positive. I'd taken on nutrition throughout the whole swim. And two years before, I couldn't even swim 25 meters. So I didn't bash myself up over that. I was kind of like, you know, it's not the result I wanted, but you've still got to appreciate where you've come from and yeah.

Larry: 32:10

Yeah, absolutely. Um, so with the times that you had in your previous race in 2024 and the knowledge that you've gained from meeting all these people and now getting some extra training in and knowing now knowing what you didn't know before, what what are your goals for this year? What are you looking to do?

Matt: 32:33

Um I I don't I'd like to go sub-four for the swim. I know that. I'd definitely like to do that. Swimming is a little bit difficult for me with work. So because of where I work, when we're on day shift, there's just zero pool access. There isn't a pool on the island. On night shift, I can catch the ferry over to Thursday Island during the day and swim. But at the moment, it's costing me about $36 every time I go over by the time I pay for the ferry and my pool entry. So I did that um three times last tour. You know, it's $120 in pool fees for a week. It starts to get a bit out of control. But I think I'll just have to suck that up um for me night shift for the next few months and you know, just pay it. Um the ride I haven't put a great deal of thought into. I'm pretty confident that the bike for both stuff both days will be, you know, well under cutoff and should feel good. So I'm happy with that. The run, I don't I don't think I want to share my my target time, but um it will be nowhere near the two and a half minutes. Oh yeah, definitely, yeah. I I didn't I didn't feel like it was going to be that close, and I I feel like I had put the K's in. I I was a little bit behind the ball when I started um due to a couple of reasons, but we were 18 or 19 weeks out, and my run volume was only you know 20, 25k a week um at the time, which yeah, so there was a bit of confusion with myself, my coach, when the dates were, and a few things like that. And then we kind of started a bit behind the ball. So I think that in an effort to ramp up you know my kilometres over the week, it just it just left me a bit too cooked to do much speed work. And yeah, I put some pretty big weeks back to back. I did a 50k run and you know, plenty of long runs and some 60, 70, 80k weeks leading up to it, but I think the fatigue was just a bit too high to you know. Yeah, I was just kind of digging myself into a big hole. Yeah. The goal ultimately, but was to finish it was so I'm not gonna take anything away from that. As someone that spent their whole life saying I'm you know, I'm not a runner and from where I'd come two years earlier to Yeah, exactly, yeah, to finish a double marathon under the cutoff, I was I was happy to take that tick and yeah. Yeah, but next time should be better.

Larry: 35:13

And and who are you bringing for your crew? Have you got that worked out?

Matt: 35:18

Yeah, I've got um three people that are brilliant as well. So uh two triathletes, um one from the Cupcake cartel, Janita Ray, she's incredible and heaps of experience. Another guy from Maitland where I used to live, Troy Ridgeley, so really good triathlete and just overall just super dude. And a lady that I used to work with as well. Um, so not a triathlete, Michelle Barrett, and she's just a superstar of a human, just one of those infectious, happy, bubbly, positive people. So she'll just be great to have a partner.

Larry: 35:54

She won't get along with the people that you am Australian are exactly, yeah, exactly.

Matt: 36:01

I I'm in for a big few days with them through, I think they'll they'll keep me honest. So yeah, it'll be really good.

Larry: 36:07

That's great. Uh yeah, and and I I assume that you put this cross Australia bike trip into your plans as part of your training for this. You you cycled unsupported across Australia, did a little bikepacking trip. Was this the Indie Pack or did you just do this on your own?

Matt: 36:26

No, I just did it on my own. It was kind of so when I was training for Ultraman last time, I I met a cyclist that I was working with that had done Indie Pack a couple of times, um, and then had done the transam in America. And then I guess that kind of planted the sleeve with me. I I kind of went away from that conversation and I was like, that's pretty cool, hey. Like riding across Australia unsupported. And he'd told me stories about you know, sleeping on the side of the road in his sleeping bag and stuff like that. And I was just like, Oh, I really like that. That's you know, and then that kind of yeah, I guess manifested over time. And then earlier this year I was like, I'm just gonna bite the bullet, I'm just gonna do it, put in the leave, and work approved it. And yeah, I started training, and a couple of months later I was on the bike.

Larry: 37:13

That's great. Um, yeah, that was great. It was that wasn't that wasn't Nick Mallet, was it?

Matt: 37:20

Uh no, no, I can't remember. It was Carl Gillies his name is yeah, pilot from from work.

Larry: 37:26

Okay, yeah. Yeah, how how long did it take you and and what was the distance that you covered?

Matt: 37:34

Yeah, so 4,200 um and something K's. I don't remember the exact number, 4-2 something, it was just over 20. I think it was 21 days, so it averaged about 210 a day. That did when you averaged out overall. Yeah. I did the I did the last um 496 in in one go. So I'd kind of I knew during the ride that I wanted to have one day where I really punched it and tried to see the K's that I could get. And then, yeah, 500 Ks on Google, but it only ended up being 496 on the garment by the time I got there. But I did that in 28 hours. Um, I slept once for an hour on the side of the road, just in my cycling clothes, didn't even take my shoes off, just kind of put the bike down. I laid on a bit of grass next to the road, set me an alarm for an hour, and yeah. That was yeah, I was demolished by the time I got to Sydney.

Larry: 38:32

Yeah, so you finish in Sydney at the opera house, you start in Perth or Fremantle. Um, I did a a year of teacher exchange in Perth um with Captain Villaqua. So I actually was familiar with Frio, loved going over there on the weekends. Yeah.

Matt: 38:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a beautiful spot. Um, unfortunately, I haven't spent a heap of time there. So I got off the plane because I'd I'd finished night shift at work, splew the following morning, got to Perth at about nine o'clock, and then I just got an Uber with my bike box, the Frio Beach, put my bike together, smashed the box up, put it in a bin, and then that was it.

Larry: 39:16

So well, at least you got your bike there with you. You know, sometimes when you're traveling, the bike doesn't always make it. And oh scary. You you have a few uh adventure stories to to go along with this this journey of yours of 21 days, and and one of them does involve your bike, is that right?

Matt: 39:36

Yeah, it was a it was a roller coaster, it was. I I actually have footage of this morning that I still haven't been able to watch, but I I had a lot of issues with my back wheel. So I snapped a couple of spokes just out of Kalgooli, managed to get them fixed. Um thanks to a guy that helped me out. I put a post on Facebook Marketplace and you know, because it was a public holiday, and yeah, thankfully he could help me and fix the bike and I got running.

Larry: 40:05

Kalgooli's not far into this ride, right? You're going across Australia.

Matt: 40:11

It's like four or five hundred Ks, and I've got this massive mechanical on a basically brand new bike. I was yeah, I'm usually pretty positive. I was not very happy. But the worst thing that could have happened happened, and that was we fixed the bike, and then I got to the very start of the nullaball, which is Nausman, and I snapped another spoke, and I knew it was like 16, 700k to the next bike shop. And yeah, I'm not sure if you've seen the photo, but by the time I made Sejourna, I had six or seven broken spokes. You could put your hand or your fist through the um tire in one spot. It was I don't know how the bike was still going. The back wheel was like this. But yeah, so I got to Sejuna and I had a rim waiting for me. I'd um got a rim for Adelaide and got it posted to Sejuna. Got there pretty late in the afternoon, and yeah, I set my tent up, paid for a caravan for the night caravan park, which I don't usually do, but yeah, set the tent up, chained my bike to a fence, went to sleep, and then I woke up at maybe five o'clock in the morning, unzipped my tent, stuck my head out, and my bike was gone.

Larry: 41:23

Oh my goodness.

Matt: 41:25

Yeah, it had been stolen overnight. So I went through maybe 20 minutes or so of deep contemplation about my life and my life choices. Because like even if by some miracle I could like you couldn't buy a bike in Sejuna unless maybe there was one on marketplace, but like even if I could buy a bike, by the time I got it there, I wasn't gonna make you know my flight back to Sydney. Like I was the ride was over. Like there was no, you know, there was no option.

Larry: 41:56

Yeah. How big of a how big of a place was this that you were in where the bike was stolen? Yeah.

Matt: 42:00

Uh it's a small town, so it's a big, small town, but it's not big or small by Australian standards. That's confusing, isn't it? It's a reasonably sized town. It is, it's reasonably, reasonably big, but it's not a city, but it's still it's still a reasonable size.

Larry: 42:17

Big big enough for somebody to go hide a bike and nobody would necessarily be able to. Oh, it's the kids from down the street. I know who took your bike.

Matt: 42:27

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Without saying too much, when I spoke to the police, I have a feeling that the police had a pretty good vibe who it was. Um, they didn't let any details on, but they yeah, I feel like they had a pretty good, pretty good vibe. Yeah, but I guess the key to all this is it just it clicked with me just out of nowhere. I thought, oh, I've let my car keys are in my frame bag, and my car keys have got an air tag on them. So I pulled out my iPhone, opened the Find My App, and I could actually see the black's location, you know, maybe 5k away on the other side of town. So yeah, I walked to the police station and there was a few hours of back and forth, and a couple of other things happened, and then yeah, the the police were out looking, and then I was out on foot looking as well, and then it turns out they yeah, they pulled over and you know, you the guy looking for the bike? Yeah, yeah. Oh, we found it. That was yeah. The the videos I was talking about that were quite emotional was that process of, you know, oh yeah, them telling me they'd found the bike, and then I didn't I wasn't gonna really let myself believe it until I seen the black because it could be someone else's stolen bike or it could be the person's bike that owned it. Like it's but I've actually got it on footage as the police kind of wheel the bike out from behind the car and it's like, oh my god, like it's not over. So I um I lost. Maybe a thousand dollars worth of stuff that was on the bike, which was unfortunate. But the probably the worst thing that they they stole was my crank tank, like the three-liter water tank that was in my frame. Because I still had a couple of days where it was like 200 kilometers between servos. So that really impacted me carrying water for them days.

Speaker 4: 44:22

Right.

Matt: 44:23

Um, because I didn't have many bottle cages because I had the three-liter crank tank. So I ended up getting some bottle cages and then some the biggest bottles I could get were 700 mils. So I went to kind of 1.4 litres instead of three, and then had to just kind of jerry-rig and bungee a few water bottles to the bike. But yeah, got to the post office, got the wheel changed, and then I hit the road. I still did about 170k that day. I rode till about 11 o'clock that night, and yeah, still put in a big day. Yeah.

Larry: 44:56

When when I was looking at your bike, um, I noticed there wasn't much on it. And I thought, no, you're just you're you're a really good like bike trekker. You you can travel with the the least amount of stuff possible, but I guess it was a lot of it got stolen.

Matt: 45:17

I um I'd gone through my packing list a heap of times, and then I even did a couple of long rides, uh two kind of overnight long rides in preparation, and they were really crucial for me, realizing that as much as there was things I wanted to take, I didn't want to carry them.

Speaker 4: 45:38

Right.

Matt: 45:38

So I I'd culled what I was taking quite a few times to get it down to, you know, I ended up by the time I got to Sydney, I had one pair of cycling clothes, one pair of clothes to wear when I wasn't cycling, one pair of socks, and yeah, just the other essential stuff I needed. It was it was pretty nasty to be honest. Yeah.

Larry: 46:00

And and I've seen other people that have done this cycled across Australia, and basically there are large expansion expanses. You were saying 200 kilometers sometimes between service stations, and you just kind of stay at these little roadhouses or pitch a tent wherever. What what's that experience like going to the to the road houses across Australia?

Matt: 46:23

Yeah, so the roadhouses are all pretty good, I guess, given that there's so much distance in between them. Most of the ones that you go into are like a pretty good standard. Some are certainly better than others, but you can usually get pretty good food at most of them. Um, I didn't camp at any of them. Oh, I sorry, I camped in my tent two or three times, you know, out the front or round the back, but not actually in accommodation. Most nights I'd just walk into the bush a hundred meters, set me a tent up there, and yeah, wake up in the morning and off again.

Larry: 46:57

Yeah. And you're saying the the food is not bad at these places, but I'm guessing it's probably not a big variety either. Is it like just your typical roadside hamburgers and stuff like that?

Matt: 47:10

So this this is this is one thing that was something I probably didn't consider enough. So, in an effort to save weight and not carry too much, I decided to not take any cooking gear. So initially I was taking cooking stuff, and then I was like, the problem's not the cooking stuff, the problem's food. You know, the problem's needing to carry X amount of food. And even if you take dehydrated meals, like two weeks worth is a lot. And then, you know, where do you resupply? And you can't carry cold things. So I ended up just saying, like, I'm not gonna take any um cooking stuff, I'm just gonna live at the roadhouses. The bigger roadhouses, because they cater to all the interstate truck drivers, you can pretty much get you know decent home cooked food at any of them. Pretty good variety, and to be fair, most of the meals are really nice. Yeah. Something I didn't plan on is the smaller roadhouses, that's not the case. So there was like multiple days I'd ride 150k plus, get to a servo and find a Bayamarie full of dim sims and Chico Rolls and you know, stuff like that. And it was just like this is not the food that I need after today. And then I think I kind of assumed that the food, like the snacks I'd be able to get at a server station, you know, most places, I'd be able to get on the nullabore. But then some of them smaller roadhouses, like you'd go to them and I couldn't get like there was just no healthy solutions. There was no healthy snacks. Your your options were chips, chocolate bars, lollies. That was, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I hadn't considered that. And then you kind of end up in that predicament where you're walking around the shop like, well, I've got another 100k to the next servo. Kind of need to take something with me. What's the best choice here? And sometimes there wasn't any.

Larry: 49:06

A couple of chocolate bars and a bottle of coke and off you go.

Matt: 49:10

I'll be honest, I think I'm probably the only person that has ridden a pushbike across the country in 20 days and put on weight. Like I was heavier in Sydney. I go to Sydney, I was like, oh geez.

Larry: 49:26

Yeah, that is amazing.

Matt: 49:27

Oh yeah, yeah, you've got to laugh. Everyone was joking, like, oh, by the time you come back, you'll you'll be so thin, and yeah, it went the other way for me. But you know, you live and learn, don't you? You just yeah.

Larry: 49:42

Oh yeah, yeah, of course. Well, the the other thing that I I mentioned uh off the top is that in the past year you also started a coaching business. Um, I guess you've you've reached a point where you feel like you've got some kind of niche or you've got some knowledge. What is it that you feel that you offer that's kind of unique um that that you want to be able to go out and help other people do these crazy ultra events or or just get in shape?

Matt: 50:11

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, no, for sure. I think that I've been really lucky. So I've had a couple of coaches now um that have been I guess they've all brought different things to the table in their own, you know, in their own unique ways, as everyone does, but I've had a few that have been really, really, really good. But if I look back to my first um coach that I had, probably the big highlight that I'd take out of that is I remember like when I did my first ever triathlon, I I thought I was going to die. Like I was so nervous leading up to it, and I was just freaking out. It was only a club race. I think it was only a super sprint club race. So like super short, but you know, being my first one, I freaked. And I just remember the you know, the guidance I got through that and being mentored through that, and then the feeling when I finished my first one, and then I did my first 70.3, you know, maybe five months, six months later, six months at the most, maybe less, um, through the same coach. And uh same with that. I remember that feeling when I, you know, crossed the finish line at um the first 70.3, and I think that it's hard to replicate that feeling because I've done a couple of 70.3s since. And my last one, my training block was not really ideal due to some issues with work, and it was just a bit chaotic. And you can kind of approach it, like once you've done a few, I think you can kind of approach it like, oh, I know I'll finish. You know, it might be a rough day, but I know that I'm gonna finish.

Speaker 4: 51:46

Right.

Matt: 51:47

Where when you haven't done one before, you don't really go into it with that attitude. And I think that's something that you know, I remember how supportive that was and how much I enjoyed that process. And that was something that I wanted to share with others. So I guess I'm primarily targeting people that are, you know, new to the sport or looking to do, you know, something crazy like my Perth Sydney ride, because I'm I'm quite good with logistics and planning with stuff like that. As reckless as it appears, there's quite a lot that goes on in the background. I post a bit of stuff on Insta that would probably make it look like it's all done on a whim, but you know, in the background it's it's quite planned out and quite well thought out.

unknown: 52:30

Yeah.

Matt: 52:30

But you know, I guess that's the the main focus point for me is just being able to take people that you know don't think they can do a race or are new to the sport and want to do a race and you know, taking them through that process.

Larry: 52:43

Yeah.

Matt: 52:44

Um there's there's heaps of coaches out there that are you know high performance coaches that are training, you know, guys to go and win races and stuff like that. And I don't I don't think that's my market. I'm I'm certainly not one of those guys. I don't have the you know the experience or the skill set that some of those guys do, even a few of the previous coaches I've had um fall into that, you know, that category, but yeah.

Larry: 53:07

Yeah. So you just want to help the beginners to to jump in and and and get a feel for it and and give them a.

Matt: 53:14

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, people that are people that are new to the sport or even people that work, you know, FIFO and those kind of rosters or shift work rosters, that's something that you know I'm pretty competitive in. I've done shift work, I've done flying flight now for a long time. After that, you you start to realize there's patterns. You know, there's things that work and there's things that make life easier. So I have a lot of experience in that.

Larry: 53:39

Well, listen, I I really appreciate you coming in and talking to us about all these different experiences. If people do want to catch up with you, what what are you using? Do you have a website for the coaching? What's your Instagram handle? Can you can you share that with us?

Matt: 53:56

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm I'm currently getting the website built. So at the moment, I'm just Facebook and Instagram, and it's just Lantern Endurance.

Larry: 54:04

And when you are up and running, is it going to be lanternendurance.com or Lantern Endurance?

Matt: 54:11

I'm assuming, yeah, that's the domain. It should just be lanternendurance.com. Yeah, yeah. The website's maybe maybe a month away. I've got a fair bit on at the moment, and I'm slowly working through it all. So it's definitely a priority, but at the moment it's not quite the top one.

Larry: 54:28

Yeah, of course. Yeah.

Matt: 54:29

Yeah.

Larry: 54:31

Well, um, listen, again, thank you so much for for coming and sharing your experiences. I love to do these athlete in profile um so we can introduce people that are going to be racing in the upcoming UM Australia or whatever race it is that we happen to be doing the athlete in profile for. And uh we'll now that we know a little bit more about you, we'll be following you and and following you around the race course and and hopefully we'll see you personally because what one of the things we're doing is we're doing it live again. If you've got a crew member that wants to be your your media person that wants to put you live on the screen with us, I'm gonna have to just connect in with Zoom live in um how cool and go straight to broadcast. So um, somebody on me all over that.

Matt: 55:23

They'll love that.

Larry: 55:24

Yeah, excellent.

Matt: 55:26

Well, good luck to having me on, Larry. I really appreciate it.

Larry: 55:30

Yeah, no, it's been my pleasure. Thank you.

Mary Jo: 55:32

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