In 2000 having never run competitively before, he demonstrated his rare talent by running 2:37:56 in his first ever Marathon in London, a quite remarkable debut that launched him into the elite of British running.

In 2001, he went from strength to strength to improve this drastically with an amazing 2:16:51 for 9th in the Frankfurt Marathon in October 2001. He also improved his half marathon best from 66:52 in 2000 to 64:27 when he was 5th in the Great Scottish Run. That run earned him selection as a running reserve for the British Team at the World Half Marathon Championships in Bristol. In a race that was eventually won by the great Gabbrisallesi, Dan duly improved his personal best to 64:23.

In 2002 he was 15th in London, the third best British runner with a time of 2:17:51. In 2003, he ran a PB for a road 10km with 29:21 in Bourton, won a half marathon in Manchester in 64:24 and was 26th in the Berlin Marathon in 2:18:00.

In 2004, and after taking three minutes off his best with 2:13:53 for 16th in the 2004 London marathon, he was selected for the Olympics and ran very well in Athens to take 23rd place in 2:17:53 in the torrid conditions. He gave up his job as a duty manager in a health and fitness club to devote more time to his running and now works as a part-time sports teacher.

At the start of 2005, Dan was given a major boost as he was picked up by Adidas as one of their elite endurance ambassadors but his plans for an attempt on his Marathon best in London were dashed when he picked up a chest infection in March. Luckily, Dan had already been pre-selected for the World Championships in Helsinki from his 2004 performances and he repaid that faith with a storming run. His 2:14:22 finish put him in a brilliant 12th place and he was the 2nd European finisher.

At the Commonwealth Games in 2006 he claimed a fantastic bronze in the Marathon. It was his first senior medal at a major championship