
Roger Bannister has died - stevekemp
http://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/43273249
======
mar225
Amazingly he basically trained on his lunch hour while studying to be a
physician when preparing to run the sub 4 mile. And then went on to be a
distinguished medical researcher. He had such a positive influence on running
and medicine. If there ever was an athlete that deserved the moniker role
model it was him.

~~~
oh_sigh
Sometimes I wonder how much genetics can explain things like this. Obviously,
lettuce has never run a 4 minute mile, but how big is the variance in factors
enabling ostensibly normally developed humans to perform impressive feats like
this?

~~~
griffinkelly
Read Sports Gene by David Epstein. He discusses a lot of the genetics vs.
developing one's body specifically for a sport, with a large focus on distance
running.

~~~
oh_sigh
Thank you, I appreciate this, I will check it out.

------
beautifulfreak
He narrates this video of the race:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEyaP4WaJjA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEyaP4WaJjA)

~~~
helloworld
The narration is excerpted from Bannister's 1955 book, "The First Four
Minutes":

[https://books.google.com/books?id=ka0TDQAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=ro...](https://books.google.com/books?id=ka0TDQAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=roger%20bannister%20first%20four%20minutes&pg=PT123#v=onepage&q&f=true)

------
dblock
Running is amazing. I find it as addictive as programming, but much healthier.
I encourage anyone sitting behind a computer a lot to pick it up.

Your inner geek can also publish your Strava runs to a Jekyll blog (shameless
plug: [http://code.dblock.org/2018/02/17/auto-publishing-strava-
run...](http://code.dblock.org/2018/02/17/auto-publishing-strava-runs-to-
github-pages.html)) :)

~~~
rorykoehler
It's not really that healthy though. The continuous impact can really mess
your joints up long term.

~~~
Liuser
This is often parroted. Comparing long time runners with those that have not
run has shown that runner's joints / knees are actually better than those that
do not run.

Run with proper form, don't ramp mileage and intensity too fast. Humans are
built for long distance running.

~~~
rorykoehler
Watching the world record marathon in Berlin in person I would agree about
form being the decisive factor. There is a huge middle ground between long
time runners and people who don't run at all. That said I know multiple
successful long time long distance runners who severely damaged themselves.

I prefer cycling. Running has wrecked me multiple times (100m & 200m
training). I'm not built for long distance which is a shame because I could
hold pace with the best amateurs over middle distances when fit (sub 3 min
kms).

------
griffinkelly
He was a personal hero of mine. Its a hell of an accomplishment to break four,
and even more impressive that he did it on cinders. Interestingly, he never
won an olympic medal and pretty much hung it up soon after breaking four.

Its funny back in the day, there were rumors that a person would die if they
ran that fast, but this is also the same time when smoking cigarettes was a
training method.

------
adenadel
There is an excellent book called the Perfect Mile about Roger Bannister (and
two contemporary rivals) racing to be the first to be sub-4 minutes. I haven't
read Bannister's own memoir, The Four-Minute Mile, but I've heard it is
fantastic as well.

------
runamok
What always stands out to me about Sir Roger Bannister is that once he broke
4, then others could too.

It reminds me how many of our limits are mental and if you think you can't you
definitely can't. But if you think you can, just maybe you will...

I love reading about the 4 minute mile. So many phenomenal athletes mentioned
in this article: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-
minute_mile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-minute_mile)

~~~
martinpw
> What always stands out to me about Sir Roger Bannister is that once he broke
> 4, then others could too.

> It reminds me how many of our limits are mental and if you think you can't
> you definitely can't. But if you think you can, just maybe you will...

There is an article here debunking the idea that breaking the 4 minute barrier
had any psychological effect on other runners:

[http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2017/05/the-roger-
bannister-...](http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2017/05/the-roger-bannister-
effect-the-myth-of-the-psychological-breakthrough.html)

TLDR - the mile record times at that period closely track the 1500m times,
which had no similar 'psychological' barrier. Also the impact of WW2 had
slowed down record breaking leading up to that time.

~~~
truantbuick
That article tries to debunk a slightly different notion than I had in mind.
It's not that I imagined everybody was sitting just above 4 minutes when
running the mile, and that the significance of those round numbers psyched
everybody out until Bannister finally broke through.

Instead, it's about knowing what's possible and attainable. It's akin to the
story of George Dantzig, who solved two unsolved problems in statistical
theory because he believed them to be mundane homework problems.

Put it this way: how can something that had never been done before 1954 is now
considering a very basic benchmark? I would argue that it's precisely because
it is considered a basic benchmark that it is so common. If you know something
can be done, that makes it easier to train to. If you know something is
commonly done, then all the more.

Of course, that goes for any record/benchmark, but Bannister's 4 minute mile
seems like a particularly significant one.

------
thewizardofaus
Franz stampfl was the genius behind the training of Bannister that led to the
four minute mile. I have plenty of stories about stampfl. He became a
quadriplegic in the 80's and still continued to coach for 10+ years after.

------
js2
If you’ve never seen a 4 minute mile in person... it is a staggering feat and
amazing to see up close.

Here in Raleigh, NC there is a once a year commmunity event where a handful of
elite runners are invited to run a 4 minute mile. The women are invited to run
under 4:30. For the 4 weeks leading up to the event, there are “pop-ups”
around town where us mere mortals get to run. The best runners are invited to
run with the elites on the big night. It’s a free event with a few hundred in
attendance and we get to stand on the track, leaving just the 4 inside lanes
clear. These guys (and the women in their race) are practically flying.

Anyway, the mile isn’t run all that often as an event any more, but maybe
there’s a similar event in your area if you look for it.

~~~
gnufx
I remember the second one at Iffley Road. It took 24 years, on a then-decent
track:
[http://bringbackthemile.com/news/detail/my_first_sub_411](http://bringbackthemile.com/news/detail/my_first_sub_411).
If you've run on both cinders and a synthetic track...

------
nl
If Bannister interests you and you haven't read _Once a Runner_ go and do it
now[1]. I go back and forth on if _Once a Runner_ or Tim Krabbe's _The Rider_
[2] is the best fictional sports novel ever, but today I think is the day for
running.

[1]
[http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2008/12/speed_...](http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2008/12/speed_reading.html)

[2] [https://cyclingtips.com/2010/11/the-
rider/](https://cyclingtips.com/2010/11/the-rider/)

------
mdevere
great guy

------
IntronExon
He was a really humble man, chalking up his feat to luck of all things. He was
probably one of the last Great amateur athletes too. Most of all he was a
quite an accomplished neurologist, who had this to say about his struggles
with Parkinson’s Disease:

 _”There 's a gentle irony to it. I have seen and looked after patients with
so many neurological and other disorders that's why I am not surprised I have
acquired an illness.

"It's in the nature of things. I am being well looked after and I don't intend
to let it interfere - as much as I can."_

------
paslnyc
A Great Man. Rest in Peace.

