3 minutes 59.4 seconds. That’s how long it took Sir Roger Bannister to run one mile on the 6th May 1954. In so doing, he became the first human being ever to run the distance in under four minutes – the first human being ever! In the history of the world! This was a remarkable feat which pushed the boundaries of human endeavour to new levels.
What is even more remarkable is the humility of Sir Roger Bannister. When asked whether the 4 minute mile was his greatest achievement, he said he felt prouder of his pioneering research into the responses of the nervous system. Not only was he a great athlete, but he was also a distinguished doctor, specialising in the field of neurology.
I have the pleasure of living opposite the great man and he has had various connections with the Dragon School over the years. He has fired the pistol on numerous Sports Days, opened the Dragon Sale in December and always shown interest in the school and its achievements. Never once has he been anything other than courteous – a true gentleman.
Ten years ago, to mark the 50th anniversary of his achievement, I invited him along to the University Athletics Track on Iffley Road where the Dragon was hosting an athletics meeting with various other schools. This, of course, was where he broke the record so there is no more important venue for him than this. With that in mind, we wanted to honour his presence with something different. We staged our own attempt on the 4 minute mile but this time, instead of one runner, we had eight – one from each school and a mixture of boys and girls – each running a 200m leg of the relay. The fact that each of these young athletes had to run in under 30 seconds for his/her contribution indicates just how fast a pace Sir Roger had to sustain for 1600m – it really brought it home to both me and the other spectators that day.
One of the dormitories in my boarding house is named “Bannister” because I want the boys to become pioneers in their thoughts and deeds, just like Sir Roger. Sadly, he is not well enough to attend Dragon’s Sports Day this year but we shall certainly acknowledge his great achievement that set the standard for others to follow and hope that our Dragons do indeed model his great example.
