Chasing Dreams Iain Curry
May 2, 2018 Chasing dreams Iain Curry NATHAN Glarvey’s multisport goals are about as lofty as they come. Ironman World Championships for one, then the small matter of Ultraman here on the Sunshine Coast. The 40-year-old from Cooroy has every expectation he’ll achieve his dreams as he prepares to take the start line for his third Ironman Australia at Port Macquarie on Sunday. But then over-achieving is Nathan’s trait. Living with autism he is classified as having an intellectual disability, but very few events make special dispensation for athletes in his situation. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 6766169ab Ironman Australia Racing with medicinal purpose FROM PAGE 1 It makes winning an event, or making qualification time for Kona, nigh on impossible. “There’s no disability event in Ironman, so I have to compete with able-bodied,” Nathan said. “In my age group I’m racing against ex-professionals so if there were an AWD (Athletes With Disabilities) event that would be good so I’d have a chance of winning.” For a man who has nearly gone sub-2 hours 30 minutes at the Noosa triathlon, there’s no need to doubt his high-calibre credentials. As a young man Nathan competed in world championship disability athletic events in the T20 classification (intellectual disabilities), competing in Hungary, Tunisia and Germany in events from the 10km up to marathon with plenty of success. He was on the Australian squad set to compete in the 2008 Beijing READY TO ROLL: Cooroy’s Nathan Glarvey will tackle his third Ironman Australia at Port Macquarie on Paralympics, but the T20 events Sunday.
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