The Mile Still Matters To Track & Field
By Todd Bookman, New Hampshire Public Radio
Track and field has a numbers problem. As in, there are just too many of them. The 60, 26.2, 4-by-8, 2-oh-3, 5, 8, 10K…
Back in the 1950s, there was one number that mattered.
"I think there are only a handful of achievements like breaking 4 minutes for the first time, in any sport, that comes close to what Roger Bannister has done."
That’s Ryan Lamppa of Running USA, an advocacy group for the sport. In 1954, doctors actually warned runners that breaking the four minute barrier could prove fatal. Bannister, of course, proved them wrong.
But since that achievement, something has died: the Mile.
Lamppa, who’s personal best is 4:11, wants to return the distance to its former glory. He’s started the Bring Back the Mile campaign.
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