A Roger Bannister moment
Your blogger had a Roger Bannister moment yesterday when he ran a 10K race in 46 minutes and 12 seconds. Taking age and weight into consideration, and the fact that he suffered a very nasty ankle injury two years ago that threatened to end his sporting days, this was a very satisfactory result indeed. Sincere thanks to coach Carol Scheunemann for all the time and training she devoted to helping make yesterday's performance possible. A series of 10K races is planned for this summer and the goal is to reduce that 46.12 appreciably.
For the dedicated runner, a more perfect start to this momentous week could not be imagined. You see, this is the week in which we mark one of the great moments in the history of athletics — the breaking of the four-minute mile barrier. On 6 May 1954, Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3:59.4. at Oxford University's track at Iffley Road. When he was asked to explain the art of record breaking, Bannister said: "It's the ability to take more out of yourself than you've got." Anyone who has run a personal best time in any event knows exactly what Bannister meant.
