News
On the Top
by Paul Gains
To say that Kurt Fearnley is off to a strong start in the 2007 World Series is a colossal understatement. A victory at the Series opener - the Oz Day 10k road race on January 26 - commanded immediate attention, especially since he took a whopping 20 seconds off the course record in the process. At present he is compiling a racing schedule that he hopes will bring further success and keep him at the top of elite wheelchair racing.
“I am going to try and work out what races around the world suit my technique and suit my racing style,” says the 24-year-old Australian. “This year there are a lot of races, a lot of traveling and I am off to a good start with the Oz day 10k in a course record 20:32. It’s a great way to start. I would also like to perform well at Peachtree 10km (in Atlanta) at the New York Marathon and at the IAAF World Championships 1,500m in Osaka. Those are the main goals.”
Fearnley has a special place for the World Series, especially after a spectacular last year elicited a fourth place finish in the points standings. It is an accomplishment he rates up near his other highlights: winning the 2004 Paralympic Marathon in Athens by four minutes as well as last year’s New York City Marathon. “It’s a great idea,” he says of the Series. “It's a way to make sure athletes travel a lot and to crown the best wheelchair athletes at the end of the year. Santiago Sanz dominated last year but there were some fantastic athletes in the top ten.”
“It would be nice to string a few more performances like the New York Marathon together. If I could finish in the top five in the World Series it would be a good year. I was fourth last year so I would like to duplicate that.”
Though he has established himself as one of the top racers at distances from 1,500m to the marathon he admits a special affinity to the longer distance. Despite an encounter with a series of New York city potholes that caused him to crash, he recovered sufficiently to win the 2006 NY City Marathon in a course record 1:29:22.
“It’s an hour and a half competition and beyond that it’s the most important,” he says of the marathon’s attraction. “You have got over 60 guys going hard in a pack for the first 20 kilometres. It’s the most professional, the most competitive, the toughest. Being an athlete you might as well go in the toughest event, one of the most challenging!
"In the marathon last year I had to finish in a sprint finish at 36km/hr. At the end of the marathon you have to use your speed. It’s funny, the end of the marathon is tough. You can get into a sprint just like in the 1,500m. You approach it the same way at the finish; you have got to keep the same speed. It’s surprising how similar it is to the track.”
A challenge is what Fearnley has always enjoyed. The youngest of five children he was born on a farm near Carcoar New South Wales, about four and a half hours west of Sydney. As a child Fearnley joined friends in all sports. An older brother played rugby league in France. But he credits his parents with inspiring him to get stuck in.
“I was born with lumbar sacral agenesis. But being on the sidelines was not an option for me,” he says, “I had to get involved (in sport). My family played a lot of rugby. I went out on a rugby field and said ‘let’s see how it goes.’ I crawled around and played rugby and cricket. I was one of the boys. My mum and dad always treated me like my brothers. It's just that I am a litle shorter, I guess.”
Over the years he has also tried his hand at skydiving - just the once, he hastens to add - and at indoor rock climbing.
Fearnley graduated from Charles Sturt University with Bachelor’s Degrees in Education and Human Movement. He is a part-time high school teacher, a lifestyle that fits in beautifully with his athletics career. And when he isn’t plotting his next World Series racing victory with long-time coach Andrew Dawes, he enjoys listening to Australian rockers The Herd, Midnight Oil and Jet.
Kurt Fearnley is truly an exciting performer and someone expected to rack up victories throughout the year.