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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