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Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead.

Roger Bannister

I’m sure you’ve heard of Sir Roger Bannister. He was the first man to break the 4min barrier in the Mile by running 3:59.4 on May 6th, 1954. A remarkable achievement. In the video below you can watch the record attempt with insightful commentary from the man himself Roger Bannister

It is all the more impressive when you consider that he was running on a cinder track. According to investigative reporter David Epstein in his acclaimed TED talk Are Athletes Really Getting Faster Better Stronger, cinder tracks are 1.5% slower than modern synthetic tracks. If this is true, that means Bannister’s time in 1954 is roughly equivalent to a 3:55.8 today. I’d highly suggest you watch David Epstein’s entire TED talk. If you want to skip right to Bannister part, jump to 2:49.

You may not know the name of the second man to break the 4min barrier: John Landy of Australia. Forty-six days after Bannister ran his breakthrough race, Landy ran a scorching 3:57.9, 1.6 seconds faster than Bannister’s time. What I want you to see today is what Landy looks like when he runs.

But first, a quick tangent.

The “Bannister Effect”

You may have read in countless self-help oriented books that once Roger Bannister broke the 4min barrier packs of runners started to run sub-4min miles because a psychological shackle lifted from the collective consciousness of all runners.

Unfortunately, this is a slight exaggeration.

The year after Bannister and Landry broke the barrier, three more runners joined the sub-4min club – all from the same race. And the year after, another five runners ran sub-4min. So that’s only ten runners in three years. Not exactly a large number.

Since 1954, just over 1400 men have run a sub-4min mile. You can see the full list at AllTime-Athletics.com (there are over 5000 entries because many runners appear more than once in the list). That’s not many in 65 years considering the number of runners in the world. And, if we account for the 1.5% speed advantage of modern tracks versus cinder tracks, only about 530 runners would have been able to run sub-4 under similar conditions to Bannister. Thanks again to David Epstein for crunching the numbers on this stat!

However, I digress.

If you want to read about the “Bannister Effect” check out this article from the always insightful Steve Magness of the Science of Running.

Watch the Stride

Let’s get back on topic!

Yesterday I posted about the legendary Alberto Juantorena and his long strides. Now we’re going to watch John Landy race and observe his technique, which is very different from El Cabalo.

The race we are going to watch is called “The Miracle Mile” and features both John Landy and Roger Bannister head-to-head at the 1954 British Empire Games in Vancouver Canada. This race was listened to on the radio or watched on TV by millions and millions and millions of people. It is a classic. Every runner must watch it at least once.

It doesn’t take long for Landy to gap the field with Bannister playing catch up, so it’s easy to identify them. Pay attention to their contrasting strides. And keep in mind, these guys are running <4:00/mile which is <2:30/km – a swift pace to say the least!

Whew! What a race. The “Bannister Burst” got the best of Landy on this day. But did you see how different they were running? Landy with a short stride and high cadence. Bannister with long strides. Landy is running using the opposite style of Juantorena, whereas Bannister is using a less exaggerated version of Juantorena’s technique.

Every time I watch this race, I wonder to myself how the heck can Landy run so darn fast with such short strides! But he did. Many other runners also succeed using Landy’s more compact and quick stride. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to running style. And this includes the often quoted “180 strides per minute” as being the optimal cadence. Not so. Landy vs Bannister is but one counter-example.

Tomorrow, I will share one more example. Then I promise I’ll explain how Juantorena and Landy matter for your progress as a runner. Until then, make sure all your runner friends watch the Miracle Mile race!