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Cliff Young, an unlikely hero
克里夫•杨，令人意想不到的英雄
react耐克是什么Considered one of the toughest marathon events in the world, the 875-kilometer annual Australian race, a route from Sydney to Melbourne, is a harsh test of endurance for the world’s top athletes, regardless of their age. The young, super-fit runners train for months before a competition and are under contract to prominent sponsors like Nike and Adidas, who finance them and furnish them with a substantial support mechanism of money and equipment. The contest takes up to seven days to complete and is a challenging test of fitness and strength even for world-class athletes who compete for distinction and a cash prize.
澳大利亚一年一度的悉尼至墨尔本的马拉松比赛全长 875 公里，被认为是世界上最艰难的马拉松赛事之一，对任何年龄段的世界顶尖运动员来说都是一项严酷的耐力考验。体能超好的年轻
选手在赛前要进行数月的训练，而且还和像耐克和阿迪达斯这样著名的赞助商签约，这些赞助商通过强大的资金和装备支持机制为选手提供资助和装备。这项比赛历时七天，即使对那些为荣誉和奖金而赛的世界一流运动员来说，这项比赛也是对体能和力量的严峻考验。
On the day of the race in 1983, Cliff Young, a toothless 61-year-old farmer and amateur runner, wearing rubber boots, and much older than the other runners, was in attendance. No one paid any attention to this odd-looking man who might as well have been invisible. The assembled crowd assumed Cliff was there to observe the race. When he asserted his intention to compete, the world-class athletes around him reacted with apparent disbelief and then with disrespect. Obviously, this was some sort of publicity trick.
1983 年比赛那一天，克里夫•杨，一个牙齿已全部脱落的 61 岁的农民业余选手也来参加比赛。他脚穿橡胶靴，年龄也比其他选手大得多。没有人注意到这个外表古怪的老头，他就跟个隐身人差不多。聚集的人以为克里夫只是来观看比赛的。当克里夫明确表示自己是来参赛的时候，他周围的世界级选手先是表示出明显的怀疑，继而予以鄙视。显然，人们认为这只是媒体的炒作而已。
But the press was curious, so as he took his number and moved into the crush of runners in their special, expensive racing gear, the camera focused on him and the assembled reporters shouted question after question at Cliff. They asked: "Who are you?" "What are you doing?"
但是媒体记者颇为好奇，所以当克里夫领好自己的参赛号码，走进配备昂贵的特殊装备的参赛选手队伍时，镜头对准了他，聚集的记者们向他抛来一个又一个问题。他们问：“你是谁？”“你来做什么？”
"I'm Cliff Young. I'm from a large farm where we raise sheep outside of Melbourne."
“我是克里夫•杨。我来自墨尔本郊外的一个大农场，我们在那里养羊。”
They went on, "What makes you think you can run this race? It takes a week to run this race on no more than six hours of sleep a night!"
他们接着问道：“你为什么认为自己有能力参加这项比赛？跑完全程要花一周的时间，而且每晚的睡眠不足六个小时。”
Cliff replied, "I've run sheep for two or three days at a time.
克里夫回答道：“我放羊时每一次都要跑上两三天。
This race should only be a couple more days than that. I believe I can do it."
这项比赛只是需要再多花几天而己。我相信我可以做到。”
Soon, the marathon started and the young athletes left Cliff far behind. The crowds smiled, and some laughed out loud because he didn't even run properly. He had the strangest running style; he appeared to shuffle. As the race progressed along, of course, the attention of the sports commentators and viewers alike was on the athletes at the front of the pack. Imagine everyone's surprise the next morning when the news showed Cliff was still in the race! Not only that, but he had run through the entire night without sleeping. And it seemed that he intended to keep running until he reached the finish line or fell ill or was injured as many viewers now began to fear. They were uneasy and very concerned for his welfare. Many people said and even more people thought: "Surely, someone should stop this insane old man before he really harms himself!"
很快，马拉松比赛开始了，年轻的运动员把克里夫远远地甩在了后面。人们笑了，有些人还大声地笑，因为克里夫甚至连跑步的姿势都不正确。他跑步的样子怪极了，因为他似乎是在拖着脚走。随着比赛的进行，体育解说员和观众们的注意力都放到了那些领先的选手身上。想象一下第二天早上看到新闻报道说克里夫还在比赛的队伍里时，人们有多么惊奇！不仅如此，他还彻夜未眠，一直在跑。而且，看起来他决意要一直跑到终点，或一直跑到病倒或受伤为止，这正是许多观众现在开始担心的事情。他们变得不安起来，而且非常担心他的身心健康。许多人在说，甚至更多的人在想：“不用说，应该有人制止这疯狂的老头儿，免得他真的把自己弄伤！”
But Cliff had no intention of stopping. Although he was still far behind the world-class athletes, he kept at it. When he got to a major town, he was asked about his plan for the rest of the race. He said he would just keep running, and he did. With every passing hour and every shuffling step, he got just a little bit closer to the race leaders. Later, he told people that throughout the race he kept focused by imagining he was gathering his sheep and trying to outrun a storm.
但是克里夫没有要停下的意思。虽然他仍然远远落后于那些世界顶级的选手，但他还一直坚持着。当他抵达一个大城镇时，有人问他对接下来的比赛有什么计划。他说他会继续跑下去，而且他也的确是这样做的。随着每一小时的流逝和迈出的每一次拖拖拉拉的步履，他一点一点地接近领先的选手们。事后，他告诉人们，整个比赛过程中他都很专注，他把自己想象成是在赶着羊、努力与暴风雨抢时间。
By the fifth night, he had overtaken them all. By the sixth day, he led the whole pack of runners by a wide lead. He led all the way to the finish line, smashing the record by finishing the 875-kilometer race in 5 days, 15 hours and 4 minutes - 9 hours faster than anyone before! In that instant, Cliff Young became a beloved national hero.
到了第五天夜里，他追上了所有的选手。到了第六天，他把整个队伍甩开一大截。他一路领先，直到终点，以 5 天 15 小时 4 分钟跑完 875 公里的赛程，打破了纪录，比之前最快的选手还快了 9 个小时！在那一刻，克里夫•杨成为受人爱戴的民族英雄。
In that instant, Cliff Young became a beloved national hero.
在那一刻，克里夫.杨成为受人爱戴的民族英雄。
When Cliff was awarded the first prize of $10,000, he said he didn't know there was a prize and insisted that he had not entered for the money. He said, "There're five other runners still out there doing it tougher than me," and he gave them $2,000 each. He did not keep a single cent for himself. That act increased his fame and endeared him to all of Australia.

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