Mile News


Is it time to raise your ceiling?

May 27, 2014

Even if you reach your goal, you have to ask yourself this question: Did I reach my potential?

By Dave Griffin, Carroll County Times 

If you look-up the word “impossible,” you’ll find something similar to the following definition: Not possible; unable to be, exists or happen.

Once, many believed that a sub-4-minute Mile was impossible. That was before May 6, 1954, when Roger Bannister, a 25-year-old British runner did the impossible, running four laps of a 440 track in 3:59.4.

Bannister began running when he was a student at Oxford University. Lightly trained, but talented, he was considered a candidate for the 1948 British Olympic team, but he declined to pursue it, thinking he wasn’t ready to run at that level.

But the Olympic races of 1948 inspired him to set his sights on the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. He increased the intensity of his training, made the British team at 1500 meters and set his sights on a medal. He finished in a heartbreaking fourth place.

Life-long running was a rarity back then, and Bannister considered giving it up. I wish I could talk to the now 85-year-old. I’d like to hear his reflections about Helsinki. I’d like to know how he turned the disappointment into inspiration and then into the confidence that allowed him to believe he could break a barrier that stood between impossible and possible.

Continue reading at: www.carrollcountytimes.com

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Return the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.

ELEVATE
Bring Back the Mile as the premier event in the sport, and increase interest in and media coverage of the Mile for both those who love the distance as well as the general public.

CELEBRATE
Bring Back the Mile to celebrate the storied distance and to recognize the people who made and make the Mile great and to promote Mile events and the next generation of U.S. Milers.

NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Bring Back the Mile to create a national movement for the Mile as America’s Distance,
to inspire Americans to run the Mile as part of their fitness program and to replace the 1600 meters at High School State Track & Field Meets across the country.

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