On November 3rd, Australian Kurt Fearnley continued his recent domination of the big apple's biggest race, rolling a respectable 1 hour 44 minute and 51 second time to win his third consecutive NYC wheelchair marathon.
"The win caps a memorable year for Fearnley. He won a ferocious battle to collect the gold medal in the Beijing Paralympic marathon and also claimed three individual track medals at the Games in September, plus a number of other international victories, most recently in the Chicago marathon three weeks ago.
Battling buffeting head winds and near freezing temperatures, Fearnley's time in New York was more than 15 minutes outside of the course record he set in 2006. "That was hard work. To finish the year off with a win here is amazing. I haven't raced in conditions like that in years. It was a shock to the system," Fearnley said. "I love this city and I love this race. That's three in-a-row now, I'd like to make it a few more." Source:AAP
Just 3 weeks ago, on October 13th Kurt successfully defended his title at the Chicago Bank of America marathon. "Fearnley won in 1 hour 30 minutes and 16 seconds, but this time the second-place finisher Soejima, was no threat with a time of 1:32:30 - unlike the split second victory in Beijing. Fearnley and his 38-year-old Japanese adversary stayed side-by-side for more than 20 kilometres before the 27-year-old Australian took command.
"The difference between today and last year is that once I got away I wasn't pressed," Fearnley told the Chicago Tribune.
Chicago Marathon win - David Banks: Getty ImagesHis racing career is stellar, 2 golds in Athens, 1 in Beijing, 2 silvers in Sydney, 1 silver in Athens and 2 more in Beijing and finally a bronze in Beijing. In 2006 he added three more gold's and a bronze at the IPC World Championships. In 2007, Fearnley won 10 International Marathons from 11 starts breaking 6 course records along the way.
