RIP: Roger Bannister

BYU MILER wrote:

I was a Freshman in High School when someone gave me a copy of the BBC produced "Supermilers" documentary of all the world record holders from Bannister to Coe. It inspired me greatly from being a 5:10 miler to eventually breaking 4:00 in college 51 years after his achievement. Chasing records or "the previously impossible" for each of us is the most exhilarating facet of running. Bannister's mentality and achievements changed my life and planted a seed of dreaming, then doing that was a part of me on and off the track. Long live the mile-king.

Distance running is as fair to an athlete as any sport as in "you get out of it, what you put into it." One still has to be a natural athlete to achieve in our sport. Bill Dellinger of Oregon fame said this and I think he is correct.

One must have the correct build to be a champion distance runner. You will never see one with a heavy head or big butt. Contrary to popular modern belief there is not a lot you can do about how the foot is placed on the ground. That is based on the body's natural shape. To some degree you are born with it.

waltertompatton wrote:

He did more as a physician than he did as a runner. (He discovered Anabolic Steroids among other things)

Bannister devised the first test for anabolic steroids. He did not discover them. The first person to isolate anabolic steroids was Adolf Butenandt, a German, in 1931, although tests were done as far back as 1849 in removing animal testes and documenting the results, giving scientists of the day a rudimentary understanding of their existence/effect.

Regardless, I echo everyone else in saying RIP to a great man. Thanks for the black splash page, guys. Bannister was a giant among men.

Nobody wants to question the value of Bannister's achievements, but I find it interesting that when the historian Arnd Krüger reviewed Bannister's training methods and scientific approach in his hagiographical 2006 essay Training Theory and Why Roger Bannister was the First Four-Minute Miler, even he acknowledged almost in passing that one Swede (PR 4:01.4) had had already a decade earlier what it took to break the four-minute mile:

Gunder Hägg basically lived from running -- that meant that he ran more often than was reasonable to break the four minutes. Had he been permitted to compete as an amateur a year or even three years longer, he had what it took to break his own world records again.

Hägg was declared a professional in 1946.

Magic in the Mile wrote:

And his training was so minimal, around 20 miles/wk when he did this as I recall.

Right.

if you look at the training logs, you can see that they had little clue about what they were doing. that chattaway guy too,

basically bannister was fit enough to run half the distance barely, he got by on talent,

bannister was a top talent, very underrated.

the 4 minute mile achievement, and barrier is a fabrication, there is no barrier of course it's all nonsense.

and bannister used pace makers, which was illegal at the time, so according to the warped rules of the time, the record was null and void.

here is a the guy that would have broken the 4 minute mile.

Rudolf Harbig who was killed before he got a shot at the record. Guy ran 2:21 for 1km, plus world records at 400m and 800m.

Harbig, if he did not die and somehow added in the right training, would have gone way way way under 4 minutes.......

This was in the 1930's.

feel inadequate wrote:

Why don't more people try to train like he did given all the time constraints we have today?

Well for starters just breaking 4 won't get you to far if you trying to become elite these days. More of a milestone on the way.

Bannister is the godfather of my English uncle. He became friends with my grandfather in 1949, when my grandfather, a sprinter/long jumper, was head of Cambridge athletics and Bannister head of Oxford athletics. Together they took a team to face the combined teams from Harvard/Yale and Princeton/Cornell. Bannister was a legend, and the Brits were considered especially strong in the distance events.

longjack wrote:

here is a the guy that would have broken the 4 minute mile.

Rudolf Harbig who was killed before he got a shot at the record. Guy ran 2:21 for 1km, plus world records at 400m and 800m.

Harbig, if he did not die and somehow added in the right training, would have gone way way way under 4 minutes.......

This was in the 1930's.

not a chance. You do realise that he never even broke 4 mins for 1500m don't you despite doing longer interval sessions. When he was in WR shape for the 800m - 1:46 is much better than 2:21, he never even attempted the 1500m/mile record. The equivalent of a 1:46 800m is a 3:55 mile. That he didn't even try to break the existing mile WR (or 1500m) tells you everything you need to know. If you can't break 4:06 when you are in 1:46 shape you aint ever gonna run sub 4. Excellent basic speed, but just like speed guys such as Kipketer, Rudisha etc he was maxed out at 1K.

My mother gave me a large framed poster of Roger before I left home for college at 18. At that time, I had only been running for about a year, and had only recently broken 4:45 in the mile. I always thought Roger's life and sporting career exemplified what I could only hope to become as I grew old. That image remained on my dorm room wall for four years, as a shrine to my passion.

I never did achieve my goal of breaking the 4:00 mile (4:01 my senior year), but the black and white image my mother gave me remains on my wall to this day, as one of the only remaining pieces of running memorabilia I still leave out.

I have not yet ran during 2018, but I plan to set my alarm a little early tomorrow. Sir Bannister, these miles are for you, and the inspiration that you gave for so many of us here on this site.

Thank you.

Just one more nod to the great Sir Roger Bannister, what an achievement. No great shoes, awful track, the fulltime pressures of med school, and a very small running "culture" to encourage him. My wife and I just watched the documentary on him by Tom Ratcliffe a couple months ago and it was so insightful and inspiring.

Also, tributes to Dr. David Martin, another great man that contributed much to the running world, as a runner and scientist of the sport.

I went to see him speak last year and was so glad I did. Really, a lovely man. The phrase "four minute mile" is so deeply embedded it'll never fade. RIP..

The ultimate example of a dream becoming reality.

AXC wrote:

Roger Bannister breaking the four minute mile was probably the last great moment of amateur athletics.

Training while in medical school epitomized the ideals of a gentleman athlete.

Amateur rules continued after this but became perverted by under the table payments and really being a system to keep money in the hands of organizers and away from the athletes who deserved it.

I don't know, there were many high school and college achievements in the sport in the '60s and '70s that were very notable, such as Ryun beating Snell (who was effectively a professional runner) and Lindgren beating the Russians(also effectively pro) over 10000m.

Unfortunately, Harbig's achievements are shadowed by the widespread use of amphetamines throughout Germany in the '30s, especially in the military, in which Harbig served. Steroids were also available at certain levels in the military. I wouldn't be surprised if he was part of a Nazi science experiment.

Not that it made a huge difference, but his 800m record was set on a 500m track. No pacers though, just a goof Italian competitor who also ran a NR 1:49.

He served and died in the paratroops, which arguably were the most elite corps of soldiers in all of WWII.

Finally, I'm certain that Chataway, among others, was a "casual" smoker when he ran sub-4:00 (and a 5000m WR). Of course, Elliott later on would smoke when not in heavy training. Surreal talent among those guys.

A great, fast, WHITE man.

Chataway ran a 1.39 half marathon at the age of 75