People of Courage: Cliff Young

Each year Australia hosts an endurance race from Sydney to Melbourne that attracts elite runners from around the world.  The 500 mile race lasts 5 days and is considered to be the longest and toughest of all ultra-marathons.  Typically the competitor’s strategy is to run 100 miles a day at a speed of 5.5 miles per hour for 18 hours straight, and then sleep for 6 hours.

In the 1983 inaugural race, an unknown potato farmer named Cliff Young showed up to compete without registering in advance.  He immediately attracted media attention for some very good reasons.  Cliff was 61 years old while his competitors were between the ages of 18-20.  The athletes had participated in endurance races for many years; Cliff’s experience was limited to running after his brother’s sheep.

Most runners had corporate sponsorships; Cliff paid the fee himself.  The 150 elite athletes had teams of coaches, trainers, and dieticians to assist them. The only member of Cliff’s support team was a trainer, his 81-year old mother.  While the athletes gathered at the starting line wearing expensive, customized racing gear, Cliff wore overalls and galoshes over his work boots.

When the starting gun sounded, the competitors sprinted off; Cliff shuffled along in his galoshes at a brisk walk, not a run.  After 18 hours, the athletes stopped for their 6 hours of sleep.  Cliff kept going; in fact, he shuffled for 5 days straight without ever taking a break.  By the last night, Cliff had passed the sleeping runners by a wide margin.  He won first place beating the competition by 9 hours and instantly became a national hero.

Cliff died in 1983 at the age of 81. Today the Sydney to Melbourne race is named in his honor.  However, the greatest honor is that athletes now copy Cliff’s unorthodox racing style.

Cliff Young was a person of courage. Common sense dictated that he didn’t have the background, equipment, or corporate sponsor to participant in the race. He was at least 40 years older than the other runners, and was at an age when most people wouldn’t even consider running a marathon. But Cliff possessed at least three internal qualities that overshadowed the external advantages of the other competitors.

First, Cliff had the determination needed to compete, finish, and win the race. His strength of mind, willpower, and resolve carried him through to victory. When his competitors slept, Cliff kept running for 5 days straight!

Next, Cliff had the resilience needed to overlook the mocking, ridicule, and snide comments. Can you imagine the looks he received by wearing galoshes and overalls; shuffling instead of running; and having his mother serving as his trainer? Cliff didn’t allow any of these obstacles undermine his attitudes or make him doubt his strategies.

Finally, Cliff had the imagination to see beyond what was to what might be. He possessed an inner vision that literally separated him from the pack. He believed in himself enough to do what no one had done before. Everyone else was stuck in the things had always been done; Cliff courageously went “where no man had gone before.”

Cliff Young remains a shining example of a person of courage. Although he has passed on, his legacy remains as an inspiration to others. As someone has said, ““Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.”

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