Australia watched in awe as Cliff Young shuffled his way from Sydney to Melbourne. His simple persistence is still inspiring.
The Melbourne Marathon is soon upon us, and I’m planning to run the “half”. Or 21.097 tortuous kilometres. And it’s the image of a 61-year-old Victorian man in a pair of gumboots that I have to thank for helping me believe I’m a chance.
An older, vegetarian, potato farmer who trained in a pair of heavy gumboots to win the epic 875 kilometres race in five days and 14 hours and smash the previous record of seven days and a bit of change.– or Cliffy as he affectionately came to be known by an entire country – barely lift his legs, his arms limp by his side in a pair of parachute tracksuit pants with holes cut into them for ventilation, my eight-year-old self was shook to the core.
After the race, a gumboot was erected in his hometown of Beech Forest, in the Otways, to commemorate his hero’s journey. I wonder if people travel to Beech Forest to see the gumboot and pay respect to the man who showed us that you could be a 61-year-old potato farmer and smash world records.I was never a good runner. But I dreamt about it, like you might do when you’re young and you fall in love with ponies. Or football. Or dancing.
For that long decade when I was too sick to move about, I desperately wanted to feel again my muscles hurt, for my breath to be caught up in my chest and for my face to turn a bright red. And so when I started back, I would think about Cliffy Young. Legs barely lifting off the ground. Arms limp by my side and slow. So slow. Each time I would find it hard, I would slow my pace further and quietly tell him that he was with me, whether he liked it or not.
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