The Roger Bannister Effect: The Myth of the Psychological Breakthrough

The stagnation was attributed to the war and the breakthrough was a return to sport along the modernization of training.

By The Science of Running

The story goes that Roger Bannister crushed the 4 minute Mile mark, and allowed runners to dream of the impossible. No longer held back by this...

Tom, Jack & The St. Ignatius 4 minute Mile legacy

The O’Hara-Keelan sub-4 breakthroughs came 54 years apart.

By Paul O’Shea, Once Upon a Time in the Vest

"It’s a brick wall. I shall not attempt it again."
--John Landy, after running between 4:02 and 4:03 six times in 1953. 

Fortunately for the track & field world, the determined...

Track star Merv Lincoln dies aged 82 in Melbourne

“The result was we ran the fastest time in the world on grass, we had a great race. He was a fine athlete and a fine bloke.” - Herb Elliott

By Peter de Kruijff, The Border Mail

Wodonga-raised athlete Merv Lincoln, who was the 11th person in the world to run a Mile in under 4 minutes, has died...

Book details 1954 Empire Games glory and ‘Miracle Mile’

We have in the BC Sports Hall of Fame collection one of the 25 Omega stopwatches that was used to time the Miracle Mile and unbelievably it’s still stopped at Roger Bannister’s winning time of 3 minutes, 58.8 seconds!

By Megan Stewart, The Vancouver Courier

The stand-alone image of the 1954...

The 4 Greatest Running Rivalries of All-Time

Our favorite titanic throw downs from the last half century include two Mile pairings

By Martin Fritz Huber, Outside Magazine

You don’t have to be a ruthless Darwinist or Wall Street trader to appreciate the benefits of competition. In sports, when the best athletes go head-to-head on a very...

The day Sir Roger Bannister reclaimed the 4 minute Mile

46 days after Sir Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute Mile, his world record fell to John Landy. Here the athlete reflects on the day he won back his title.

By Roger Bannister, The Telegraph

This photograph captures the moment I overtook the Australian runner John Landy on the final bend at...

Bannister vs. Landy 1954 showdown, Coe’s 1984 gold medal defense still resonate

"Yes, Landy has a lead of three yards. It's 220 yards to go and I don't believe Bannister is going to be able to catch him..."

By Mike Rowbottom, InsideTheGames.biz

Significant anniversaries of two great foot races fall either side of this weekend - races won by two Britons who, through their...

Mile Moment of the Month: The Mile of the Century – Bannister vs. Landy 1954

First time two men go sub-4 minutes in the same Mile race

By Bring Back the Mile

Sixty years ago, on Saturday, August 7, at the 1954 British Empire & Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada, the world’s two best Milers, England’s Roger Bannister, the first man to run a sub-4 minute Mile, and...

Runners inspired by Miracle Mile

“We read books on Landy and Bannister and knew of the B.C. runners who’d (run the Mile in under 4 minutes) in the past. When the hype becomes that engrained in you, you want to be part of that.” - Graeme Wells

By Don Fennell, Richmond Review

It was thought to be impossible.

No human, they...

‘Race of the century’ between Landy & Bannister still a miracle 60 years later

“I was going to run from the front, I was going to break the 4 minute Mile, and I was going to break my world record." - John Landy

By Kym Morgan, The Advertiser

The 1954 British Empire Games Mile race between Australia’s John Landy and England’s Roger Bannister in Vancouver, Canada, was so...