Frank Mc Quaid Running

Congratulations to Joanna Riddell on completing the virtual KBC Dublin Marathon on Bere Island today in a personal best time of 4 hours 13 minutes nearly an hour inside her previous best. This was Joanna's 10th marathon and comes just 3 weeks after completing the virtual London Marathon also on Bere Island. Many congratulations on a super run proving once again that hard work in training pays off on race day.

Running low on numbers to run the root & rise class at 11.30 this week. All we need is 2 more people to sign up and then we can go ahead!

If you've been thinking about it but you're just not quite sure. The class is suitable for beginners it's an introduction to flow yoga to help you strengthen and stretch.

Please let me know if you're curious! 😁

Well done Darragh

Cork athletes roared back from lockdown ready to beat the best in Ireland - Echo Fri Aug 28th
Barry Donovan's article about Cork athletes' impact at last weekend's National T&F Championships (which continue on Sat & Sun), along with Sean O'Lionaird's comeback. Darragh McElhinney
https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/Cork-athletes-roared-back-from-lockdown-ready-to-beat-the-best-in-Ireland-3f0a3327-43c4-4393-af82-8eaa0c141226-ds

Smashing Sonia O Sullivan previous record

Another national record for Ciara Mageean ⚡️⚡️⚡️ this time in the 1000m in a time of 2:31.06 Wanda Diamond League 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

Joshua Chepyegei smashes the world 5k record with a tine of 12.35 at the Monaco Diamond League tonight.

The Legend of Cliff Young: The 61 Year Old Farmer Who Won the World’s Toughest Race

In 1983 a 61 Year Old Farmer Won a 544 mile endurance race because he ran throughout the night while the younger 'professional' athletes slept

An Unlikely Competitor: Every year, Australia hosts 543.7-mile (875-kilometer) endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne. It is considered among the world's most grueling ultra-marathons. The race takes five days to complete and is normally only attempted by world-class athletes who train specially for the event. These athletes are typically less than 30 years old and backed by large companies such as Nike.

In 1983, a man named Cliff Young showed up at the start of this race. Cliff was 61 years old and wore overalls and work boots. To everyone's shock, Cliff wasn't a spectator. He picked up his race number and joined the other runners. The press and other athletes became curious and questioned Cliff. They told him, "You're crazy, there's no way you can finish this race." To which he replied, "Yes I can. See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn't afford horses or tractors, and the whole time I was growing up, whenever the storms would roll in, I'd have to go out and round up the sheep. We had 2,000 sheep on 2,000 acres. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but I'd always catch them. I believe I can run this race."

When the race started, the pros quickly left Cliff behind. The crowds and television audience were entertained because Cliff didn't even run properly; he appeared to shuffle. Many even feared for the old farmer's safety.

The Tortoise and the Hare: All of the professional athletes knew that it took about 5 days to finish the race. In order to compete, one had to run about 18 hours a day and sleep the remaining 6 hours. The thing is, Cliff Young didn't know that! When the morning of the second day came, everyone was in for another surprise. Not only was Cliff still in the race, he had continued jogging all night. Eventually Cliff was asked about his tactics for the rest of the race. To everyone's disbelief, he claimed he would run straight through to the finish without sleeping.

Cliff kept running. Each night he came a little closer to the leading pack. By the final night, he had surpassed all of the young, world-class athletes. He was the first competitor to cross the finish line and he set a new course record.

When Cliff was awarded the winning prize of $10,000, he said he didn't know there was a prize and insisted that he did not enter for the money. He ended up giving all of his winnings to several other runners, an act that endeared him to all of Australia.

Continued Inspiration: In the following year, Cliff entered the same race and took 7th place. Not even a displaced hip during the race stopped him.

Cliff came to prominence again in 1997, aged 76, when he attempted to raise money for homeless children by running around Australia's border. He completed 6,520 kilometers of the 16,000-kilometer run before he had to pull out because his only crew member became ill. Cliff Young passed away in 2003 at age 81.

Today, the "Young-shuffle" has been adopted by ultra-marathon runners because it is considered more energy-efficient. At least three champions of the Sydney to Melbourne race have used the shuffle to win the race. Furthermore, during the Sydney to Melbourne race, modern competitors do not sleep. Winning the race requires runners to go all night as well as all day, just like Cliff Young.

references:- http://www.elitefeet.com/the-legend-of-cliff-young

Good memories Belgooly 10 1997

What We Can Learn From Endurance Athletes About Getting Through This Pandemic Long-distance runners, cyclists and triathletes can teach us about how to move through extended periods of discomfort.