Steve
Gurney

Speaker Profile

Steve Gurney has won the gruelling New Zealand Coast-to Coast race nine times. This unequalled achievement is even more remarkable when you consider this super-athlete nearly died, doing what he loves and what he does best, competing in multi-sport events.

In 1994, while in Borneo, competing in the Raid Gauloises Epic teams' race out of Malaysia, Steve caught the leptospirosis virus. His team came home first, but along the way his brush with bats saw him contract the virus through a gash in his leg.

After lengthy hospitalisation in Malaysia and New Zealand, when he came so close to death, Steve fought back. Having now returned to full health, he has no qualms admitting the ravaging effects of the virus still play on his mind. He is however unbridled, unfazed, and, if a little psychologically scarred, certainly as uninhibited about what constitutes a sporting challenge as he has ever been.

Steve has successfully competed in numerous multi-sport races around the world. His life is an adventure. If there's not a mountain to traverse, a river to kayak, swamp to slither through, or bush to negotiate, then he's not altogether satisfied. While no longer a full-time athlete, he still competes in selected events...even the 2006 season of 'Dancing with the Stars'.

He is a design engineer and thrives on the challenge of designing innovative mechanical machinery.

Steve speaks about the commitment and planning needed for success, and the perseverance required to come back from rock bottom.

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