On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person to run a sub-4 min mile. Prior to this monumental event, the 4-min mile barrier had developed such a mystique that some considered it a physical impossibility. The next month the barrier was again shattered by John Landy, and in the following few years broken by almost a dozen more runners. Today there are around 1,500 men who have run a sub-4 min mile.
30 years after Bannister first broke the 4-min mile a 61 year old potato farmer named Cliff Young entered the Sydney to Melbourne 875km Ultramarathon. When Cliff showed up in overalls and rain boots, the other runners, who were much younger and dressed in the latest running gear, made fun of him. The race officials asked whether Cliff had ever run an Ultra – he hadn’t. Neither had he competed in a standard marathon or even a 10k.
When the race started everyone except Cliff took off at pace. Cliff instead ran rather slowly, doing what’s now called the ‘Cliff Young Shuffle’. Having never consulted with a coach, he didn’t know that you were supposed to run for 16 hours and sleep for 8, so when everyone else went to sleep he just kept on running. This went on for three and a half days and at the end of the fourth day, as his competitors slept, Cliff ran right on past.
Cliff Young ran non-stop for five and a half days, won the race and broke the old record by 12 hours.
Your beliefs affect everything you do.
Roger Bannister believed he could do something others thought impossible, whereas Cliff Young’s story illustrates that sometimes it isn’t what you don’t know that prevents your success. It’s what you do know that simply isn’t true.
As with Bannister’s doubters, there will always be people who’ll tell you its not possible to achieve your dreams – it’s something I’ve experienced myself on numerous occasions. My response is simply to keep on moving in the direction of my goals. What I’ve found when I do this, is that the knockers disappear, and in a very short time others appear with a helping hand. “People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.”
Don’t let others kill your dreams, or worse still kill your own without giving them a shot!