Stand Out Life

Raised in the small country town of Carcoar, Kurt Fearnley has always been determined. Being born without the lower portion of his spine he grew up in a community who never saw him different. In our conversation Kurt shares how it wasn’t until he was 12 years old that he fully realised that his pathway would be different. Kurt has achieved extraordinary feats from crewing a winning Sydney to Hobart yacht, crawling the Kokoda Track and winning dozens of marathons around the world, many of them representing Australia. His career has been in wheelchair racing, and Kurt shares the moment he realised that his chair represents choice and it could take him anywhere in the world. He started his career with two Silver medals at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic games, before making his winning breakthrough at the 2004 Athens Paralympics with 2 Gold medals. Kurt conquered the world, winning seven world championships and more than 30 marathons around the globe, including 10 marathons in 2007 and three straight New York