With the conclusion of the Mumbai Marathon my Facebook feed is awash with proud achievements of many friends and ex-colleagues. The big news is “Sub-4”, running the marathon in under 4 hours. This reminded me of another Sub-4 triumph many decades ago. In the 1950’s, doctors, physiologists and athletics coaches believed that it was impossible for the human body to run a mile under 4 mins. Yet one man with one idea that he was passionate about and deeply believed this was possible – his name was Roger Bannister. In 1945 the mile record was pushed to 4 mins and 1.6 sec and it stood there for 9 years. Before the 1950’s over the last two decades, hundreds of athletes had tried to break this barrier. To achieve, what was perhaps the Holy Grail of running. People looked for favorable weather, favorable wind conditions but no one succeeded. Roger Bannister was studying to become a doctor at Oxford and on the side pursuing his lifelong passion – running. In 1952, in the Helsinki Olympics Roger Bannister represented Britain in the 1500m (The Olympics didn’t have a mile event). Roger set a British record but it wasn’t good enough to get him a medal. He came 4th. He ran the 1500 meters in 3 mins 46 secs. This was equivalent to a 4 min 2.5 sec a mile. What he said after the race was interesting – he said that this race made him realise that it was possible to break the 4 min barrier. Instead of disheartening him, the loss strengthened his resolve to achieve this so called impossible dream. Though he was supposed to retire after the Olympics, he decided to give running another few years. Then in 1953 at an invitation event in the UK, Bannister ran the mile at 4 min 2 secs, The timing was not accepted as a British record due to the nature of the race but it further cemented his belief in the possibility. This egged Bannister to regularly practice during his lunch break while continuing his medical studies at Oxford. Finally, on the 6th of May, 1954 in a race in Oxford, Roger Bannister broke the 4 min barrier. His time was 3 mins 59.4 secs. Interestingly, just in less than 6 weeks, Bannisters arch rival – an Australian called John Landy ran a 3 min 58 sec mile in Finland. About a month and a half later in August 1954 Roger Bannister and John Landy met at the Empire Games at Vancouver. In a race now immortalized by a famous stone statue, Roger Bannister beat John Landy and both ran under 4 mins. As of September, 2018 1526 athletes have done the mile in less than 4 mins. The current world record stands at 3 mins 43.13 seconds. A record created in 1999 by Hicham El Guerrouj, a Moroccan. Luckily for us the original video of Roger Bannister breaking the mile record exists. You can head over to our YouTube channel to see those historic 4 mins. What changed? What changed was it was no longer seen to be impossible. What a storyIn 1952, in the Helsinki Olympics Roger Bannister represented Britain in the 1500m (The Olympics didn’t have a mile event). Roger set a British record but it wasn’t good enough to get him a medal. He came 4th. He ran the 1500 meters in 3 mins 46 secs. This was equivalent to a 4 min 2.5 sec a mile. What he said after the race was interesting – he said that this race made him realise that it was possible to break the 4 min barrier. Instead of disheartening him, the loss strengthened his resolve to achieve this so called impossible dream. Though he was supposed to retire after the Olympics, he decided to give running another few years. Then in 1953 at an invitation event in the UK, Bannister ran the mile at 4 min 2 secs, The timing was not accepted as a British record due to the nature of the race but it further cemented his belief in the possibility. This egged Bannister to regularly practice during his lunch break while continuing his medical studies at Oxford. Finally, on the 6th of May, 1954 in a race in Oxford, Roger Bannister broke the 4 min barrier. His time was 3 mins 59.4 secs. Interestingly, just in less than 6 weeks, Bannisters arch rival – an Australian called John Landy ran a 3 min 58 sec mile in Finland. About a month and a half later in August 1954 Roger Bannister and John Landy met at the Empire Games at Vancouver. In a race now immortalized by a famous stone statue, Roger Bannister beat John Landy and both ran under 4 mins. As of September, 2018 1526 athletes have done the mile in less than 4 mins. The current world record stands at 3 mins 43.13 seconds. A record created in 1999 by Hicham El Guerrouj, a Moroccan. Luckily for us the original video of Roger Bannister breaking the mile record exists. You can head over to our YouTube channel to see those historic 4 mins. What changed? What changed was it was no longer seen to be impossible. What a story! Business Points ( Tags ) #Passion #Perseverance #persistence #focus #diligence #hardwork #running #marathon #RogerBannister
