The Legendary Cliff Young and the Indefatigable Home Business Owner

I guess what caught my eye was his picture and the fact that he was running at 61 years old.

Cliff Young also caught the attention of his Aussie countrymen in 1983 when he was a surprise entrant for the 543-mile run from Sydney to Melbourne, the Westfield race.

A potato farmer, he arrived for the race wearing overalls and gumboots. At 61, he looked out of place among the young and elite field of runners, most of whom had trained hard for the event.

It didn’t take too long after the race had begun for these experienced runners to leave 61 year old Cliff behind. It wasn't just his age, not just his appearance that made spectators and media focus on this newbie; it was also his unusual but peculiar running style, a kind of shuffling gait.

Many thought he wasn’t serious: he was just odd, or it was a publicity stunt. Others, worried about his advanced age, questioned whether or not he could even finish the race.

But Cliff Young was not one to be put off by the doubters. He was not put off by those who questioned his methods.

And he had no intention of quitting. He planned to stay in the race until it was finished.

Well over 80% of people who start a home business are said to fail. Obviously that number includes many who believed they had done every thing right and stuck with it until they were looking at financial disaster, but, I wonder how many others in that group

• Did not "count the cost" - They didn't realize that a business requires financial investment beyond some $99 kit; they didn't consider that a business is never a "money-making machine!" as they begin
  
• Got fatigued and just quit - They discovered that a business means work!
  
• Lost their nerve in the face of many doubters and just quit - They should have known that the entrepreneurial mind-set is only for the few die-hards.
  

What makes you think you can compete in a race like this, he was asked. This potato farmer from nowhere replied,

See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn’t afford horses or four wheel drives, and the whole time I was growing up– until about four years ago when we finally made some money and got a four wheeler– whenever the storms would roll in, I’d have to go out and round up the sheep. We had 2,000 head, and we have 2,000 acres. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but I’d catch them. I believe I can run this race; it’s only two more days. Five days. I’ve run sheep for three.

It was standard for the experienced marathoners to run 18 hours and sleep 6 hours. The thing is, old Cliff Young did not know that!

On the morning of the second day, everyone was surprised to learn that Cliff was still in the race. Not only was he still in race, but he had continued to run throughout most of the night without stopping. When asked what his strategy was for the remainder of the race, he let everyone know his plan was to keep running straight to the finish line without sleeping. He was seemingly indefatigable.

After years of chasing sheep for hours on end, he knew how to pace himself. He knew that work fatigue would set in. But he knew he could not give up.

As the race went on, Cliff kept running slowly with his now familiar shuffle. Each night he moved closer and closer to the young runners as they rested their 6 hours. During the final night of the race, Cliff had finally caught up to and eventually passed the pack of professional athletes while they were sleeping. 

When he crossed the finish line first that day, he had set the new course record and beat his competitors by a large margin. At the end of the race, he took the $10,000 in prize money and gave it away to five other runners and returned quietly to his ranch.

Asked what advice he’d give to other elderly runners, he said, “No matter what you do, you have to keep moving. If you don’t wear out, you rust out.”

Are you tempted to drop out...

• of college or other courses of study? Keep moving!
• of your diet or fitness regime? Keep moving!
• of your home business requirements? Keep moving!
• of _______________  (go ahead and fill it in) Keep moving!

What kept Cliff moving through that famous race? He said that, throughout the race, he imagined that he was chasing sheep and trying to outrun a storm.