This Is What Farmers Are Made Of!

A Marathon Winner in Wellies Shows What Farmers are Made of

This post is definitely NOT about sheds! Instead, it’s about the indomitable spirit of farmers: their endurance, their determination, and their will to win. When I stumbled on this story, I knew that you’d like to read about it, and I hope you’ll enjoy this inspiration as much as I did.

1983: The marathon run from Sydney to Melbourne was gearing up for the starting gun. Toned and trained athletes were preparing to show their world-class performance on the long road, donning their state-of-the-art footwear to add a little spring to their step.

Race officials were busily processing entry forms when one man stopped them in their tracks. He had his entry form right enough, but not only was he 61 years old, but he was clad in overalls and Wellies – his “running gear” for the sporting event.

Well, the organizers didn’t think that the entrant should be allowed to run at all, but he patiently explained that he was used to rounding up sheep on a 2,000 acre farm. Without horses and tractors, he acted as a human “sheepdog”, running non-stop for up to three days in order to get the sheep under protection (perhaps he had a shed after all) prior to a storm. Reluctantly, they gave in. Very well, he could run – but the consequences would be on his own head.

When the race began, farmer Cliff Young’s performance seemed unsurprising. Clad in his unconventional sports gear, he soon began to lag further and further behind. But Cliff didn’t know that the other athletes would rest overnight, so he just kept on running throughout the days-long race, taking it one step at a time. Imagine everyone’s surprise when a workwear-clad farmer was first over the finish line on day five!

As you can imagine, “young” Cliff became an overnight sensation and a national hero, much to his bewilderment. But he didn’t let this early success in his late-start running career be the end of the matter. He kept competing in races until he was well into his seventies.

A year after he passed away at the ripe old age of 81, the race which had made him a hero was renamed. It is now the Cliff Young Australian Six Day Race, and will remain so in perpetuity in remembrance of a remarkable farmer who went on to become an astounding athlete.

Did he have a shed or not?

Whether Cliff Young had a shed or not remains unclear, but even if he didn’t, his incredible achievement acts as an inspiration, and exemplifies the never-say-die, down to earth attitude of Australian farmers. What do we do when times get tough? We just keep on keeping on!

To all the farmers out there, aspiring to a new steel shed or not, our respects! You are the unsung heroes whose determination to succeed has made our country what it is today! Now… about that shed…

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