The Real Rabbit and Turtle race, happened in Sydney. We all know the story of the race between rabbit and turtle. But only very few of us, know about the real rabbit and turtle race, that happened in Sydney in 1983. This real race is a 6-day race. A distance of 875 kilometers, or almost 550miles. It is an ultra-marathon race from Sydney to Melbourne. In this real race, the turtle competed with 5 rabbits.
The Story of Rabbit and Turtle
These rabbits are professional, well trained, experienced, young, and energetic athletes. The turtle in this race is a 61-year-old, potato farmer, who never won any race, or never had any professional training related to that. But... he ended up winning the race by creating a new world record in long-distance running, And, he won it with a huge margin of 10 hours. Upon winning the race the turtle Split the prize money between his fellow competitors, without keeping anything for him. Same as the turtle...
he was very slow compared to all other professional athletes, but how did he manage to win the race with the Hugemargin of 10 hours? If we go into details... It was the inaugural race of ultra-marathon from Sydney to Melbourne. An 875-kilometer race and is expected to take6 to 7 days. There are 5 professional athletes participating in that race. and, the sixth participant is 61-year-old Cliff Young.
He was a potato farmer from Victoria. He came to the Race without any professionalgear, he came in his casual wear and work boots. At the start of the race, no one believed that cliff Young will even finish the race. Everyone thought he was crazy in attempting this race. The race had started, by the end of the first day, Cliff Young trailed the pack by a large margin. Here Comes the Twist in the story.
According to the books and principles of Running, any athlete attempting long-distance running has to run for 18 hours, sleep for 6 hours and continue the race the next day. so all 5 professional athletes rested for6 hours each day. But... Cliff Young, same as a turtle, didn’t take any rest. He ran continuously for 5 days 15 hours 4minutes and finished the race.
Even when the race is in progress, many spectators suggested that the organizers of the race should make Cliff young to stop his run, as he is not even following the long-distance running rules But running continuously without any rest. They are afraid that he may end up with serious health issues. Nobody believed Cliff’s abilities. Now, let me tell you 2 things I learned fromcliff’s story Number 1. I am not what You think I am. I am what I think I am. In this story, everybody who said that Cliffcannot even finishes the race doesn't know anything about his abilities. They don’t know that Cliff has an experience of running behind his cattle continuously for two to three days in his gumboots. what people think about you doesn't matter.
They may not know your abilities. The only thing that matters is... what you think of yourself. Don't listen to others, what they say about you reflects their own abilities, not yours. Number 2. You won't get what you want. you will get what you Believe. Even though his age is 61 years. Even though it's an 875-kilometer race. Even after knowing that he had to run continuously for 6 days, Cliff Young believed in his abilities, And what happened after that, made history. The first step to any success in our life is to believe that we can do it. Without belief, forget about getting success, we won't even start working for it.
So always believe in your abilities In order to stop judging others like the people judged cliff young, and understand the reasons behind their actions, watch my Train story. from the next I-card above, or the description below. I request you to go through my MotivationalStories Playlist. each story touches a small point in your life and makes a world of difference for you.