A lovable farmer, a surprising athlete - a national icon? When a 61-year-old potato farmer from Colac came out of nowhere to win the most arduous road running race ever attempted in Australia, a new national folk hero was born. Cliff Young's victory in the 1983 Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon was second only to the America's Cup as the biggest sports story of the 1980s. With his laconic country style, his distinctive shuffle and innocent grin, Cliffy captured the hearts and minds of the Australian public like few before or since. And then the circus came to town. Before a crowd of thousands he married a woman a third his age in a shopping centre. He went on game shows. He appeared in TV soaps, on ads and in unflattering promotions. And suddenly, Cliffy the hero became Cliffy the buffoon.