Between the years 1983 and 1991, Australia hosted an 875-kilometer endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne – considered at the time to be the worlds longest and toughest ultra-marathon. Its a race that takes a week and normally participated by world-class athletes who train specially for the event. Backed by big names in sports like Nike, these athletes are mostly, less than 30 year old men and women, equipped with the most expensive sponsored training outfits and shoes. In 1983, these top class runners were in for a surprise. On the day of the race, a guy named Cliff Young showed up. At first, no one took notice of him since everybody thought he was there to watch the event. After all, he was 61 years old, and he showed up in overalls and galoshes over his work boots to a running event. As Cliff walked up to the table to take his number, it became obvious to everybody he was going to run. Everybody thought that it was a crazy publicity stunt. But the press was curious, so as he took his number 64, a reporter asked: Who are you and what are you doing? Im Cliff Young. Im from a large ranch where we run sheep outside of Melbourne. They said, Youre really going to run in this race? Yeah, Cliff nodded. Got any backers? No. Then you cant run. Yeah I can. Cliff said. See, I grew up on a farm where we couldnt afford horses or four wheel drives, and the whole time I was growing up – whenever the storms would roll in, Id have to go out and round up the sheep. We had 2,000 head, and we have 2,000 acres. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but Id catch them. I believe I can run this race; its only two more days. Five days. Ive run sheep for three. When the marathon started, the pros immediately left Cliff behind in his galoshes. The crowds smiled because Cliff didnt even run correctly. Instead of running, he appeared to run leisurely, shuffling forward like an amateur. Now, the 61-year-old potato farmer from Beech Forest , who took out his teeth when he ran because they rattled, had started the ultra-tough race with world-class athletes. All over Australia, people who watched the live telecast kept on praying that someone would stop this crazy old man from running because everyone believed hell die before even getting halfway across Sydney. Professional athletes knew for certain that it took about 7 days to finish this race, and that in order to compete, you would need to run 18 hours and sleep 6 hours. The thing is, Cliff Young did not know that! When the morning news of the race was aired, people were in for another big surprise. Cliff was still in the race and had jogged all night down to a city called Mittagong. Apparently, Cliff did not stop after the first day. Although he was still far behind the world-class athletes, he kept on running. He even had the time to wave to spectators who watched the event by the highways. He kept running. Every night he got just a little bit closer to the leading pack. By the last night, he passed all of the other athletes. By the last day, he was way in front of them. Not only did he run the Melbourne to Sydney race at age 61, without dying; he won first place, breaking the race record by 9 hours and became a national hero! The nation fell in love with the 61-year-old potato farmer who came out of nowhere to defeat the worlds best long distance runners. He finished the 875-kilometre race in 5 days, 15 hours and 4 minutes. Not knowing that he was supposed to sleep during the race, he said when he was running, he imagined that he was chasing sheep and trying to outrun a storm. When Cliff was awarded the first prize of $10,000, he said he did not know there was a prize and insisted that he had not entered for the money. He said, Therere five other runners still out there doing it tougher than me, and he gave them $2,000 each. He did not keep a single cent for himself. That single act endeared him to all of Australia. His story of perseverance doesnt end there though - In the following year, Cliff Young entered the same race and won 7th place. During the race, his hip popped out of the joint socket, his knee played up and he endured shin splints. But that didnt deter him from finishing the race. When he was announced as the winner for most courageous runner and presented with a Mitsubishi Colt, he said, I didnt do it near as tough as Bob McIlwaine. Here, Bob, you have the car, and gave the keys to him. It was said that Cliff Young never kept a single prize. People gave him watches, because he never had one. He would thank them because he did not want to hurt their feelings, but will then give it away to the first child he saw. He did not understand why he would need a watch because, he said, he knew when it was daylight, when it was dark, and when he was hungry. Cliff Young, the running legend passed away on November 2, 2003. He was 81. Today, the Young-shuffle has been adopted by ultra-marathon runners because it is considered more energy-efficient. At least three champions of the Sydney to Melbourne race have used the shuffle to win their races. Cliff was a humble, average man, who undertook an extraordinary feat and became a national sensation. Cliffs awesome example of perseverance and generosity will be remembered for generations to come https://youtube/watch?v=uGFA2N0oS1Q
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 03:12:08 +0000
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