Pioneer, Olympian honored where she recorded the first sub-5 minute Mile by a woman
Chris Turner for World Athletics
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque honoring Diane Leather Charles, who in 1954 became the first woman to run below 5 minutes for the Mile, was presented Saturday at a ceremony...
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Legend, 1960 Olympian & record setter a pioneer of women’s running
By Peter Thompson
The world of Athletics is deeply saddened by the news that Diane Leather Charles, the first woman to run a Mile in under 5 minutes and a true running pioneer, passed peacefully on Wednesday, September 5. As...
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By Peter Thompson
This article has been published in its entirety with the author's permission. It was initially published in the 'BMC News', the Club magazine of the British Milers' Club, in Spring 2014.
Many of you reading this blog are aware of the the 60th anniversary of breaking the 4...
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Leather’s run was not recognized as a world record, only a world’s best, because the IAAF did not keep records above 800m for women. And that is a story in itself.
By Sean Ingle, The Guardian
Sixty years ago this May, on a crushed cinder track in the Midlands, an athlete ran into history by...
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The barrier breaker looks back on her historic sub-five Mile of 60 years ago
May 6, 1954, might be a date forever etched in history, but just 23 days after Roger Bannister’s barrier-breaking sub-four-minute Mile, a woman made a similar breakthrough.
However, whereas Bannister’s achievement is...
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An Olympian and former world record holder will be spurring runners on at this year's Runway Runaround.
By Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust
CORNWALL, England -- Diane Charles (nee Leather) from Zelah can claim three world records and was the first woman to break the five minute Mile. On Sunday...
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