Roger Bannister

How Changed Modern-Day

By: William Sylvester

Junior Individual Paper

2,050 words

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Roger Bannister was a British runner who ran in the 1940s and . He was the first person to break the four-minute-mile barrier. Roger Bannister’s accomplishment of breaking the four-minute mile barrier in 1954 had a sizeable impact on modern-day running because of his usage of interval training and his scientific research of the human body. Since 1954, over

500 people have run a mile in less than four minutes using training techniques inspired by

Bannister.

History of the Four-Minute-Mile

Before Roger Bannister’s quest to run a sub-four-minute mile, civilizations have been running for millennia. In the ancient Greek Olympics, many of the events were footraces.

Ancient Romans created the earliest mile, which equated to about 1,611 yards or 4,833 feet. In the early 1800s, Robert Barclay ran a 4:50 mile, a record at the time. Runners gradually chipped seconds off the record. In the late 1880s, Scottish runner William Cummings ran a record- breaking 4:20 mile. In 1884, British chemist Walter George reduced his time to 4:18.8. This set up the “Mile of the Century” which took place on August 23, 1886, between George and

Cummings. 25,000 spectators packed the Lillie Bridge Grounds in , . George narrowly beat Cummings.

In 1915, American broke George’s record by 0.2 seconds. The record was broken eight years later, by Finnish engineer . Nurmi ran a 4:10.4 in 1923. This was a major accomplishment because of how long it took Taber to break Walter George’s record by only 0.2 seconds. Nurmi inspired a wave of amateur runners to try to reduce the record. One of these runners was . Born in New Zealand, and raised in England, Lovelock ran a

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4:07.6 mile in 1933 in Princeton, New Jersey. Gunder Haegg and Arne Andersson were two

Swedish runners who both held the mile record three times from 1942 to 1945. Haegg set the record at 4:01.4 at a race in Malmo, on July 17th, 1945.1

Roger Bannister

Roger Gilbert Bannister was born on March 23, 1929, in Harrow, Middlesex County, near

London. His dad, Ralph Bannister, worked as a clerk. His mother, Alice, worked in a cotton mill.

The Bannister family later moved to Bath, where Roger first discovered running. He came in first in his school's 2.5-mile cross-country race. Bannister tried other sports, including rugby and rowing, but running was his favorite.2

At the age of 17, Bannister enrolled in Exeter College in , England. He soon joined the Oxford athletic club, and he participated on the track team. In his first race for the college, he ran the mile in 4:52. At the age of 19, he was being considered to represent Britain for the

1948 London Olympics. Unfortunately, he did not make the team. This motivated him to begin training for the 1952 Olympics. He began his training by traveling around the world, running in races. He did this to gain experience and to learn his opponents’ racing styles. In

1951, Bannister began medical school in London at St. Mary’s Hospital. Bannister trained by himself leading up to the Olympics. On the other hand, most of his runners and competitors trained with a coach. Bannister received criticism for training by himself, but he still stayed with his methods.

1 , The Perfect Mile, published 2004, pg. 57-62. 2 Neal Bascomb, The Perfect Mile, published 2004, pg. 8-15.

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1952 Helsinki Olympics

Bannister qualified for the Helsinki Olympics in the 1,500-meter race, which is about 110 meters short of a mile. He ran a 1:52 half-mile race on May 28, 1952. This performance silenced the critics who thought it was ill-advised to train without a coach. To avoid media coverage,

Bannister and his fellow runner, Chris Chataway, left for the Olympics later than the rest of the

British team. Eventually, Bannsiter traveled to Helsinki where he qualified for the 1,500-meter final. Unfortunately, Bannister had to run two qualifying races instead of the one he had anticipated. The night before the 1,500-meter final Bannister had trouble sleeping. He was anxious to run against the best middle-distance runners in the world with little time to recover after the qualifying races. The fact that Chataway, his roommate, fell down in the final lap of his

5,000-meter race put pressure on Bannister to win a medal. Additionally, the British Olympians had underperformed in the rest of the games. They did not win a single . These details added to Bannister’s anxiety.

The 1,500-meter final was set to take place on July 26, 1952. The German runner,

Werner Lueg, started out leading, and at the 800-meter mark, Bannister was in fifth place.

Bannister, known for his finishing kick, tried to with 180 meters left. Fatigued from running the qualifying heats two days in a row, Bannister couldn’t accelerate. He ended up in fourth place with a time of 3:45.2, disappointing many British fans. 3

3 Jones, Matt. “Sir Roger Bannister Dies at 88; Was 1st Person to Run a Mile in Under 4 Minutes.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 30 Mar. 2018, bleacherreport.com/articles/2762583-sir-roger-bannister-dies-at-88-was-1st- person-to-run-a-mile-in-under-4-minutes.

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To try to overcome the Olympic loss, Bannister determined to redeem himself. He set a goal to train to become the first person to break the four-minute mile barrier. American Wes

Santee and Australian rivaled Bannister in the quest to run a sub-four-minute mile.

Wes Santee had placed 13th in the 5,000-meter race at the Helsinki Olympics. Santee was a runner at the University of Kansas, under the famed coach Bill Easton. Unlike Bannister, John

Landy failed to advance in the 1,500-meter qualifying race at Helsinki. Bannister, Santee, and

Landy trained individually to break the barrier of the four-minute-mile.

In late 1952, John Landy ran a 4:02.1 mile. After the race, many people questioned whether a sub-four-minute mile was possible. A great coach, Brutus Hamilton, had published a book named “The Ultimate of Human Effort” in 1935. He stated the fastest anyone can run a mile was 4:01.6. Bannister knew he needed to prove the doubters wrong. While balancing his medical studies, Bannister continued to train on his own. He thought he could get the best out of himself without a coach. During his training, he ran interval workouts on a track. His theory: he needed to run specific distances faster every training session. Interval training, like

Bannister’s, is still used today to help athletes perform at their peak. Unlike other runners of his time, who spent the majority of their day training, Bannister ran short, efficient workouts.

The Science of Running

In his free time, he studied the effects of different levels of oxygen on the human body.

In one experiment he and a friend ran on a treadmill until exhaustion set in while breathing varying levels of oxygen. He observed his oxygen consumption, lactic acid levels, and carbon dioxide levels. Bannister noticed that runners ran longer while breathing 66% oxygen instead of

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100% oxygen. He deduced that the human heart couldn’t use the 100% oxygen as efficiently as the 66% oxygen. In his experiments, he learned that once the body stops using oxygen for fuel the muscles produce lactic acid.4 Lactic acid causes pain and cramping in muscles, which makes running difficult and painful. Scientists have confirmed this discovery today. His knowledge of how the heart and lungs worked was very advanced for his time. Bannister discovered several ways to use less oxygen to run faster. Bannister improved his running form to eliminate unnecessary motion. He also tried to run at an even pace to increase the efficiency of his oxygen consumption. Bannisterle, but he was waiting for the opportunity. The chance came on

May 6th, 1954.

Breaking the Four-Minute-Mile

On May 6th, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes. The race took place at a track meet between the British Amateur Athletic

Association (AAA) and the at the Iffley Road Track in Oxford, England. The mile race was set to begin at 6:00 p.m. on a very windy and rainy day. Luckily for the runners, the clouds cleared up, and the rain slowed at about 5:45 p.m. Bannister called the weather

“stupid”, and he almost didn’t participate in the race.5 Bannister and his pacesetters decided to vote on whether to attempt the record-breaking run. After voting they decided to go on with the race. The race took place on a 440-yard track (four laps equals one mile). The wind speeds registered at 15 mph during the race.6 Six runners competed in the mile event. Alan Gordon

4 Neal Bascomb, The Perfect Mile, published 2004, pg. 91-94 5 Reuter News Agencey. “Bannister Achieves Magical Mile on 3:59.4 Mark.” Salt Lake City Tribune, 7 May 1954, p. D1. 6 Reuter News Agencey. “Bannister Achieves Magical Mile on 3:59.4 Mark.” Salt Lake City Tribune, 7 May 1954, p. D1.

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and George Dole ran for Oxford University. William Hulatt, Bannister and his two pacers, Chris

Brasher and Chris Chatatway competed for AAA. The plan was for Brasher to pace Bannister during the first two laps, and then Chataway would lead the third lap.7 Bannister planned to run the last lap by himself. After 30 seconds (about half of a lap), Bannister felt the pace was too slow to break the four-minute mile, so he urged Brasher to speed up. Brasher held his pace and did not speed up.8 As Bannister completed the end of his first lap the clock read 57.5 seconds, well under four-minute mile pace. The leading pacer, Brasher, started to tire after 1.5 laps, but he kept the pace for one more lap when Chataway overtook him. Chataway and Bannister crossed the ¾ mile mark at 3:00:4.9 They would have to run the last lap in less than 59.4 seconds, which was possible but hard, given how fatigued they were. Bannister, known for his finishing kick, passed Chataway with half of a lap left. The other racers were far behind

Bannister. As Bannister approached the finish line, his exhaustion started to show. He forced himself to the finish, throwing himself across the line. After Bannister crossed, he fell into the arms of a spectator.10 Everybody wanted to know if he had broken the four-minute mile.

Bannister’s energy was completely drained, and he was on the verge of passing out. The official time of Bannister’s mile was 3:59.4. He became the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes and setting a world record. After the announcement of Bannister’s time, spectators swarmed him. That night, he signed autographs, talked to his parents and did an interview with

7“Sir Roger Bannister.” Academy of Achievement, 12 July 2018, www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-roger- bannister-2/.

8 Neal Bascomb, The Perfect Mile, published 2004, pg. 185-190 9 “Trackman Sets Mile Record.” Mexico, Missouri Ledger, 7 May 1954, pg. 7 10 see Appendix A

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the BBC. After the race, surveyors measured the track to confirm its length. They found it exceeded one mile by one-fourth of an inch. 11

1954 Empire Games

After this race, on June 25, 1954, John Landy beat Bannister’s record with a time of

3:57.9 in a mile race.12 This set up a “miracle mile” between Bannister and Landy at the Empire

Games in , Canada. Landy led for most of the race. At the halfway point, Landy’s time was 1:58.2, and Bannister was only 1.2 seconds behind him. At the 1200-meter mark, Bannister trailed by three-tenths of a second. Landy led with half of a lap to go, and that’s when Bannister started his kick and accelerated. Bannister closed the gap and eventually passed Landy, winning the race. Bannister finished in 3:58.8. Landy followed him, with a time of 3:59.6. Both runners broke the four-minute mile, but Bannister won the miracle mile. Landy’s earlier record of 3:57.9 still stood as the world record. named Roger Bannister the 1954 Sportsperson of the Year.13 In 1957, Landy’s record was broken by from England. The current men’s mile record is 3:43.1, set by in 1999. El Guerrouj used interval training similar to Bannister’s methods. According to runnerstribe.com ”El Guerrouj did not run huge volumes, but his training involved a lot of quality work, certainly more quality than quantity.”14

11 “Trackman Sets Mile Record.” Mexico, Missouri Ledger, 7 May 1954, pg. 7 12 McCallister, Doreen. “Roger Bannister, First Runner To Break 4-Minute Mile Mark, Dies At 88.” NPR, NPR, 5 Mar. 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/05/590792079/roger-bannister-first-runner-to-break- 4-minute-mile-dies-at-88

13 see Appendix B 14 “‘The Best Ever’ – The Training of Hicham El Guerrouj.” Runnerstribe.com, 20 Feb. 2017, www.runnerstribe.com/expert-advice/the-best-ever-the-training-of-hicham-el-guerrouj/.

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Roger Bannister’s accomplishment of breaking the four-minute mile barrier in 1954 had a sizeable impact on modern-day running. Since 1954, over 500 people have run a mile in less than four minutes. Unlike other elite runners of his time, Bannister used a very scientific approach, so he could continue his studies as a medical student. Today, runners everywhere use interval training programs similar to Bannister’s to reach their goals. Bannister’s knowledge of the human body’s respiratory and muscular systems was cutting-edge. In 1975, Bannister was knighted for his athletic achievements and his medical work.15

15 “Sir Roger Bannister.” Academy of Achievement, 12 July 2018, www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-roger- bannister-2/.

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Appendix A

Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute-mile barrier in 1954. This shows how

Bannister looked as he crossed the finish line.

Potter, Norman, May 6th, 1954, https://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-roger-bannister-2/

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Appendix B

Roger Bannister was the 1954 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year. Here he is shown running in the “Miracle Mile” on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Kauffman, Mark, Sports Illustrated, https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2014/12/03/tbt- roger-bannister-sportsman-of-the-year.

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Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources An Interview with Roger Bannister, Published July 3, 2013, Accessed January 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn5jVb6g3_A&t=129s From this interview, I learned a lot about the day of the race and how he felt while he was running. Because it was an interview, I understood the race from his perspective.

Reuter News Agency. “Bannister Achieves Magical Mile on 3:59.4 Mark.” Salt Lake City Tribune, 7 May 1954, p. D1. This newspaper article helped me understand the conditions and weather during the race day. It also gave me specific details about the weather and informed me of Bannister’s training style.

“Trackman Sets Mile Record.” Mexico, Missouri Ledger, 7 May 1954, p. 7. This newspaper article helped me learn about the day he broke the mile record. It informed me of how American felt when Bannister beat him to the four- minute-mile.

“Watch Sir Roger Bannister run the world’s first sub-four-minute mile” YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=__f8GJu2t-g. The video clip helped me understand the race because I could see how the race played out. Also, I could observe the weather conditions.

Secondary Sources

Bascomb, Neal. The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less than Four Minutes to Achieve It. Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005. This book described Roger Bannister’s childhood and had very good information about the race to break the four-minute mile. It also included details about the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and Bannister’s training methods.

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Jones, Matt. “Sir Roger Bannister Dies at 88; Was 1st Person to Run a Mile in Under 4 Minutes.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 30 Mar. 2018, bleacherreport.com/articles/2762583-sir- roger-bannister-dies-at-88-was-1st-person-to-run-a-mile-in-under-4-minutes.

This report described Roger Bannister’s influence on modern-day running. It described about his performance in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

Kenderdine, Anne. “Roger Bannister, Barrier-Busting Miler Who Broke Four Minute Mark, Dies at 88.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 5 Mar. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/roger-bannister-the-first-person-to-run-a-mile-in- less-than-4-minutes-dies-at-88/2018/03/04/a962e126-1fa6-11e8-badd- 7c9f29a55815_story.html.

This obituary explained Bannister’s lifelong achievements, his rivals and the Vancouver .

McCallister, Doreen. “Roger Bannister, First Runner to Break 4-Minute Mile Mark, Dies At 88.” NPR, NPR, 5 Mar. 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo- way/2018/03/05/590792079/roger-bannister-first-runner-to-break-4-minute-mile-dies-at-88 From this article, I learned how John Landy and Wes Santee tried to beat Bannister to the four-minute mile. It also described Bannister’s training style.

“Sir Roger Bannister.” Academy of Achievement, 12 July 2018, www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-roger-bannister-2/. This website detailed Bannister’s childhood and his medical studies.

“‘The Best Ever’ – The Training of Hicham El Guerrouj.” Runnerstribe.com, 20 Feb. 2017, www.runnerstribe.com/expert-advice/the-best-ever-the-training-of-hicham-el-guerrouj/. From this website I learned about Hicham El Guerrouj and his training style. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder in the mile event.

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