KEEP GOING | GNOMIC Motivation
August 9, 2021
One of the world’s toughest ultra-marathons was a grueling 543.9 miles (875 km) race from Sydney to Melbourne, Australia. In 1983 about 150 runners, including a toothless 61-year old potato farmer and sheepherder named Ernest Clifford “Cliff” Young, converged for the event.
As Cliff mingled with the other runners at the starting line, spectators couldn’t believe their eyes. “This must surely be a joke!” some mused. When the gun went off and he was left behind in his galoshes and overalls as the other runners with their sculpted bodies and running gear briskly took the lead, bystanders snickered at him.
“Someone should stop that crazy old man before he kills himself!”
Five days, 15 hours, and 4 minutes later, however, Cliff Young came shuffling across the finish line in Melbourne, winning the race! He didn’t win by a few seconds, or even a few minutes. The nearest runner was 9 hours and 56 minutes behind him!
How did this even happen?
Well, everyone knew that the only way to win the ultra-marathon was to run for 18 hours, then stop and sleep for six hours. This routine was repeated for five punishing days. But no one told Cliff Young. He just shuffled along, day and night, night and day, without stopping to sleep. Cliff broke the previous race record by nine hours and became overnight a national hero.
“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory” — William Barclay
Endure. Keep going.
