Master of Some Podcast with Daren Lake

Daren Lake Master of Some is a minority-focused endurance sports podcast. We tell audio stories to show people how to perform better as they get older. The podcast touches on running, cycling, triathlon and general health and fitness. A former native New Yorker Daren has taken his adventures down under to Sydney, Australia. This month’s Mid Strike Magazine podcast highlights Daren Lakes Master of None as we discuss his podcast, his experiences, his journeys and life down under.

MSM: Daren welcome to Mid Strike Magazine, I think the obvious first question I have to ask is why Sydney? Going from NYC to Sydney Australia is a move we don’t see often.

Daren: I guess the health and fitness reason, or, you know, endurance reason, it’s warm and I can’t stand the cold. New York was starting to wear on me, my living situation, which wasn’t great. The winters were just long, seven to eight months of just being locked in that city and I got to the point where I was just like “nope”. I visited Sydney back in 2011, and it made sense to move. I got on a student holiday visa for a year. And then that turned into proper permanent residency. Now I’m a citizen, I’ve been here almost ten years. Being able to cycle, run and even swim all year long in the middle of the winter is awesome! Sydney doesn’t get too hot either as it’s not tropical and subtropical. So think more Southern California, LA and Florida like temperatures.

MSM: What is life like down under compared to NYC? Do you find that Sydney offers as many activities in NYC?

Daren: Yes, it does. Sydney does offer many activities and more than what NYC offers, but I’m a bit biased. I lived there, and I grew up there. The traffic here isn’t that good as it’s very similar to NYC if not worse. The NYC traffic grid is much cleaner and moves much better.

MSM: You’re a very active guy when it comes to staying fit as you are a very consistent biker and runner. Give us a peek into your lifestyle. What does an active week look like for Daren Lake?

Daren: So I actively commute everywhere. I do not take the train or bus unless I have to, and even then I still try to, run or walk as much as possible. My partner and I made sure that we live close enough to everything that we need as we’re within, two to three-mile run of pretty much everything. Sydney is a very hilly city so running can be challenging but rewarding. I get to a place faster than if I took a train or a car. We incorporated active life into our lifestyle. I end up getting a lot of distance on my legs from incidental runs as I’m able to run six to seven days a week. 

MSM: What’s the race scene like in Sydney, most of all do you see representation at races with runners that are diverse?

Daren: There’s many Indians, lots of brown people from the Pacific Islands, South Pacific, Indonesia. Katmandu. Sri Lanka, all those places. There are many brown people but as far as black people go, very few and far between. Lately, I’ve seen more and more black people, definitely more coming into the racing space with running. It’s not 99% white here and I don’t know the exact stats. If you were to go to the center of any of the big cities, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, or Sydney you’re gonna see a lot of Brown people. You’re going to see a lot of minorities and a lot of immigrants here.

MSM: I’ve read that you’ve been very active since your twenties was running/staying fit, something that dates back to your youth days?

Daren:  I’ve been running and racing since about the age of five. I focused on playing basketball until my late teens. I tried running track for a few weeks my senior year in high school and didn’t stick with it. Funny enough I did the 100 and 200, and the coach thought I should try the 400. I ran it in 53 seconds not knowing what I was doing, and everyone told me that was a good time for not having trained it. I knew I had some potential somewhere.

Fast forward to college. I got a basketball scholarship to Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. The basketball thing didn’t end up not working out so I decided to give the track thing another shot and found out I was more of a 400m/800m and probably 1500m runner.

MSM: With such determination to learn and be better where do you draw all of this inspiration from? What is it that helps you to become so focused?

Daren: The inspiration is from my curiosity, to be honest. I’m just curious about different things and just being better. I’m always asking myself “What makes the great people great?” 

What makes you know, Michael Jordan great, LeBron great, Eliud Kipchoge great? I could go down the list of different areas from what the best podcast is to the best runners, to the best coaches, to the best business people. It’s all the same common thread when you really get down to it.

MSM: Onto the good stuff, DLake Creates Master of Some a podcast that discusses a variety of topics. What went into creating your podcast?

Daren: At first, I really wanted to just make a cool sounding podcast that was about health and fitness. The podcast turned out to be a bit broader than I realized. It was about health, fitness, wellness, meditation, nutrition, all these different things. I wanted to talk about triathlons, cycling, running, lifting, weights, yoga, stretching, strength and training. Over the past two years, I’ve realized that focusing on one thing might help me get my message out to the right people.

Looking at 2021, I’ll be releasing a lot of stuff and focusing on endurance sports with a heavy lean into running. The goal is to help teach and show people through what I’m doing and what we’re doing. With my co-host Phil we’ll explain that you can get better, not only in endurance sports but also your career and your life, as you get older. You don’t have to deteriorate. I’m living proof by being faster at almost 40 than I was at 20.

MSM: What can we look for in the future from The Master of Some Podcast?

Daren:  I’m looking to incorporate my articles, conversations with cool athletes, runners, cyclists and triathletes. I’m a minority so I want to boost underrepresented folks’ voice out there in this industry. That should be cool. I’m finding more of them out there on the internet in the world.

I’ve already got a couple that my team’s editing. I’m reaching out to some of the bigger names to get some of those folks on the podcast too.

If you see me pop up in your feed, you can be like “Oh, that’s what Daren is doing.” The podcast is just one part of the DLake Creates brand. I’m always trying to help people asking you questions. You can ask yourself things I can learn. I’m the Master Of Some Podcast is just one part of a bigger idea with my stuff. And that’s DLake Creates.

• Daren Lake Instagram
• Master Of Some Podcast
• DlakeCreates.com