Cliff Young Australian 6-day race

Last updated

The Cliff Young Australian 6 Day Race was an ultramarathon race that takes place in Colac, Victoria. One of a small handful of Six Day races around the world, the Cliff Young has had many fine performances culminating in November 2005 with Yiannis Kouros, arguably the best multiday runner in the world, setting a new world 6 Day record. It started in 1983 and was renamed in 2004 after Cliff Young, a Colac farmer and winner of the inaugural Sydney to Melbourne Westfield's Ultramarathon in May 1983.

Contents

History

After Cliff Young (a potato farmer) won the ultramarathon in 1983, the City of Colac was inspired to stage a 1000-mile race in Cliff's honour - the 1983 Cliff Young Colac 1000 which started in Melbourne and ended in the Colac Memorial Square.

In the following year, the City of Colac announced its decision to stage a six-day race. A 400-metre track was created in the Memorial square and named in his honour. Initially named the 1984 Colac Ultra Marathon, it later became known as the Australian Six Day Race - Colac. Fourteen runners entered the inaugural race including the great Yiannis Kouros and British multiday runner Eleanor Adams-Robinson. Kouros easily won, covering over 1022 km, setting a new world record and Adams-Robinson also broke 11 world records.

The race was renamed in early 2004 in honour of Cliff Young, who died on the 2nd of November 2003. [1] [2]

In 2005, at the age of 49, Yiannis Kouros returned to the recently renamed race and again demonstrated his unparalleled capacity by setting a new Six Day World Record by covering just over 1036 km, breaking the course record and set new world record times for covering 500 km and 1000 km in his age group.

The event has not been held since 2005, despite an effort from Australian marathon runner Lee Troop to revive the race in 2008. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultramarathon</span> Any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres

An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of 31 miles (50 km) and up to 3100 miles. World Championships are held by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) for 50 km, 100 km, 24 hours, and ultra Trail running. The Global Organization of Multi-Day Ultramarathoners (GOMU) holds World Championships for 48 hours and 6 days. World Records are ratified and recognized by World Athletics, the IAU, and by GOMU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spartathlon</span> Ultramarathon race from Athens to Sparti in Greece

Spartathlon is a 246-kilometre (153 mi) ultramarathon race held annually in Greece since 1983, between Athens and Sparti, the modern town on the site of ancient Sparta. The Spartathlon is based on the run of Pheidippides, who ran from Athens to Sparta before the Battle of Marathon in a day and a half to seek aid against the Persians. Five Royal Air Force officers attempted the course in 1982 and the competition was started the next year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pam Reed</span> American ultrarunner (born 1961)

Pamela J. Reed is an American ultrarunner who resides in Tucson, Arizona and Jackson, Wyoming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yiannis Kouros</span> Greek ultramarathon runner (born 1956)

Yiannis Kouros is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Greece. He is sometimes given the epithets "Running god", "Pheidippides' Successor" or "Son of Pheidippides". Kouros holds many men's outdoor road world records from 100 to 1,000 miles and many road and track records from 12 hours to 6 days. In 1991, he starred as Pheidippides in the movie The Story of the Marathon: A Hero's Journey, which chronicles the history of marathon running.

Multiday races are ultramarathon running events which are typically either segmented into daily events of a specified distance or time, or staged so that runners can run as far as they want, at their own discretion, over a set course or over a set number of days. Multiday races can range from continuous 48-hour track events to staged transcontinental treks.

Dipali Cunningham from Melbourne, Australia now she lives in New York City, USA is an ultramarathon woman runner. Dipali is a Disciple from the spiritual Master Sri Chinmoy over 30 years.

The 6-Day Race became a standard footrace distance in the 1870s and was a popular form of entertainment with up to 70,000 paying visitors during such a Pedestrians event. However the widespread use of the bicycle from 1890 caused it to be replaced as spectator sport by cycle races of the same duration. It was in two forms: strict "heel-and-toe" racewalking, or "go-as-you-please" combination of walking, jogging, running.

Albert Ernest Clifford Young OAM was an Australian potato farmer and athlete from Beech Forest, Victoria. He was best known for his unexpected win of the inaugural Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon in 1983 at 61 years of age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-Transcendence 6- & 10-day Race</span>

The Self-Transcendence 6- & 10-day Race are two concurrent multiday running events, held in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, a large public park in the borough of Queens in New York City. The course is one mile long. They are held annually in April and organized by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

The Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon was an annual ultramarathon foot race held between 1983 and 1991. It was sponsored by the Westfield Group, with the start being at Westfield Parramatta shopping centre and the finish at Westfield Doncaster shopping centre .The event was the brainchild of Martin "Alby" Noonan, a keen and talented distance runner who at the time was the Marketing and Promotions Manager for the Westfield Doncaster shopping centre.

Sandra May Barwick is a New Zealand ultramarathon runner who set a new six-day track world record in Campbelltown, Australia, 18–24 November 1990. Covering 549 miles 110 yards in six days, Barwick set a record that still stands today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Howie</span> Canadian long-distance runner

Arthur "Al" Howie was a Canadian long-distance runner who won more than fifty marathons, ultramarathons, and multiday races in over two decades, including the 1991 Trans Canada Highway run in the record time of 72 days and 10 hours. A brass plaque on Victoria's Mile Zero marker commemorates this athletic event for which he raised $750,000 for a fund for children with special needs. Two weeks after running across Canada he won the Sri Chinmoy 1300 Miler in New York improving on his own world record time. Both the Trans Canada run and the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) race qualified for the Guinness Book of Records. He lived in Duncan, B.C., from 2005 until his death in 2016. He had been receiving treatment for Diabetes I. The City of Duncan awarded him the Perpetual Trophy for Excellence and Sportsmanship in December 2007, and in 2014 he was inducted into The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.

Kouros is a type of Ancient Greek sculpture, which represents a naked male youth.

The Athens International Ultramarathon Festival is a Multiday race which takes place at the former Ellinikon International Airport in Greece.

Eleanor Robinson is a British former ultramarathon runner and two-time winner of the IAU 100km World Championships. She was the first woman to run over 150 miles in a 24-hour endurance race. She was the winner of the first Badwater Ultramarathon in 1987. She was twice bronze medallist at the IAU 100 km European Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ern Milliken</span>

Ernest Milliken was an Australian Road racing cyclist who performed strongly in distance races and individual time trials.

Alissa St Laurent is a Canadian ultramarathon runner. She began her ultra career in 2013 and has competed for the Canadian National team in 100km World Championships and the 2015 IAU Trail World Championships. She holds numerous course records, including those for the Sinister 7 100-mile and the Lost Soul 100-km ultramarathons. She received national attention after becoming the first female to win the 125-km Canadian Death Race outright in 2015 and her later comments in the media encouraging more women to take up competitive sports such as ultrarunning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-Transcendence 12+24 Hour Race Basel</span>

The 12+24 Hour Race Basel is an Ultramarathon race in Basel, Switzerland. The run takes place annually in May, organized by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team. It is held on the Sports Facilities St. Jakob on a 1.1 kilometer route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">János Bogár</span> Hungarian ultramarathon runner

János Bogár is a Hungarian ultramarathon runner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lazarus Lake</span> US endurance race designer

Gary Cantrell, known as Lazarus Lake, is an endurance race designer and director. His races include the Barkley Marathons, Big's Backyard Ultra, the Barkley Fall Classic, Vol State 500K, A Race for the Ages, the Last Annual Heart of the South, and the Strolling Jim 40. In 2018, Lake covered the United States on foot, starting in Rhode Island and ending in Oregon.

References

  1. ↑ "Cliff Young dies aged 81". The Age. 3 November 2003. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  2. ↑ "History of the Square – Colac 6-day race". Planet Ultramarathon. 24 January 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Aus 100 - Colac 6 Day Race". australian100club.org. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Colac Six Day race finished forever". Planet Ultramarathon. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2021.

Other 6 Day races

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.