WHEN it comes to the annual Oz Day 10-kilometre race no one has enjoyed the sort of dominance that Carcoar’s Kurt Fearnley can boast, yet this year when he takes on the Sydney event it will not be as a defending champion.
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The 10-kilometre Australia Day fixture has become synonymous with the wheelchair racing superstar, but last year after nine straight titles his run came to an end.
Even then the streak didn’t come to an end without a titanic struggle as Fearnley lost by less than a second to arch-rival David Weir in a thrilling race.
Fearnley led into the final turn, but over the last 100 metres, Weir surged past him to end a long run of success.
On Monday Fearnley wants to start another one, although he said the thought of being on such a streak never really entered his head.
“Nine straight wins was pretty good, but I never really worried about that aspect of it,” he said.
“To me it was just nine separate races that I prepared for at a given time and I happened to win them, it wasn’t something I was conscious of.”
Fearnley will be against a strong field on Australia Day, though not quite as strong as it was last year.
Weir and Marcel Hug won’t be lining up, though Fearnley’s American training partner Josh George and South African Ernst Van Dyke are among his challengers.
“The “Weir-wolf” is back home in England at the moment, so he won’t be here, but there are still some good racers coming, a couple of the Japanese guys will be there as well and they’re always tough to beat,” he said.
“There isn’t any extra motivation from last year, a race is just a race and I line up desperate to win no matter what has been happening. I try not to think about what’s gone before.”
The preparation for the CSU graduate hasn’t been quite as intense as it might normally be with a lot on his plate over the last two months.
Since returning from New York where he won his fifth edition of the city’s famous marathon in November last year, the 33-year-old has spent a lot of time promoting his book, Pushing The Limits.
Those efforts have limited the time he has spent on the training track.
“The last part of the year after New York was a lot of work, I put a lot of time into travelling around and talking about the book. I think you always wish you had more time in the chair before a race and this is no exception,” he explained.
“I do feel pretty good at the moment, I could do with a bit of extra preparation but when it comes to Australia Day you switch right on, that day means a lot to me being a local boy.
“It is the start of the year, I’ve got other things down the track to work towards, New York and Boston will be the two big ones for this year.