DJ was born into a family with a long history of being famous for their abilities to jockey the donkey.  It started way back in the early 1800’s when DJ’s great great grandfather Abraham Painter rode a Donkey from Arden, Delaware to Silver City, South Dakota with only a gallon of water and four potatoes.  While in Silver City Abraham Painter started the first 24-hour donkey race threw the Black Hills of South Dakota winning every race from 1838 through 1848.  Since then someone from the Painter family has won every 24-hour donkey race since.  This long domination and strong affection for donkeys lead DJ’s parents to name him Donkey Jockey Painter.  But while in grade school Donkey Jockey quickly got changed to DJ after a few crude comments where made by fellow classmates. DJ still has a passion for 24-hour donkey races but has since directed that passion towards 24-hour mountain biking.