WHILE Carcoar wheelchair racing star Kurt Fearnley was unable to win the sixth International Paralympic Committee World Championships medal of his career in Doha yesterday, he still very much has a sixth New York Marathon crown on his mind.

This Sunday Fearnley will line up in New York and will race over his pet 42.2 kilometre distance as the defending champion.

Not only does Fearnley boast a remarkable record in New York – his 2014 success adding to a string of victories between 2006 and 2009 and course record mark of one hour, 29 minutes and 22 seconds – but he brings with him good form.

Earlier this month he prevailed in one of the most competitive races in the history of the Chicago Marathon. He out sprinted a pack of 10 in the final 400 metres to post his 40th career win over the distance.

“Traditionally when I have a good Chicago, I have a good New York. So when you get on that roll, you’re hard to beat,” Fearnley said.

“I’m a little bit grateful that I’ve already got that win up [in Chicago] for this year, and also still pretty confident about how I’m feeling about New York.”

Last year in New York, Fearnley battled strong and gusty winds as well as talented rivals.

As the finish tape in Central Park loomed, Fearnley was one of six athletes still in contention. The CSU graduate timed his surge in the final metres to perfection, winning by one second over Ernst Van Dyk (South Africa) and Tomasz Hamerlak (Poland).

He called it the: “The most interesting wheelchair race I’ve ever been involved with.”

Fearnley spent his lead up to this year’s New York Marathon in Doha contesting world championship track events in conditions he described as “hot one day, ridiculously hot the next.”

While there is no doubting Fearnley’s competitive nature, his training had been aimed at marathons rather than the shorter and more intense speed work required for the track. His main aim for the event was to get an idea of the competition he will face at next year’s Rio Paralympic Games.

One of the men he now knows to keep an eye on is Thailand’s Rawat Tana, who won gold in both the 1,500 metres and 5,000m men’s T54 events – the same which Fearnley contested.

In the 1,500m event, Fearnley did not qualify for the final after placing fifth in his heat at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium behind China’s Chengming Liu.

But Fearnley fared better in the 5,000m.

In his heat he clocked a time of 10 minutes, 55.62 seconds to finish behind Swiss ace Marcel Hug (10:55.78), Fearnley also doing his share of pace setting as he led at both the 2,000m and 4,000m mark.

Yesterday’s final saw the intensity of racing step up even further, Fearnley (10:56.98) just missing out on a podium as he crossed the line in fourth.

After a bold push at the head of the pack, Rawa (10:55.85) claimed gold ahead of Hug (10:56.32) and another Thai athlete in Prawat Wahoram (10:56.54). In an indication of the quality of the field David Weir – the man who dominated at the London Paralympics – could only manage seventh.