The Potato Farmer Who Won a 544-Mile Ultramarathon

In April 1983, a crowd gathered at the start of the inaugural Westfield Sydney-to-Melbourne Ultramarathon - one of the most gruelling foot races ever organised. 875 kilometres. No sleeping allowed unless you chose to. The field included elite professional runners who had trained for years. Then an old man in overalls and work boots shuffled to the line.

He Grew Up Running

Cliff Young was 61 years old, a potato farmer from Beech Forest in country Victoria. He had grown up on a 2,000-acre property running down sheep during storms - sometimes for two or three days without stopping. He had no idea that professional runners planned to run 18 hours and sleep for six. He thought you simply kept going until you got there.

The Pros Laughed

Reporters asked if he was lost. The crowd assumed he was a spectator who had wandered onto the course. When the starter's gun fired, the elite field sprinted into the distance. Young shuffled forward in his distinctive slow-footed style - what the press would later call the "Young Shuffle". By nightfall, the professionals had all stopped to sleep. Young had not. He kept shuffling through the dark.

Five Days Without Sleep

Over the following days, Young gradually built an enormous lead. He ran through each night while his competitors slept. His finishing time was five days, fifteen hours, and four minutes - nearly two days faster than any previous record for the Sydney-to-Melbourne distance. He crossed the line 10 hours ahead of the second-place finisher. All six people who completed the race broke the old record.

He Gave the Money Away

When race organisers told Young he had won the $10,000 prize, he said he felt bad accepting it - each of the other five finishers had worked just as hard. He gave $7,000 to his fellow competitors, keeping only $3,000 for himself. The "Young Shuffle" - that energy-conserving, flat-footed gait - went on to be studied and adopted by ultramarathon coaches around the world. Young continued entering ultramarathons well into his 70s.