The Legend of Cliff Young: The 61 Year Old Farmer Who Won the World’s Toughest Race
Those who are in the ultra world already know about the legendary Cliff Young but those outside may not have heard the story. The whole nation thought he was a crazy old man to undertake an almost impossible feat. Most feared that he would die trying. But this humble old man proved all the critics wrong.Cliff Young, at 61 years of age, participated in 1983’s Sydney to Melbourne race. Considered to be the world’s toughest race, with the distance of 875 (543.7 m) kilometers and took at least 5 days to finish, Cliff Young entered the race against world-class athletes. Read how he achieved the unthinkable and inspires the whole nation. The Beginning Every year, Australia hosts an 875-kilometer endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne - considered to be the world’s longest and toughest ultra-marathon. It’s a long, tough race that takes five days 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 years 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 cared about him since everybody thought he was there to watch the event. After all, he was 61 years old, showed up in overalls and galoshes over his work boots. As Cliff walked up to the table to take his number, it became obvious to everybody he was going to run. He was going to join a group of 150 world-class athletes and run! During that time, these runners don’t even know another surprising fact - his only trainer was his 81-year-old mother, Neville Wran. Everybody thought that it was a crazy publicity stunt. But the press was curious, so as he took his number 64 and moved into the pack of runners in their special, expensive racing outfit, the camera focused on him and reporters started to ask: “Who are you and what are you doing?” “I’m Cliff Young. I’m from a large ranch where we run sheep outside of Melbourne.” They said, “You’re really going to run in this race?” “Yeah,” Cliff nodded. “Got any backers?” “No.” “Then you can’t run.” “Yeah I can.” Cliff said. “See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn’t afford horses or four wheel drives, and the whole time I was growing up– until about four years ago when we finally made some money and got a four wheeler– whenever the storms would roll in, I’d 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 I’d catch them. I believe I can
run this race; it’s only two more days. Five days. I’ve run sheep for three.”
When the marathon started, the pros left Cliff behind in his galoshes. The crowds smiled because he didn’t even run correctly. Instead of running, he appeared to run leisurely, shuffling like an amateur.
Now, the 61-year-old potato farmer from Beech Forest with no teeth 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 he’ll die even before even getting halfway across Sydney.
Turtle vs rabbits
Every professional athlete knew for certain that it took about 5 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, old 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.
When he got to a town called Albury he was asked about his tactics for the rest of the race. He said he would run through to the finish, and he did.
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 world-class 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 world’s 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 running throughout the race, 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, “There’re 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 act endeared him to all of Australia. Cliff was a humble, average man, who undertook an extraordinary feat and became a national sensation.
The Inspirational Run Continues
In the following year, Cliff Young entered the same race and won the 7 th place. During the race, his hip popped out of the joint socket, his knee played up and he endured shin splints. But those didn’t 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 didn’t do it near as tough as old 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 came to prominence again in 1997, aged 76, when he attempted to become the oldest man to run around Australia and raise money for homeless children. He managed to completed 6,520km of the 16,000km run before he had to pull out after his only permanent crew member became ill.
His love for running never diminished but in year 2000, after collapsing in his Gellibrand home a week after completing 921 kilometers of a 1600-kilometre race, his lose his strength for running. The mild stroke ended his heroic running days.
After the long illness, Cliff Young, the running legend passed away on 2 nd November 2003. He was 81.
Current Race
The “Young-shuffle” has been adopted by ultra-marathon runners because it is considered more aerodynamic and expends less energy. At least 3 winners of the Sydney to Melbourne race have been known to use the ‘Young-shuffle’ to win the race.
Now, for Sydney to Melbourne race, almost nobody sleeps. To win that race, you have to run like Cliff Young did, you have to run all night as well as all day.
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December 31, 2007
8:44 PM
Neville Wran was a premier of NSW. Not Cliff Youngs mother. Good story though.
December 31, 2007
8:46 PM
these are the real heros of this world
December 31, 2007
10:22 PM
I am very impressed. As someone said in comments on Digg, its Hollywood movie material!!!
December 31, 2007
10:29 PM
Super Heroes.
December 31, 2007
10:47 PM
He is a real hero, really very amazed to read about him.
Tribute to Cliff Young!
January 1, 2008
12:05 AM
More info and links here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Young_%28athlete%29
January 1, 2008
12:24 AM
This guy lived not far from where I live and often ran in the Colac 6 day race. This article though explains to me why the papers kept calling him a ‘local legend’.
January 1, 2008
2:12 AM
As was said Neville Wran was a politician not Youngs mother. But good old Cliffy was a national treasure for quite a while there. Yiannis Kouros was the only other guy to really dominate this race like Cliffy did.
January 1, 2008
12:02 PM
Now thats what i call real inspiration.
January 1, 2008
7:39 PM
Interesting… very interesting…
January 1, 2008
9:42 PM
Incredibly inspiring story! The stuff people of character are made of! The most fascinating thing is that my son, Hansel,(age 14) sent me this story because he read it and was touched! Cliff Young’s legacy goes on!–Thank you for sharing the story–harold
January 5, 2008
1:57 PM
What spirit. Just goes to show it really isn’t about the fancy name brand running gear.
January 7, 2008
9:42 AM
I’d love to know what kind of workboots he wore! I’m sure their manufacturer would too.
January 7, 2008
10:20 AM
A bit sensational. It’s still incredible, but a few details were exaggerated, for example:
“these athletes are mostly less than 30 years old men and women equipped with the most expensive sponsored training outfits”
For ultra-marathons, youth is not necessarily beneficial. Endurance doesn’t decrease with age the same way power does (which is why marathon runners are in their late 20s or early 30s, but sprinters are in their early 20s). Ultra-long distance runners benefit from having extra years to train, hence they can peak in their 30s or later.
And training outfits? Shoes make a difference, but running is one sport that doesn’t benefit from technological improvements nearly as much as most sporst. Those nice clothes that distance runners wear are mostly for comfort, or to keep the cool and unchafed, not for speed.
“The ‘Young-shuffle’ has been adopted by ultra-marathon runners because it is considered more aerodynamic and expends less energy”
Energy-efficient paces are definitely a big deal, but “aerodynamic” ? Uh, no. At ultramarathon speeds (e.g 5 or 6 mph), wind resistance is not a big deal.
Also, the people racing these races are generally not the same type of professional athletes you see run the marathon in the olympics. The sport is less well-known, and it’s much harder to make a career being a pro ultra-distance runner, so consequently the standards are not the same as marathon standards since there are fewer people. I’m not saying these aren’t incredible athletes, but I’m saying that you can’t compare them to the top runners in the world (the ones you see win marathons).
January 7, 2008
11:14 AM
Amazing story
January 7, 2008
11:27 AM
Heard about this in 1994.
January 7, 2008
12:49 PM
Stephen, you sound like an idiot.
Just remember when you are 61 how hard it is to pee through your bad prostate let alone run 5 days straight without sleep.
You aren’t even being pedantic over facts that potentially are inaccurate, you are just being an ass.
January 7, 2008
1:12 PM
That is nuts.
January 7, 2008
3:00 PM
No, I don’t think Stephan is an ass … just a little misguided in his thoughts.
First off he seems to think that marathoners are the only runners worthy of world class status when in reality it is just one of many, many distance events.
Second, he sorta’ contradicts himself by saying that clothing is no big deal, but it does keep you cooler and is more comfortable (duh, cooler and more comfortable would seem to equate to efficiency and less energy expenditure). I’m also pretty sure that if you were to test the difference between coveralls and spandex (at any speed) for aerodynamics the numbers over a long distance would be substantial.
Third, are the only true professional distance runners marathoners? Yeah, right, and Formula One drivers are the only true pros in the race car world.
Stephen, get your head out of the marathoners shorts (they probably wouldn’t like you there anyway).
January 7, 2008
3:49 PM
What an amazing story. I agree that it is movie-worthy. It’s inspiring how simple the man insisted on keeping his life. In a time when kids and high-schoolers turn pro, that is truly admirable.
BTW, Stephen actually is correct on all his points. ULTRA MARATHONing is a newer sport and is not yet subject to lots of big-money sponsorship and famous names. The well-known distance runners race marathons (maybe Ironmans).
The clothing is not important either- these types of runners wear what’s going to keep them comfortable, whatever that is. It’s not as though there is an adopted overall style or look. Aero dynamics aren’t important- stamina is. Quite simply, it’s the ability to keep going, that gets people through these races…nothing else will get you to the finish. That’s what’s so great about the sport.
January 7, 2008
6:07 PM
What a fantastic tale!
I enjoyed reading about Mr. Young, thank you.
January 7, 2008
7:56 PM
Dare to be different. Respect.
January 7, 2008
8:50 PM
Wow.
What an inspirational story.
Cliff possessed the tenacity and the fortitude to pull it through.
Thanks for featuring such an awesome story.
January 8, 2008
12:35 AM
omg….i dunno there’s such an event, and such a strong old man running hundreds of Kms…
January 8, 2008
4:22 AM
i’m 68 and going to get me some running shoes
January 8, 2008
4:40 AM
He gave his prizes to people he thought were worse off than himself.Those examples of self-sacrifice are what real tough men are made of. Brilliant story!!
Mat Wilson, Newcastle, England
January 8, 2008
8:57 AM
Amazing story
January 8, 2008
8:58 AM
Inspiring
January 8, 2008
1:32 PM
Amazing! He didn’t know he wouldn’t be able to do it, so he did it!
January 8, 2008
8:06 PM
Amazing, extraordinary & superb indeed…better than Forrest Gump, for sure! Hollywood must produce a film about this legendary guy, so it can inspire the whole world and not only Australia.
January 13, 2008
2:23 PM
nnial 2007 - salvatore iaconesi - del.icio.us poetry is a quite interesting post but quite difficult to understand for me .
January 15, 2008
1:02 AM
I had atroke in 2005;I run with the IPod shuffle,
January 20, 2008
10:03 PM
He was great.
January 21, 2008
3:09 PM
This was a amazing story, with a great will he seemed to be invinsible. Well runned mr.Young!
February 1, 2008
9:01 PM
Thanks for sharing
April 20, 2008
9:01 PM
That’s a brilliant story. Shame old Stephen aka Debbie Downer (see comments on 7 Jan) What a dickwad! I bet Stephen’s a real hit at the party!