Cliff Young

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Cliff Young (1922—2 November 2003) was a former athlete, best noted for his marathon win at 61 years of age.

In 1982, after training for months around the Otway Ranges, Young attempted to run 1,000 miles around Colac's Memorial Square

In 1983, the 61-year-old potato farmer won the first Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon marathon footrace. He became very popular after this, so much so that in Colac, Victoria, the Cliff Young Australian Six-Day Race was established that same year.

Cliff arrived at the Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon with overalls and galoshes over his gumboots.

Young grew up on a farm outside of Melbourne with about 2,000 acres and about 2,000 sheep. The farm, however, did not have any horses or four-wheelers. So, whenever storms were coming through, Young would play sheep-dog and round-up all of the sheep.

Before running the Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon marathon race he told the press that he would run for two to three days straight rounding up all of the sheep.

Young claimed that during the race he imagined that he was running after sheep and trying to outrun a storm.

When he was 81, Young passed away at 5:21 PM on Sunday, November 2, 2003.