Thank you and RIP
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Thank you and RIP
Echo that Mr S. A great man, amazing that the 4 minute mile was only a small part of his life and that he classed his work as a neurologist as far more significant, what a difference between him and the sportsmen of today.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stagger
A real hero RIP
The pictures of his first sub 4-min mile are very evocative of a bygone age.
A pioneering neurologist and runner and by all accounts a true Gentlemen.
Let's not forget the impact he had on staircase safety as well.
Nice one Nick, had to think about that last line ..... just for a moment!Quote:
Originally Posted by ba-ba
Indeed a great man in his own right .... I don't know how many times I've seen the footage of his record breaking run - it's akin to scenes in "Chariots of Fire", with great names like Brasher & Chataway acting as his pacers for the early laps.
Yes, a great man, simple but effective training - 400 metre repeats at 4 minute mile pace - but sub-4; did he? All 4 timers got the same time; manual timers under-estimate by about 1/4 of a second. Sure, he did it by the standards of that era.
I should add that his Textbook of Neurology, written believe it or not with a chap called Brain - was excellent - it made a potentially very difficult subject relatively easy to get to grips with.
How would his average speed have compared to the 1500 metre world record at that time?
Roger Bannister 1,609.344 metres 1954 3:59.4.
I suppose if anybody could be bothered to work it out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_m...rd_progression
3:43.0 Werner Lueg (FRG) 1952-06-29 Berlin, Germany
if my reading of it is correct these two are 1500 times taken from a mile event.
3:42.8+ Wes Santee (USA) 1954-06-04 Compton, United States
3:41.8+ John Landy (AUS) 1954-06-21 Turku, Finland
3:43.13 but that extra 109 metres do take it out of you ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPatrickBarry
Looking at the times it did seem a bit slower. The mile was not an olympic event so I guess outside of the USA and UK the mile was not a priority target.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteS
He would still be up there in the top handful of middle distance runners of the time.
Outside of the UK the Ben, Burnsall or Borrowdale don’t mean the same as they do here. Bannister is a legend (and ba-ba’s stair gag was very funny)
completely stolen off the Guardian comment section.
Not sure about the mile not being a target for runners outside the UK/USA - during the 1940's Sweden's Hagg and Andersson lowered the record several times. Also don't forget the Aussies.