Type 1 diabetes is a chronic medical condition that requires daily treatment. It is relentless, there is no long service leave, and it’s with you every minute of every day. 

Having lived with diabetes for nearly four decades, Duncan knows first hand that people with type 1 diabetes can be successful and live happy and healthy lives, but too often they don’t. It is a chronic medical condition that requires daily treatment. It is relentless, there is no long service leave, and it’s with you every minute of every day. 

Duncan has run multiple ultra marathons, cycled in the Pyrenees and played representative rugby and cricket and firmly believes he is fitter for having it.

Duncan believes things coincided early in his life to set him on a positive path. He was inspired by what could be possible in elite sport, he was told to throw himself into physical exercise to live well, and he inherited a belief from his parents that anything was possible and to pursue his dreams. 

Duncan lives in Sydney, with his family and a dog. 

At the age of forty, and in the middle of a successful career, Duncan set a goal to run an ultra-marathon in Australia’s hot Simpson Desert. He started the race just wanting to get to the finish line safely, instead he finished first in his age group. During the race he learnt that decades of dealing with the difficulties of type 1 had actually helped him overcome the huge physical and mental challenges of the 250km run. 

With a new taste for extreme adventure, Duncan spent the next ten years on a path to prove his theory that people with type 1 diabetes can be fitter for having it. 

Duncan has completed multiple ultra marathons across the globe, including Racing the Planet in New Zealand, he’s also run and cycled over mountains and represented clubs and regions at team sport. He is married, a father of two boys, and has a full-time ‘real’ job. He loves his family and volunteers as a sports coach and to help other people live with and manage exercise and type 1 diabetes. 

‘with diabetes anything is possible, it’s just a bit harder’ 

Duncan founded #fitterforhavingit to counter some of the negative language, and to raise awareness of poor and unequal access to therapies, which in Australia can be limited, more expensive, or less available than elsewhere in the world. 

As a professional, Duncan is an expert advisor on strategic planning, property development, and governance. He has directed city renewal strategies and economic and social projects for over 25 years, and worked in Australia, UK and the Middle East.