Cliff Young

Darasimi Oshodi

I came across the story of Cliff Young and I was wowed. I just couldn’t resist the urge to share it with others. So please enjoy his story.

In 1983 when Cliff stepped to the line ready to run the Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon no one took him seriously. He didn’t look like he was ready to complete a 5K let alone the 544 mile race from Sidney to Melbourne. He was a side show clown for the media to dramatize; a satirical distraction from the real competitors who took training and racing seriously. In 1983, a man named Cliff Young showed up at the start of this race. Cliff was 61 years old and wore overalls and work boots. To everyone’s shock, Cliff wasn’t a spectator. He picked up his race number and joined the other runners. He was told that he was crazy and could not finish the race. He explained to them that he grew up on a 2,000-acre farm, with thousands of sheep. His family could afford neither horses nor tractors so, when the storms came, his job was to round up the sheep. Sometimes, he said, it would take two or three days of running. “It took a long time, but I’d always catch them. I believe I can run this race,” he said.

When the gun went off, Cliff immediately fell to the very back of the pack. Soon even the back of the pack disappeared ahead of him. But a 61 year old toothless farmer, racing in overalls and galoshes, was still compelling television so the cameras continued to cover his journey. Calls reportedly came into the station begging for race officials to make him stop. Many spectators believed he would certainly die before he made it even half way to Melbourne. After 18 hours of running, the leaders stopped for some rest. The conventional wisdom was that running 18 hours straight and then sleeping for 6 was the best recipe for success over this distance. The first night of the race Cliff did not sleep.

During the six hours his competitors slept, Cliff continued to run in the dark, getting closer and closer to the back of the pack. The second night saw the same strategy. As the world class ultra-marathoners rested, Cliff ran on while imagining he was back home chasing sheep on his farm. By the third night it was apparent that something extraordinary was about to happen. Could Cliff Young keep going with no sleep? He stopped only to eat and for bathroom breaks. He had passed everyone in the race and was starting to build a gigantic lead. The man, who no one took seriously at the start, was about to take the gold medal at the finish! Cliff won the race, after running non-stop and without sleep for over 5 days! He set a new Sydney to Melbourne record and won the hearts of his country and the greater running community. The story could end here and already be an epic tale but Cliff had one more unorthodox surprise up his sleeve. Claiming to be unaware that there was a $10,000 prize for the winner, Cliff proclaimed that the five finishers behind him deserved it more. He promptly gave each of them $2000.

Cliff Young lived another 20 years before he passed away in 2003 at the age of 81. His captivating story reads like a myth, a legend, or perhaps even a fable.

What an incredible story? There are many lessons of life in this really inspirational story. One of them is that you should not allow others to write you off. Another lesson is to never give up. I think a very important lesson is also to be careful not to write others off. Cliff’s competitors would never have thought he had a chance. The story also teaches one to be magnanimous in victory. There are just too many stories one can learn from this story. Please do well to share some with me?

 

Cliff Young’s story was copied from http://www.runtheedge.com/2011/11/modern-day-running-fable-the-cliff-young-story/

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