Bannister's Mile still one for ages -- 50 years later
- By Doug Kurtis

Fifty years ago today, Roger Bannister became one of the greatest track legends of our time.   Unlike, so many of today's sports great moments that are witnessed by millions and discussed for days and weeks in advance, Bannister's Mile was a very amateur event and feat experienced in person by relatively few.  

In numerous interviews, Bannister stated the record was the culmination of an eight year process of methodically improving toward the record.   It may not have happened had he won the gold medal at the Helsinki Games in 1952.   He was the favorite to win but local officials decided to add heats that left him unprepared. Bannister performed on limited training. He didn't have to capacity to recover quickly. Three heats in three days wore him out and he finished fourth.

Bannister was contemplating retirement had he won the gold medal. But he said the reason sport is attractive to so many people is that it's filled with reversals. What people think may happen doesn't always happen. Champions are beaten, and sometimes a complete unknown becomes the victor.    Instead of devoting all his efforts to his study of neurological medicine he determined to go on running for another two years.

Bannister never was one to sit still. During World War II his parents house was bombed and the roof fell in while they sat in the basement. A few days later he convinced them to move to a place where he could play.   He loved adventurous activities and almost pulled a muscle while climbing with Chris Brasher just a week before the historic mile.

After the Olympics, Bannister targeted other major events like the Commonwealth games and competing against the most famous miler at the time John Landy before the idea of running a sub 4 minute mile came into view.

The morning of the supreme effort, Bannister stopped by St. Mary's hospital where he did rounds as a clinical student. He went to the lab to sharpen his spikes. The weather looked miserable with rain, cool and windy. He calculated a 50-50 chance of chasing the barrier and also knew that he may not get another opportunity to lay his claim.

The Track meet was a fairly informal one by today's standards.   Bannister and his teammates Brasher and Chris Chataway voted several times before the race whether to go for the record.  

After crossing the winner's tape, two friends grabbed Bannister to prevent him from falling to the ground in exhaustion.   Harold Abrahams, who's story about winning the Olympic 100 meters inspired the movie Chariots of Fire was the chief time keeper.   He handed the official time to the announcer Norris McWhirter, who later became the editor of the Guinness Book of records.    The Announcement was finally made. "As a result of Event Four, the One Mile, the winner is R. G. Bannister of Exeter and Merton Colleges, in a time subject to ratification, is a track record, an English Native record, a United Kingdom record, a European record, in a time of three minutes..." The crowd noise drowned out the rest of the announcement.   As Bannister adeptly put it, "So that was it."