Every year, Australia hosts a 543.7-mile endurance race from Sydney all the way to Melbourne. It’s called the world’s most grueling ultra-marathons.
Why is it considered the most grueling?
It’s a race that takes an unbelievable 5 days to complete.
It’s so hardcore that usually only world-class athletes have the guts to attempt it and they only do that after training specifically for the event.
Just so you understand, the kind of runner that normally runs in this marathon is under 30 years old. They usually are at the level of expertise where they have large companies sponsor them.
That’s what makes the story you’re about to hear so unbelievable, but it’s true.
This unbelievable tale takes place in 1983 when an unknown man named Cliff Young showed up to run the race. What was the big deal about Cliff wanting to run?
Well, Cliff was 61 years old. If that wasn’t out of the ordinary enough, he showed up wearing overalls and work boots.
People saw him and thought he was there to watch, but he wasn’t. Cliff was there to run.
After he picked up his race number and joined the other runners, the press and other runners became curious – so curious they had to confront him.
They told Cliff, “You’re crazy, man. There’s no way you can finish this race.”
He wasn’t fazed by their doubt, He answered confidently with a surprising reason why he believed he could run the race.
He told them, “Yes I can. You see, I grew up on a farm and we couldn’t afford horses or tractors. The whole time I was growing up, when the storms would roll in, it was my job to go out and round-up the sheep. And just so you know, we had 2,000 sheep on 2,000 acres. They weren’t easy to round-up. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but some way or another, I’d always catch them. That’s why I believe I can run this race.”
All of Cliff’s confidence didn’t change the fact that when the race started, the pros quickly left Cliff in the dust.
The crowds watching live and the television audience at home thought it was funny because Cliff didn’t even run properly. He kind of shuffled along. He looked so awkward that many people watching even feared for old Cliff’s safety.
There’s something else important that you need to know, before you hear the amazing ending to this story.
All of the professional athletes knew something that Cliff didn’t. They knew that it took about 5 days to finish the race and if you were going to compete, then you had to run 18 hours a day and find some sleep in the remaining 6 hours left each day.
Cliff Young had no idea about this tactic.
In fact, on the morning of the second day everyone was in for a big surprise. Not only was Cliff still in the race, he had kept jogging all through the night! People couldn’t believe it. They asked Cliff what his tactic was for the rest of the race and they couldn’t believe his answer. He told them calmly that he’d run all the way through to the finish without sleeping!
And guess what? That’s what he did. Cliff just kept running. And the funny thing was that each night he came a little closer to the leading pack.
And as unbelievable as this sounds, on the last night, he had surpassed all the young, world-class, corporate-sponsored athletes. To the amazement of everyone watching, Cliff was the first competitor to cross the finish line. If that wasn’t shocking enough he set a new course record! He cut the record by two days!
One more thing you have to hear.
When Cliff was awarded the winning prize of $10,000, he told people he didn’t even know there was a prize! He told them he didn’t enter for the money. And what he did next proved it. He ended up giving all of his winnings to the 5 other runners and kept none for himself. This left all of Australia in awe of this amazing man, named Cliff.
If you want to succeed in 2012, you will need a lot of things:
1. Goals
2. Plans
3. Accountability
And many more things.
But one of the things that is often overlooked is the thing that I think is the KEY to succeeding in the new year. It’s the thing that Cliff Young had.
The missing ingredient you need is endurance or stamina.
Anyone can succeed in an area in the short-term. It’s easy to follow a diet for a month. It’s easy to use content marketing and post on your blog for a couple of momths. But the HARDEST thing to do is to sustain it. It’s hard to still be eating well 6 months to a year later. It’s difficult to consistently post on your blog for years.
Without endurance or stamina, your success will be short-lived.
So go ahead. Make goals and plans for 2012.
But think about ways you can maintain your stamina.
Brainstorm ways you can find the endurance to keep yourself going and flowing.
That’s your key to lasting success. If you don’t believe me, go ask Cliff.
—————————————————————————————-
P.S. Remember that awkward way that Cliff ran? Well, his win caused others to reconsider how awkward the style really was. The result? The “Young shuffle” has been adopted by some ultra-marathon runners because it expends less energy. At least three winners of the Sydney to Melbourne race have been known to use the “Young shuffle” to win the race. Who’s laughing now?
P.P.S. If you want to see Cliff run for yourself, then check this video…
(Sources for Cliff Young story: EliteFeet.com and Wikipedia)
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[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://recessionsolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/photo1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Scott Aughtmon is a “business recession solution expert“, a “content creation expert” , and a speaker. He’s spent over 12 years studying effective marketing and business methods (both online and offline).
You can read some of his content marketing articles for “Content Marketing Institute” here.
He’s the author of two e-books called “How Your Business Can Survive And Prosper In A Recession” in which he interviewed 38 top business, marketing and sales experts and got them toreveal their methods to help business owners survive and prosper in a recession. Scott has also been interviewed on radio shows and asked to share his wisdom to help business owners survive and prosper in a recession. Read more of Scott’s insights on his blog. Follow Scott on Twitter @rampbusinesses or on Google Plus at +scott aughtmon, +content creation methods, or +recessionsolution.com [/author_info] [/author]
I’m a business strategist, consultant, content creation specialist, and speaker. I’ve been studying effective marketing and business methods (both online and offline) since 1999.
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