Dr. Sinead Kane

Award winning international blind athlete, lawyer, two PhD's, two Guiness World records, seven marathons on seven continents within seven days

Award winning international blind athlete, lawyer, two PhD's, two Guiness World records, seven marathons on seven continents within seven days.

Dr. Kane will discuss advocacy - standing up for yourself and others, diversity, disability, inclusion, equality, setbacks, leadership, resilience, choices, teamwork, ambition, courage, fear, and adaptability.

Dr. Kane will further discuss lessons learned from racing in extreme environments such as Antartica and the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world.

Sinead doesn’t let her disability hold her back and is living life to the full. Within the space of three months Sinead Kane was awarded two PhD doctorates. In October 2017, she received an honorary PhD from the National University of Ireland. In December 2017, she was awarded her academic PhD from Dublin City University.

Sinead also is a double Guinness World Record Holder. In February 2018 she broke the Guinness World Record for furthest distance for a female on a treadmill in 12 hours. See these links Sinead is also the holder of a Guinness World Record for being the first blind person to complete a Marathon on each of the seven Continents, a feat which she completed in less than 7 days in January 2017.  She is also the first Irish female to do the world marathon challenge. Sinead and her guide runner [John] completed their first Marathon of this challenge at Union Glacier, Antarctica followed by running a Marathon in Punta Arenas (South America), Miami (North America), Madrid (Europe), Marrakech (Africa), Dubai (Asia) and finally Sydney (Oceania).

Sinead came joint-first in her marathon in Dubai. This is all remarkable given that Sinead only did her first marathon ever in October 2014 and only took up running in April 2012.

The above achievements are admirable but are even more so when one considers that Sinead only has 5% vision and is registered as legally blind. Sinead has overcome a lot of adversity throughout her life and now wants to help others. Sinead proves how those who persist in spite of a disability can develop determination, motivation, and creativity.

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