It's exactly fifty years since Roger Bannister ran the world's first four minute mile. If anybody cares. Like so many anniversaries recently, this one feels like it's been overexposed well before the correct date arrives. Roger's had an autobiography out for the last six weeks (£7.99 from all good bookshops), all the newspapers have been printing extracts, and the BBC screened a full documentary on the experience a whole fortnight in advance. Even Norris McWhirter, who played a crucial part in the tale, managed to die just early enough to shift the first commemoration of the anniversary a couple of weeks too early. Me, I've been good and waited until the exact date. If anyone still cares.
It's exactly fifty years since Roger Bannister ran the world's first four minute mile. The four minute barrier had seemed impenetrable, but in 1954 a 25 year-old medical student had other ideas. Roger trained every lunchtime throughout the winter, egged on by his good mate Norris. He hoped that nobody else would sneak in and beat four minutes before he was ready and they didn't, not quite. Come May 6th, the first AAA race of the season, and the mile record still stood a fraction of a second over the magic time. It could be beaten.
It's exactly fifty years since Roger Bannister ran the world's first four minute mile. He did this at the Iffley Road Sports Centre in Oxford (I took some university exams there 20 years ago, but my results were rather less world-shattering). That May day dawned grey, damp and windy (sounds familiar) but conditions had eased enough by early evening for an attempt on the record to look possible. Two pacemakers led for the first three laps (bit of a cheat that, some have said), then Roger powered round the final bend to hit the tape in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. Everybody cheered, everybody cared.
It's exactly fifty years since Roger Bannister ran the world's first four minute mile. It's a very symbolic record, an echo of the last triumphs of empire back when Britons were still good at something. It's a very smashed record, because if Bannister had been racing against the current mile record holder he'd have come in over 100 yards behind. It's a very imperial record, because these days most athletics races are run over metres instead. And it's also a very superficial record, because 'one mile' is an arbitrary human invention, as indeed are 'four minutes'.
It's exactly fifty orbits round the Sun since Roger Bannister became the first recorded human male to run 5280 times as far as the length of King Edward I's foot in less than one three hundred and sixtieth of the time the Earth takes to rotate once on its axis. It's nothing special. But bloody well done Sir.
