Laura Cummings: Think out of the box with tales of human endurance

Already wrestling with your New Year's resolution, asks Laura Cummings? Take inspiration from some who have truly suffered

THE New Year may be only five days old but the optimism of the Bells already seems light years away. For thousands, the return to a normal working routine after the bank holidays makes today a particular downer.

It is now that those vows to lose weight, stop smoking or whatever else was resolved for 2011 start to get that bit harder. In fact, nearly half of us will have already broken our New Year resolutions, with one survey claiming one in three was junked by January 2.

For those who haven't given up yet, willpower and endurance are the order of the day - so today the News offers some inspiring tales of heroic endeavour. Surely these people had no trouble sticking to their resolutions . . .

The runner who never slept

When Cliff Young showed up in 1983 at the starting line of the 543.7-mile Sydney to Melbourne race wearing overalls and work boots everyone thought he was a spectator.

The young, honed athletes who made up the field and the crowd gathered to watch were shocked when the 61-year-old farmer picked up his race number to join the other runners.

He was labelled a "crazy old man" for even attempting to undertake what is among the world's most gruelling ultra-marathons. Some feared he would die trying to finish the race, which usually takes the fittest of athletes five days to complete.

But this humble farmer was to shock and inspire even his critics.

When the race started, the professionals left Young behind. He didn't even run properly, appearing to shuffle along instead.

But he had a plan - before setting off, he revealed he would run straight through to the finish line without sleeping.

Each night the temptation to stop must have grown, but he kept moving and edging ever closer to the leading runners. By the final night he had surpassed all of the world-class athletes, going on to cross the finish line first and set a new course record.

The following year, Young only came seventh but he completed the race despite displacing his hip.

A decade without eating

How often do we say we are "starving" when we really mean we are just hungry? Someone who knows about true starvation is Irom Sharmila, who last November completed ten years without swallowing food or water, making her the world's longest hunger striker.

The 38-year-old marked the occasion by vowing to continue her protest to highlight the turmoil in her home state of Manipur, where more than 40 insurgent groups have demanded autonomy from India and the authorities have responded by dispatching thousands of troops.

She began her fast the day after ten people waiting at a bus stop on the outskirts of Imphal were shot dead and is demanding the repeal of powers which give police effective immunity from prosecution.

Sharmila is fed a mixture of liquified carbohydrates and proteins by a nasal tube three times a day. Such is her determination not to let water pass her lips, she cleans her teeth with dry cotton. She has not seen her elderly mother since the fast began, with both agreeing that meetings could undermine her determination.

Buried alive for a week

Of all the stunts David Blaine has pulled off over the years, the one which retains most power to amaze is the one in which he was buried alive.

On April 5, 1999, the illusionist was entombed for seven days in an underground plastic coffin beneath a three-ton water-filled tank in New York.

The whole time his hand hovered over a buzzer installed to ensure his release should his willpower wane. The temptation to use it to spring a round-the-clock emergency crew into action must at times have been overwhelming. But Blaine, 37, never did.

The coffin offered just six inches of headroom and two inches either side. During the endurance stunt, the magician ate nothing and drank only two to three tablespoons of water a day.

An estimated 75,000 people visited the site and on April 12 hundreds of news teams were stationed at the site for the coffin-opening. Construction workers removed a portion of the 75 square feet of gravel around the coffin before a crane lifted the water tank.

Blaine emerged and told the crowd: "I saw something very prophetic . . . a vision of every race, every religion, every age group banding together, and that made all this worthwhile."

Tale of endurance

Stranded in a desert during the Second World War with a bullet wound, John Easton refused to give in to what seemed an impossible position, almost completing an incredible trek to reach allied territory.

The Midlothian farm labourer had joined the Scots Guards as soon as he was old enough in 1937. By 1941, aged 21, he had volunteered for the Long Range Desert Group, a forerunner of the SAS.

During the unit's first major operation in south-west Libya, Lance Corporal Easton was injured in an attack by a mobile strike squad backed by Italian aircraft. Easton was shot in the throat, and it was thought he, along with New Zealander Ronald Moore, Glaswegian Alexander Winchester and Alfred Tighe, from Manchester, had died. They had actually taken to the hills, where they hid overnight.

Instead of surrendering, they attempted to walk 290 miles, following the unit's disappearing tyre tracks in the sand, back to allied-held Tekro. Splitting their time between hiding from the enemy, foraging for what food they could find and trekking more than 20 miles a day, they evaded capture for nine days. On the tenth, after they had covered 200 miles, a search party found the men.

Although the other three men recovered, Easton sadly died shortly after being rescued. He was mentioned in dispatches.

Flaming unbelievable

Despite badly burning both feet, Cumbrian man Scott Bell has not been deterred from indulging in his passion of walking on hot coals.

Scott, from near Carlisle, has broken the Guinness World Record twice for the greatest firewalking distance. He completed a 250-feet walk, 30 feet more than the previous record, during a charity event in Carlisle in January 2006. A subsequent ten-night hospital stay failed to douse his enthusiasm. In November 2006, he set a new record by walking 328 feet in southern China. Despite the embers reaching temperatures of 560 degrees, Scott this time was completely unharmed and had no signs of any burns.