Roger Bannister Day
Have just ordered a copy of The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It by the American journalist Neal Bascomb. According to the reviews, Bascomb turns the story of the breaking of the four-minute-mile barrier into an heroic contest between Roger Bannister, at medical school in England, Wes Santee, a farm boy working his way through Kansas State University, and John Landy, a student at Melbourne University.
In case you didn't know it, on 6 May 1954, Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds on Oxford University's track at Iffley Road. For athletes, this achievement is ranked among the epics. Today, then, the 50th anniversary of the record-breaking race, is an occasion for celebration. To honour Bannister's achievement, yours truly will run a mile on the local track this evening. Completing it in less than seven minutes is the modest goal.
The great man himself, now Sir Roger Bannister, will be back at Iffley Road for a restaging of the original meeting later today. John Landy will be present as well. The race starts at 6 p.m., the same time as the record-breaking run, and Sir Roger will ring the original bell used in 1954 to signal the final lap. Congratulations!
