# Sir Roger Bannister has died at 88. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 4, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015 "2018-03-04T17:35:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/1 "2018-03-04T17:35:34Z")
[First person](http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2762583-sir-roger-bannister-dies-at-88-was-1st-person-to-run-a-mile-in-under-4-minutes?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial) to run a sub 4 minute mile. RIP ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/2 "2018-03-04T17:41:29Z")
_3:59.4 period of silence_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/3 "2018-03-04T18:46:02Z")
He lived to eighty eight? I thought he would have gone quicker than that. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/4 "2018-03-04T20:03:44Z")
To be honest, I have always felt Bannister and the four-minute mile have been a bit overrated. The mile is not an important distance today and even at that time, the relevant Olympic distance was 1500m. Bannister never won an Olympic medal and his mile record was beaten in 45 days. It’s a bit strange that this record has become one of the most famous in athletics history. Jim Hines breaking the 10-second 100 m barrier in 1968 seems a much more significant milestone and few people remember that. Having said that, I was fascinated to read that Bannister was a medical student and after retiring from athletics he had a long and distinguished career as a neurologist. On the morning of his record, he worked his shift at the hospital. He may not have been one of the all-time great athletes but he was certainly a great exemplar of the amateur tradition. RIP ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/5 "2018-03-04T22:31:43Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > To be honest, I have always felt Bannister and the four-minute mile have been a bit overrated. The mile is not an important distance today and even at that time, the relevant Olympic distance was 1500m. First of all, breaking that record took one of the most rigorous training schedules up to that time. The progression was the stuff of news reels for decades. Landy and Bannister vowed to beat it about 7 years earlier and we watched. Cars race the quarter mile. They race a standing mile. They race a flying mile. Records are set in miles per hour. It’s the Indianapolis 500, not the Indianapolis 804. It’s The Mile. Second, and this is one of my main complaints about the metric system as a whole: 1500m means nothing. Why not 1600M ? or 2000? None of them mean anything. The mile is THE MILE. One Thousand Paces of Caesar’s stride for God’s sake. Nobody took an oath to beat the 1500M record. Don’t get me started about the millimeter vs thousandths of an inch. Dennis:) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/6 "2018-03-04T22:43:03Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Jim Hines breaking the 10-second 100 m barrier in 1968 seems a much more significant milestone and few people remember that. In Mexico City. Less air resistance and all that. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/7 "2018-03-04T22:48:24Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > First of all, breaking that record took one of the most rigorous training schedules up to that time. The progression was the stuff of news reels for decades. Landy and Bannister vowed to beat it about 7 years earlier and we watched. > > Cars race the quarter mile. They race a standing mile. They race a flying mile. Records are set in miles per hour. It’s the Indianapolis 500, not the Indianapolis 804. It’s The Mile. > > Second, and this is one of my main complaints about the metric system as a whole: 1500m means nothing. Why not 1600M ? or 2000? None of them mean anything. **The mile is THE MILE.** One Thousand Paces of Caesar’s stride for God’s sake. Nobody took an oath to beat the 1500M record. > > Don’t get me started about the millimeter vs thousandths of an inch. > > Dennis:) And it’s the ONLY non-metric distance with official world records. The reason for the 1500 was very early tracks were 500 meters. 3 laps to make a metric “mile”. [More at Quora](https://www.quora.com/Why-is-there-a-1500m-race-in-the-Olympics-instead-of-a-1600m-considering-there-is-a-100m-200m-400m-and-800m-1600m-is-also-a-%E2%80%9Ccleaner%E2%80%9D-4-laps-around-the-track-instead-of-3-3-4-What%E2%80%99s-the-origin-of-this) > [@](#): > > The origin of the 1500m distance as an international standard seems to be a mixture of a couple factors: > > ``` > If you're using the mile as the measuring stick, 1500m seems screwy, but if you think more metrically, 1500m = 1.5k, which is actually a nice round number. Once you get over 1k, measuring things in terms of whole or half-kilometers makes more sense than continuing with multiples of 400m. Until you get up to 1k, 100m is the base unit – continuing to double the distance gets you the 100-200-400-800m events we know and love. > Apparently, back in the day (1800s) the French favored a 500m track instead of the track lengths used by the screwy imperial-system-favoring Brits and Americans. Again, if you think in terms of km instead of miles, a .5k track makes a lot of sense. Anyway, the French played a large role in establishing the first modern Olympics (Pierre de Coubertin was a major instigator of the first Games) and some suspect that the 1500m distance was because of their preferences. The "track" (really more of a suggestion than a track – it was kind of a loosely-bounded field) used in the Paris 1900 Games was 500m long. But they still ran the 100-200-400-800m events in addition to the 1500m and longer events. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/8 "2018-03-04T23:04:41Z")
What stopped the mile record from being cracked the last 19 years? Stricter doping checks? Or was the record just too good? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/9 "2018-03-04T23:07:44Z")
Is it even run at the top levels of the sport anymore? Or have all the English-measure events been shelved? The 100-yard dash doesn’t seem to be a thing anymore either. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/10 "2018-03-04T23:08:11Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > First person to run a sub 4 minute mile. Not wishing to diss the record or a milestone but this is not correct. Bannister was the first amateur to run a mile under 4mins on an Olympic standard track without wind assistance. He was paced, but that was deemed legal. In 1770 (yep, almost 200 years earlier) James Parrott ran a mile along Old St, Shoreditch in London in under 4 minutes. It doesn’t appear in the record books because he did it to win a wager (at odds of only 3:1) so he was classed as a professional. It also patently wasn’t a flat 400m circular Olympic standard track. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/11 "2018-03-04T23:13:49Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Not wishing to diss the record or a milestone but this is not correct. > > Bannister was the first amateur to run a mile under 4mins on an Olympic standard track without wind assistance. He was paced, but that was deemed legal. > > In 1770 (yep, almost 200 years earlier) James Parrott ran a mile along Old St, Shoreditch in London in under 4 minutes. It doesn’t appear in the record books because he did it to win a wager (at odds of only 3:1) so he was classed as a professional.\*\* It also patently wasn’t a flat 400m circular Olympic standard track.\*\* Which is why it’s not recognized as a record. **Elvis** , the mile is still run, it’s the only non-metric distance that still has official world records. Most meets run the 1500, the mile is usually a special event, especially if someone is intending a try at the record. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/12 "2018-03-04T23:14:01Z")
Three weeks later and not so far away, Diane Leather became the first woman to run a sub-5 minute mile. Women still haven’t cracked the 4-minute barrier but we’re getting close. > **[Diane Leather](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Leather)** > > Diane S Leather Charles (7 January 1933 – 5 September 2018) was an English athlete who was the first woman to run a sub-5-minute mile. > Leather was born in Streetly, Staffordshire. She was one of six children, and the only daughter, of Mabel (née Barringer) and James Leather, a surgeon. She played lacrosse as a child, and watching the 1952 Summer Olympics sparked her interest in athletics. While studying chemistry at the Birmingham College of Technology (now Aston University), she joined the B... 🆒 RIP, Dr. Bannister. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/13 "2018-03-04T23:16:33Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Which is why it’s not recognized as a record. > > **Elvis** , the mile is still run, it’s the only non-metric distance that still has official world records. Most meets run the 1500, the mile is usually a special event, especially if someone is intending a try at the record. The marathon is a distance that I don’t think will ever go metric either, and it doesn’t have an official record because of the widely varying severity of courses. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/14 "2018-03-04T23:24:11Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The marathon is a distance that I don’t think will ever go metric either, and it doesn’t have an official record because of the widely varying severity of courses. The IAAF disagrees about marathon official records, although the constraints on the course limit it somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/15 "2018-03-04T23:27:53Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The marathon is a distance that I don’t think will ever go metric either, and it doesn’t have an official record because of the widely varying severity of courses. Actually, [the records are officially recognized](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progression) though there are conditions a course must meet to be record-eligible. > [@](#): > > This list is a chronological progression of record times for the marathon. **World records in the marathon are now ratified by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)**, the international governing body for the sport of athletics. The distance of the marathon is the marathon, neither metric nor Imperial. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/16 "2018-03-04T23:54:46Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > First of all, breaking that record took\*\* one of the most rigorous training schedules up to that time\*\*. Not all that “rigorous”. From an article in todays _Miami Herald_: “At the time, Bannister was a full-time medical student and had to juggle his studies with his training. By modern standards, his daily _half-hour_ workout was remarkably light.” [http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article203447499.html](http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article203447499.html) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/17 "2018-03-05T00:04:59Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Not all that “rigorous”. > > From an article in todays _Miami Herald_: > “At the time, Bannister was a full-time medical student and had to juggle his studies with his training. By modern standards, his daily _half-hour_ workout was remarkably light.” > > [http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article203447499.html](http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article203447499.html) However, his book, [The Four Minute Mile](https://www.amazon.com/Four-Minute-Mile-Fiftieth-Anniversary-Roger-Bannister/dp/B002WTCBI6), made mention of doing a great deal of cycling. He usually covered 5 miles in that half hour (run a lap in 60 sec., jog a lap in 2 minutes and just repeat the cycle). He also did frequent 3 laps in 3 minutes time-trials. He actually became so specialized in the mile that he would sometimes cramp when racing the 2-mile. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/18 "2018-03-05T00:39:12Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > However, his book, [The Four Minute Mile](https://www.amazon.com/Four-Minute-Mile-Fiftieth-Anniversary-Roger-Bannister/dp/B002WTCBI6), made mention of doing a great deal of cycling. > He usually covered 5 miles in that half hour (run a lap in 60 sec., jog a lap in 2 minutes and just repeat the cycle). He also did frequent 3 laps in 3 minutes time-trials. > He actually became so specialized in the mile that he would sometimes cramp when racing the 2-mile. No doubt one can get a great running work out in 30 minutes, if you are just trying to stay in shape. That’s about all the time I run on my treadmill and manage to burn over 400 calories, but I’m not trying to break a four minute mile. I know that if I told my old running coach, (Joe Douglas, Santa Monica Track Club) that I only had half an hour to train, he would have kicked me off the team. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/19 "2018-03-05T00:45:39Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > No doubt one can get a great running work out in 30 minutes, if you are just trying to stay in shape. That’s about all the time I run on my treadmill and manage to burn over 400 calories, but I’m not trying to break a four minute mile. > > I know that if I told my old running coach, (Joe Douglas, Santa Monica Track Club) that I only had half an hour to train, he would have kicked me off the team. No doubt. As I mentioned, Bannister did a great deal of cycling, that took care of his basic conditioning. His training specifically “transferred” that fitness to his running performance. Like any world-class distance runner, he was capable of remarkable performances in an untrained state. Jim Ryun, in a few weeks, went from a 5:35 to 4:20-something. And broke 4 as a high school _junior._ ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015/20 "2018-03-05T00:50:22Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > The distance of the marathon is the marathon, neither metric nor Imperial. It’s no longer 26 miles, 385 yards? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-roger-bannister-has-died-at-88/810015.md?page=2)