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This isn't exactly news - it happened more than 20 years ago. But it's a great story and is partly responsible for the way runners compete in ultramarathons to this day.

In 1983, Cliff Young, a 61 year-old farmer, showed up to race Australia's toughest endurance race - 543.7 miles from Sydney to Melbourne - in overalls and work boots.

Naturally, the mostly under-30 crowd of highly-conditioned athletes did not consider him to be competition in the least. Some were even worried about his health and safety.

He was basically told he had no chance at finishing the race. According to the article, this is what he said...

"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."

Not only did he run it, but he won it and set a new record for the course. Because of Young's upbringing on a sheep farm, his body was capable of running the 543.7 miles without stopping to sleep at all. So, while he "shuffled along" at a considerably slower pace than the pack, he had the advantage of not having to stop at all during the night to sleep. While the younger runners were sleeping, Young was shuffling right along to the finish line.

The race had always taken 5 days before Young, with runners sleeping for 6 hours a night. These days, runners have adopted the "Young Shuffle" because it's thought to be more energy efficient and modern competitors do not sleep at all during the 543.7 mile race.