Discussion: 4 Minute Mile on ESPN2

There's a movie about Roger Bannister breaking the 4 minute mile Thursday night on ESPN2. I'm pretty sure the Duece isn't available in Canada, so if any really nice American could tape it for me, or something like that, I would be really thrilled. Beer could be exchanged sometime in the spring/winter in exchange. Here's the website:
http://www.fourminutesmovie.com

I could tape and send curling movies in exchange.

I'll send you some micr-o videos for beer. Deal?

He'll probably send you really bad beer for that.

Nev, I already have the 4 minute mile on VHS (2nd best running movie of all time - after Chariots of Fire of course). You can borrow it anytime as long as you buy me a copy of 24 hour party people. I also have a copy of THOMAS the Orienteer we need to watch again. Swedish orienteering propaganda.

That's a different movie Hammer, made in 1988. Christopher Plummer is playing Bannister's coach, Archie Marson or someone like that. Regardless, I've never heard of him and Bannister was pretty self-coached from what I know of him.

I'd like to borrow THOMAS - although I hear that you really need to watch it in a large group.

Oh, so a 6 pack of Lakeport to anybody that can tape it for me to. The trailer looks good.

Yes watch Thomas in a big group. Preferably with Johan Hoegberg who has the entire movie memorized.

Bannister was largely self-coached. However, in the fall of 1953, he began training with Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway. They convinced him to talk with their coach, Franz Stampfl, and that ultimately led to Bannister taking some direction from him.

Bannister did stick largely to his own ideas. He was, after all, spending his days finishing his medical studies where he compiled some of the first really hard data on human performance and the physiological effects of training. However, in the two most important races of his life, Stampfl played a key role.

Bannister nearly aborted the original 4-minute mile attempt because of bad conditions, but Stampfl convinced him that this was his only shot to be the first. In the Mile of the Century against Landy, Stampfl also worked closely with Bannister on his physchological preparation, which surely helped him battle back after Landy took such a commanding lead.

There have been a number of articles and books that have come out about Bannister over the last year due to the 50th anniversary. I think the best is Neal Bascomb's book "The Perfect Mile" (Houghton Mifflin Press, 2004), which actually focuses on the three great milers of the period (Bannister--the Brit; John Landy--the Aussie; and Wes Santee--the American) and each of their attempts to be the first to break the 4 minute barrier. I highly recommend it. I've even heard rumours that the same movie team that did "Seabiscut" purchased the rights to the book and is making it into a feature film.

I'll second the recommendation for "The Perfect Mile." One thing that makes the story so interesting is that all three -- Bannister, Landy and Santee -- had very different approaches to training and racing. And don't forget, Wes Santee is not just the American...he is also the Kansas Jayhawk.

Thanks but we have a person (who will remain anon) doing this for us already. Thanks a bunch.

Wes Santee is up there with Marco Pantani as one of the saddest stories of what happens when a young athlete gets on the wrong side of a sanctioning body. Look it up if you want to put the Micro-O "scandal" in perspective.

Spike is quite correct that "The Perfect Mile" does a great job discussing the three men's different approaches to training and racing. It's one of the best aspects of the book. Reading the section about Percy Cerutty's "Stotic" training philosophy/method (Cerutty was Landy's coach for a while) is worth the price of the book alone. Who wouldn't have wanted to go to one of Cerutty's extensive training camps and have him yell the following at you (quoted directly from the book): "Move your bloody arms...Too slow! Too Slow!...Come on, you lazy bastar*s! You're hopeless bloody dogs! Children could run faster than that!" Just think how much better we'd all be if we had had coaches like that :-)

Don't most Russians have coaches like that?

My favorite is the part where he made them carry spears.

Wasn't it "Stotan", for Stoic Trojan?

Crap I missed it. The trailer was good though :) I don't think I get ESPN2 anyway. How was it?

It's on right now. I think they showed it twice, as I watched it starting at 9. I'm giving up, though. Time for bed.

taped it, I'm going to watch tonight.

My TiVo tells me it's on several times in the near future. It's even on standard ESPN at 3am one of these mornings (Saturday?).

I Tivo'd it and a documentary on the first 4 minute mile. Thanks for the heads-up!

An article in the British press today highlights that Bannister knew nothing about this new film until his son happened to come across a press cutting whilst working in New york. Seems like quite a lot of the content is inaccurate, and that some of the main characters (i.e. the wheelchair bound coach) never existed.