During the beginning of the 20th Century, and in fact dating back much further, experts believed that we were physically incapable of running a mile in less than four minutes. It was considered beyond the realm of what is humanly possible.
In 1861 a time just under 04:30 minutes was clocked by an Irish runner named Heaviside. 60 years later the famed Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi ran 04:10.6 before New Zealand’s Lovelock took it down to 04:07.6 in 1933. Slowly but surely, subsequent athletes lowered the mark until Sweden's Gunder Haegg set a 04:01.3 record. And then, in 1954 what no one believed to be possible happened. The dramatic moment took place on the Oxford, England running track. Roger Bannister broke the four minute barrier with a staggering time of 03:59.4.
Remarkable achievements of this sort often have an almost magical effect on fellow athletes. They seem to open their minds to new possibilities and remove the invisible barriers that had held them back in the past. Bannister's record is one of the most renowned feats in the history of running, he was even knighted in later life. Ironically, it took less than a month to break. His time was bettered three weeks later by an Australian runner, and after him breaking the four minute mile became routine.
In 1861 a time just under 04:30 minutes was clocked by an Irish runner named Heaviside. 60 years later the famed Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi ran 04:10.6 before New Zealand’s Lovelock took it down to 04:07.6 in 1933. Slowly but surely, subsequent athletes lowered the mark until Sweden's Gunder Haegg set a 04:01.3 record. And then, in 1954 what no one believed to be possible happened. The dramatic moment took place on the Oxford, England running track. Roger Bannister broke the four minute barrier with a staggering time of 03:59.4.
Remarkable achievements of this sort often have an almost magical effect on fellow athletes. They seem to open their minds to new possibilities and remove the invisible barriers that had held them back in the past. Bannister's record is one of the most renowned feats in the history of running, he was even knighted in later life. Ironically, it took less than a month to break. His time was bettered three weeks later by an Australian runner, and after him breaking the four minute mile became routine.
Removing yet Another Barrier
Athletics and running are littered with milestone achievements that have stood as benchmarks for decades. Bob Beamon’s leap of the century at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, an 8.90m jump, left the previous record one and a half feet behind. Unlike Bannister's, this record stood for more than two decades, until 1991 when it was broken twice in the same meet, ultimately by Mike Powell who is the record holder to this day with 8.95m.
The Next Four-Minute Mile
This year, the marathon appears to be the main 'four-minute mile' arena. A sub two hour marathon is a mark that no one has come close to breaching, we've been almost three minutes away since 2014. However, this is the perfect reason to take up the challenge. I wrote in a previous post about Nike’s plan to break the mark by optimizing running conditions and creating a technologically controlled environment. Recently a new study of running efficiency has been published stating that the secret may actually lie in the weight and shape of the running shoes. It will be fascinating to see who the next Roger Bannister will be and what new levels of human endeavor can be reached when this mark finally falls.