Training for an ultra marathon running event can be daunting. But take heart, age need not be a limiting factor. It is well documented that older athletes perform better in endurance events. Whether this is to do with greater psychological strengths or a physical stamina built up over decades is debatable.
Some athletes stories transcend their sports and inspire nations. Cliff Young’s story did just that when in 1983 he, an unknown 61 year old Australian potato farmer turned up wearing overalls and work boots to run 543.7-miles in the countries hardest ultra marathon event from Sydney to Melbourne.
Cliff not only finished the event, his first ever competitive race but he won, knocking 2 days off the existing record and beating many professional athletes in the process.
His strategy was simple in that he didn’t stop to rest, he ran through the night while the other runners stopped for 4-6 hours to sleep. a classic case of tortoise and hare which brought him victory after 5 days on the road.
This ultra marathon running video describes Cliff’s training and race strategy and is a reminder to us all that age is no barrier to following our dreams. Well done Cliff.
For more information on Cliff Young and his ultra marathon running exploits please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Young
Credits for the images used in this article about this inspirational ultra running champion belong to Cliff Young.
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This is great. Thanks for sharing this.
My mom (my greatest client ever – I got her doing full pushups – http://bit.ly/38UhTW) has decided that, at 72, she should start running. She’s thinking she might like to run a race someday. We set up a training plan & she’s on her way. How cool is that?
And I have clients in their 30 or 40s who think they’re too old to really make progress….