{"id":6579,"date":"2011-10-27T14:00:29","date_gmt":"2011-10-27T21:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=6579"},"modified":"2014-04-30T02:13:22","modified_gmt":"2014-04-30T09:13:22","slug":"a-61-year-old-potato-farmer-once-won-one-of-the-worlds-most-grueling-athletic-competitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2011\/10\/a-61-year-old-potato-farmer-once-won-one-of-the-worlds-most-grueling-athletic-competitions\/","title":{"rendered":"A 61 Year Old Potato Farmer Once Won One of the World’s Most Grueling Athletic Competitions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today I found out<\/a> a 61 year old potato and sheep farmer once won one of the world’s most grueling athletic competitions.<\/p>\n

The man was an Australian by the name of Albert Ernest Clifford “Cliff” Young, who decided to take up running as a sport at the age of 57.\u00a0 The competition was the Westfield run, which is an\u00a0ultra-marathon that takes place in Australia.\u00a0 The race is 543.7 miles long (875 km) and is run from Sydney to Melbourne.\u00a0 What’s even more impressive than a 61 year old potato and sheep farmer even being able to complete such a race in the allotted time is that, he not only won, but shattered the world record for that distance, beating it by over two days.<\/p>\n

Young showed up at the event on April 27, 1983 wearing overalls and gumboots, though he later used ten pairs of shoes during the event.\u00a0 His running style, like his attire, was also very unconventional, being more of a shuffle than a run.\u00a0 In the beginning, the other runners easily took the lead with Young and his slow shuffling style lagging behind.\u00a0 However, unlike the other runners, Young didn’t plan on sleeping much throughout the event.\u00a0 Most runners planned a schedule of about 18 hours running \/ 6 hours sleeping. \u00a0 Young, however, didn’t feel sleep was necessary because, in his youth, he’d herded about 2000 sheep on a 2000 acre farm (about 3.12 square miles).\u00a0 Occasionally that would mean rounding them up by literally chasing them around for two or three days straight with no sleep and constant running.\u00a0 In his own words:<\/p>\n

\u201cSee, I grew up on a farm where we couldn\u2019t afford horses or four wheel drives, and the whole time I was growing up\u2013 until about four years ago when we finally made some money and got a four wheeler\u2013 whenever the storms would roll in, I\u2019d 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\u2019d catch them. I believe I can run this race; it\u2019s only two more days. Five days. I\u2019ve run sheep for three.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, after the race, Young told the press he kept himself motivated and focused by imagining there was a storm coming and he was just rounding up sheep before it came.\u00a0 He did, however, sleep some during the race.\u00a0 On the first day, he fell and injured his shoulder and decided to take some rest.\u00a0 However, due to one of his crew members not wearing his contacts when he set the alarm to wake Young up, Young ended up only sleeping two hours the first night and was up and running after that.<\/p>\n

In the end, he completed the 543.7 mile long ultra-marathon in just five days, fifteen hours, and four minutes, while only sleeping for a little over 12 hours during that span.\u00a0 When he won, Young earned a grand prize for the event of $10,000.\u00a0 Young lived on a modest income of around $2000 per year and didn’t feel he needed any more money than that, so rather than keeping the winnings for himself, he split the money with certain others in the race and his support crew.\u00a0 After the presentation of the prize, his legs gave out and he had to be carried off the stage.\u00a0 A bed was then setup for him at the shopping center which was the destination of the race and he slept there for just five hours, followed by eating three plates of eggs and toast and spending the following day giving interviews.<\/p>\n

Young again competed in the race in 1984, but due to injuring his left knee a couple weeks before the race and displacing his hip during the race, he couldn’t keep up with the front of the pack, led by 28 year old now legendary ultra-marathoner Yiannis Kouros.\u00a0 Despite both of these injuries, Young still managed to finish seventh out of the nine who ultimately were able to complete the event.\u00a0 He entered the competition for the third time the following year, but was forced to dropout due to pleurisy (inflammation of the lung tissue) and pneumonia.\u00a0 He spent a week in the hospital following this before being allowed to go home.\u00a0 As a courtesy, Westfield hired a car to drive him all the way back to Colac after he was released from the hospital.<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/span> Facts:<\/p>\n