A Real Life Tortoise and the Hare Story
The Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon was one of the most unforgiving races anywhere on the planet. During the gruelling event athletes were expected to cover 600 miles (960 km) in just five days. It made a normal marathon the equivalent of a walk in the park.
The event ran from 1983 to 1991. With big prize money on offer the event attracted world class athletes from around the World. Yet the inaugural race was won by a 61 year old potato farmer.
Cliff Young
Wearing overalls and his work boots, nobody gave Cliff Young a chance when he showed up at the starting line. Nobody knew who he was and frankly, nobody much cared. He was considered an oddity, not a threat. Especially when he removed his dentures and slipped them in his pocket just before the start, claiming they rattled when he ran.
That opinion didn’t change when the race started. All the younger, super fit athletes set off at a fair pace, quickly leaving Cliff far behind.
The plan was simple. Run for 18 hours, sleep for six. An established tactic for an ultramarathon.
Unfortunately for the younger men, nobody told Cliff. When they went to sleep on the first night, they had a healthy and seemingly unassailable lead over the older man.
By the time they awoke, Cliff had passed them. Every night after, he increased his lead. Because for five straight days, he didn’t sleep. Just continued to shuffle along at his own unrelenting pace.
By the time he crossed the finish line, he had decimated the record for a run between Sydney and Melbourne by two days! In fact, he had pushed the other competitors so hard, all six who finished the race broke the previous record.
Upon crossing the line, Cliff, still in his work boots and overalls was awarded the first place prize of $10,000. Which is the equivalent to around 35,000 Australian dollars today. Personally, this next part is my favourite. He didn’t even know there was a prize! Cliff, in an amazing gesture, split the prize between the runners who finished the race, keeping none for himself.
What a guy!
How Did He Do It?
Cliff won in a superhuman feat of will and stamina, but how? How could a 61 year old farmer win in such a way against a field of young super athletes with sponsorships to some of the biggest sporting companies in the world?
The secret was this. Cliff Young had inadvertently been training for this event his entire life.
As a younger man he had grown up on a sheep farm. But a sheep farm in Australia is a different beast to one in most other places. His parents had two thousand sheep spread over two thousand acres. For comparison, Gibraltar is around 1700 acres in size. So a large area to cover when finding and caring for two thousand sheep. Particularly when you take into account their lack of vehicles. It all added up to a young Cliff spending days without sleep rounding up the sheep, using the exact same tactics that won him the Ultramarathon.
Lasting Legacy
Cliff Young entered the race again the following year. Due to a displaced hip during the contest, he could only manage seventh place. At the age of 76 Cliff was once again back in the news. He attempted to run around the entirety of Australia’s near 10,000 mile (16,000 km) border.
He wanted to raise money for homeless children. At around the 4000 mile (6500 km) mark, his one and only crew member became ill, forcing him to abandon his attempt.
Cliff Young passed away in 2003 at the age of 81.
As for the Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon, competitors soon turned to using Cliffs tactics to win. It became the ultimate test of stamina and willpower. No sleep for five days while running across hundreds of miles of Australia.
They even adopted Cliff’s signature run, fittingly called the “Young Shuffle”. It’s still used by some Ultramarathon runners to this very day. They know it conserves energy and allows them to run for longer. All because of a 61 year old potato farmer who nobody gave a chance to.