A marathon is 42.2 kilometres in length. Runs longer than that are known as ultramarathons. In 1983 Westfield decided to sponsor a run between the two biggest Westfields, those in Sydney and Melbourne, a distance of 875 kilometres. This made it one of the world’s longest and toughest ultramarathons. People who had run between the two cities in the past had done so in 7 days at best.
The run attracted a large number of entrants, 150 of the world’s best runners. On the morning of the race as they registered at a table, an old man wearing overalls and galoshes over his work boots (because he thought it might rain) slowly walked to the table. Most people paid him little mind in that they thought he was a spectator. The man was named Cliff Young and he was aged 61, a potato farmer from Colac outside Melbourne. He had never run a race before, had never had a coach or a trainer and said that he would like to give the race a try because it fit into his farming schedule.
