In 1983, a 61 year old potato farmer, Cliff Young, in work boots entered Australia’s most brutal ultramarathon against world class athletes. He had no idea you were supposed to sleep during. He won by 10 hours.
In 1983, a 61 year old potato farmer, Cliff Young, in work boots entered Australia’s most brutal ultramarathon against world class athletes. He had no idea you were supposed to sleep during. He won by 10 hours.
Fun fact: He did know other runners would sleep; he simply chose a different strategy, relying on very short naps. That approach later became a paradigm in ultrarunning, and he is celebrated as a once-in-a-generation phenomenon.
naveenda on
So bro forgot sleep?
B-Z_B-S on
He had herded sheep during heavy storms during his life, and he’d be out for days at a time trying to collect them all.
punkena on
The only man who’s allowed to say “i’d totally win the long walk”
Lost-Competition8482 on
He was a pretty errhhmm interesting fella.
Was dating a pair of identical twins (who always dressed the same and talked in unison) for a while.
They’re another whole story.
93195 on
Uhhh….his jacket literally says ‘85, unless that’s just a later pic.
So it was just a weekend’s work for him in his mind. Farmer fit.
Internal-Student-473 on
SuspiciousTaro6513 on
Dude is just a STUD! That’s just so cool
ivy-blacklake on
say what now? ….wow 😲
helloitsmepotato on
You don’t need to embellish it. He did know that people sleep.
Exact_Accident_2343 on
“While the other competitors stopped to sleep for six hours, Young mistakenly woke up at 2 am, several hours earlier than intended, and began running, taking the lead while the other runners slept. Young then decided to avoid sleep as a strategy, and finished the rest of the race without sleeping at all, eventually finishing in 1st place 10 hours faster than the runner who came in second.”
Fortune_Ready on
It should be made into a movie.
No_Can2570 on
Kinda similar to the Larry Bird story of playing a scrimmage game in jeans.
They made a movie about him called Cliffy… it’s on iView.
residual-nature on
At *61*
Jeezus.
sligowind on
He also didn’t know you weren’t supposed to be hopped up on meth.
Migdog1198 on
Legend!
Sahrano on
Please don’t let the facts get in the way. Cliff Young was an accomplished athlete…a sub 3hr marathon runner.
He may have trained on his farm in gumboots but wore some cheap joggers in the race. My guess is Dunlop K26’s.
All Cliff’s records were smashed by Yiannis Kouros some years later!…he didn’t sleep much.
lluciferusllamas on
If he was 61 in 1983, he probably recovered by drinking beer and smoking cigarettes
EntertainmentSea9104 on
So he was on meth
Aggressive_Scar5243 on
I’ve heard this story before
Brilliant_Language52 on
These boots were made for runnin
Different_Point_8740 on
The turtle.
I_Am_Dynamite6317 on
Dude thought he was doing the long walk
Unkma19 on
Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!
SaintSean128 on
Young didn’t actually run the race in his boots, he just showed up to event wearing them. During the race he wore a pair of running shoes given to him prior to the start.
“Young arrived to compete in overalls and work boots (though he ran the race in a new pair of runners somebody gave him), without his dentures (later saying that they rattled when he ran)” All the text of the post is basically a fabrication and doesn’t match the facts.
RudeCheetah4642 on
Great story for a 90’s movie with Tom Hanks in it.
Sea_Divide_3870 on
Feels very very Aussie
shuwy018 on
Thought this was Simon Cowell from AGT lol
SawyerJWRBLX on
thesmellnextdoor on
He also split the prize money with some other runners in the race and kept less than a third of it for himself
BirbDaBoi on
Unrelated but I feel like most of the fun trivia I find on youtube shorts end up as a post here a few days later the algorithm force feed them to me
38 Comments
Fun fact: He did know other runners would sleep; he simply chose a different strategy, relying on very short naps. That approach later became a paradigm in ultrarunning, and he is celebrated as a once-in-a-generation phenomenon.
So bro forgot sleep?
He had herded sheep during heavy storms during his life, and he’d be out for days at a time trying to collect them all.
The only man who’s allowed to say “i’d totally win the long walk”
He was a pretty errhhmm interesting fella.
Was dating a pair of identical twins (who always dressed the same and talked in unison) for a while.
They’re another whole story.
Uhhh….his jacket literally says ‘85, unless that’s just a later pic.
Wikipedia entry: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Young_(athlete)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Young_(athlete))
So it was just a weekend’s work for him in his mind. Farmer fit.
Dude is just a STUD! That’s just so cool
say what now? ….wow 😲
You don’t need to embellish it. He did know that people sleep.
“While the other competitors stopped to sleep for six hours, Young mistakenly woke up at 2 am, several hours earlier than intended, and began running, taking the lead while the other runners slept. Young then decided to avoid sleep as a strategy, and finished the rest of the race without sleeping at all, eventually finishing in 1st place 10 hours faster than the runner who came in second.”
It should be made into a movie.
Kinda similar to the Larry Bird story of playing a scrimmage game in jeans.
https://media0.giphy.com/media/L4TYWQn8rALRu/giphy.gif?cid=9b38fe91nfizpxzxefqq9cxhr6h82u4pem293l3mjzez9n5b&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g
Stop posting this bullshit title
They made a movie about him called Cliffy… it’s on iView.
At *61*
Jeezus.
He also didn’t know you weren’t supposed to be hopped up on meth.
Legend!
Please don’t let the facts get in the way. Cliff Young was an accomplished athlete…a sub 3hr marathon runner.
He may have trained on his farm in gumboots but wore some cheap joggers in the race. My guess is Dunlop K26’s.
All Cliff’s records were smashed by Yiannis Kouros some years later!…he didn’t sleep much.
If he was 61 in 1983, he probably recovered by drinking beer and smoking cigarettes
So he was on meth
I’ve heard this story before
These boots were made for runnin
The turtle.
Dude thought he was doing the long walk
Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!
Young didn’t actually run the race in his boots, he just showed up to event wearing them. During the race he wore a pair of running shoes given to him prior to the start.
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Young_(athlete))
His face resembles a crazy emu!!!
“Young arrived to compete in overalls and work boots (though he ran the race in a new pair of runners somebody gave him), without his dentures (later saying that they rattled when he ran)” All the text of the post is basically a fabrication and doesn’t match the facts.
Great story for a 90’s movie with Tom Hanks in it.
Feels very very Aussie
Thought this was Simon Cowell from AGT lol
He also split the prize money with some other runners in the race and kept less than a third of it for himself
Unrelated but I feel like most of the fun trivia I find on youtube shorts end up as a post here a few days later the algorithm force feed them to me