 Unbounded continuous witnesses to noncompactness of a real subspace

If $X\subseteq \mathbb{R}$ is not compact, there is an unbounded continuous function $X\to \mathbb{R}$. By the Heine-Borel theorem, either $X$ is unbounded, when $f(x)=x$ works, or it is not closed. In the latter case choose $a\in \overline{X}\setminus X$; the continuous function $f(x)=|x-a{|}^{-1}$ is unbounded because points of $X$ approach the missing limit point $a$. This proof uses the specific compactness characterization of real subspaces; boundedness of a general metric space does not imply compactness.