In This Month: May

The Four Minute Mile
On 6th May 1954 Oxford medical student Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes, with a time of 3 minutes 59 seconds. After failing to get a medal at the 1952 Olympics, Bannister nearly gave up running altogether until he set his sights on the four-minute mile barrier. Helped by fellow athletes Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway on the day, he finally achieved his goal by crossing the tape in record time at Iffley Road in Oxford.

Once thought to be impossible, the four-minute barrier has now been broken by many male athletes although it's not attempted often now as more and more countries go metric. The current record holder is Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj, who ran a mile in 3 minutes 43.13 seconds in 1999. No women have broken the barrier, although it's thought physically possible.