Racing to immortality in less than four minutes

On May 6, 1954, 51 years ago today, the PA announcer at Iffley Road Track in Oxford, Norris McWhirter, with typical British reserve, addressed the assembled crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of event number 9, the one mile. First: number 41, R.G. Bannister of the Amateur Athletic Association and formerly of Exeter and Merton Colleges, with a time, which is a new meeting and track record and which, subject to ratification, will be a new English Native, British National, British All-Comers', European, British Empire and World's Record. The time is three . . .".

The rest of the time was drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

If he had finished they would have heard him say 3 min. 59.4 seconds, the first man to break the 4-minute mile. After the race, Bannister said, "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."

I still get chills down my spine when I see the grainy black and white footage of that stirring run, even though I was born more than a decade later. Bannister flying off the turn into the home straight, in total gut-check mode with a standing-room only crowd in a state of full-throated delirium, exhorting -- collectively willing -- the 25-year-old medical student to the tape, as they sensed the impossible taking place before their very eyes.

His last maniacal quarter-mile was run in 58.9 seconds! He is prodded on by dozens of coat-and-tied Oxford gents -- whose British reserve had deserted them for this momentous occasion -- in full sprint along with him! He did it; Roger Bannister had run the mile in under four minutes.

He collapsed into the arms of his coach, was swarmed by everyone but the Queen, with pandemonium taking over Iffley as they awaited the official call by McWhirter.

Whew, how do we segue out of that? Wait, I need a cigarette...

Well, speaking of the quarter mile, things are really heating up on the track in the U.S. as the college season kicks into top gear. So far this year, 19-year-old American Kerron Clement, world junior 400 meter hurdles gold medalist, ran the fastest any man has ever run over 400 meters indoors, breaking the great Michael Johnson's indoor record in 44.57.

The scary thing is that the flat quarter is not even his favorite race, that would be the 400 hurdles. For defending World and Olympic hurdles champ Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic, it must be the same heedful feeling as a Wild West Outlaw, with Wyatt Earp's posse hot on his trail or the chubby, bespectacled kid lined up on the wall in a game of dodgeball with a barn-door sized target amidships.

Then there is defending gold medalist in the quarter, 21-year- old Baylor University undergrad Jeremy Wariner (personal best of 44.00), who last week ran his first race of the season, a very solid 45.13, but finished second to teammate and Olympic relay gold medalist Darold Williamson (45.06).

Some folks in the track world are calling this another golden era of quartermiling, with the Louisiana State University duo of senior Kelly Willie (who two weeks ago set a SB of 44.97, PB of 44.63) and his freshman stable mate Xavier Carter (also an American football star clocks in at just over 45-flat).

Another aspiring youngster, world junior double gold medalist, LaShawn Merrit (18) smoked to a 44.93 indoors two months ago, then promptly dropped out of university and signed a half-million dollar contract with Nike. Regardless, the university championship, or NCAA, 400-meter final at 6 p.m. on June 11 in Sacramento, California promises to be real humdinger.

The last "golden era" was between '88 and '96. That included the likes of Steve Lewis, Danny Everett and Kevin Young, all teammates -- and classmates of mine -- at UCLA, winning everything in sight. (Young's 400 hurdles world record of 46.78 set in Barcelona '92 final still stands -- nobody else, not even the great Edwin Moses has broken 47 -- and Lewis' 43.87 on his way to gold in Seoul still is the world junior record.).

Then there were Quincy Watts (43.44 - '92 gold), Butch Reynolds (43.29 was the WR most of the '90s) and the aforementioned Mr. Johnson, (WR 43.18 and too many golden medallions to count). The golden era before that was in the late 60s, led by Lee Evans, who held the record at 43.86 (Mexico City Olympics) for two decades, before Reynolds eclipsed it.

Meanwhile, down in this hemisphere, South African teenager Godfrey Mokoena (19), another World Juniors gold medalist, is jumping out of his mind. Last week, the sharp-witted, articulate university student leapt 27 feet 6 inches (8.37 meters) in the long jump, second best in the world this year.

He has triple jumped an astounding 56 feet 7 1/4 inches (17.25 m), also second in the world this year, but a ways off Briton Jonathan Edwards' world record of 60 feet 1/8 inch (18.29 m), set in 1995.

Trivia time: Who holds the world record for the 100-yard dash?

They Said It:

"(The Great Algerian Noureddine) Morcelli has the four fastest 1500-meter times ever. And all those times are at 1500 meters." -- David Coleman, UK track and field commentator

"I was told over and over again that I would never be successful, that I was not going to be competitive and my high jump technique was simply not going to work. All I could do was shrug and say 'We'll just have to see'." -- American Dick Fosbury, after he revolutionized the high jump with his technique now called the Fosbury Flop at the '68 Olympics in an Olympic record at the time of 7feet 41/4 inches.

Trivia Answer: American Ivory Crockett, ran 9.0 seconds on May 11, 1974. It, of course, may never be officially broken as the 100 yards is not run in any official competitions.

-- Rich Simons