The 29-year-old, who claimed gold in the marathon T54 race at the Paralympic Games in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008, cruised to victory in the 15 kilometre Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa.

He crossed the line in a course record time of 31min 04sec to finish more than a minute ahead of his nearest competitor and perennial rival, Krige Schabort of South Africa.

The win is Fearnley's third for the year, following his seventh straight Oz Day Classic win in Sydney and his World Championship marathon victory in Christchurch which both came in January.

Fearnley admitted it was partly by chance that he took part in the race as the main reason for his trip to Florida was to collect a brand new race wheelchair ahead of London 2012.

"I've been over here the last week in the chair factory, trying a few things and getting a chair ready for London," said Fearnley, who will be looking to secure a hat-trick of marathon wins at the 2012 Paralympics.

"The race organiser is a good friend and has been hounding me for years to race and I was glad that the stars finally aligned and I could compete.

"It's a great little course and it was nice to get a race in as it's a quiet time of the year.

"When I'm on a winning roll I want to keep racing so finding somewhere to push in February was great.

"It has been a good start to the year but there's a long way to go.

"I start back on the marathon trail soon, then I need to qualify for London."

Fearnley has made the somewhat surprising decision to skip the 2011 London Marathon and instead take on the Boston Marathon for the first time, which takes place the week before.

Fearnley, who won the London Marathon in 2009 with a course record of 1 hour 28min 57sec, was expected to compete in the English capital as preparation for the 2012 Paralympic Games but stated that he wants to take the opportunity to race elsewhere.

"I normally race the London marathon in April but this year I've decided to try Boston," he said.

"It's one of the biggest marathons in the world so one that I've always wanted to add to the calendar but never been able to schedule.

"I'll be in London a couple of times next year so 2011 is an ideal year to race somewhere else."

Boston will present Fearnley with one of his greatest marathon challenges as he takes on the giant Ernst van Dyk of South Africa.

Van Dyk, the marathon world record holder, has only been beaten once over the Boston course in the last 10 years and the downhill course favours the heavier South African athlete.

"Boston will be tough and on paper, the course definitely favours Ernst and he has an amazing record there," Fearnley said.

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