The Perfect Mile : : Three Athletes, one Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve it

Locations
Call Number: 796.42 Ba
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	796.42 Ba	4-week checkout	On Shelf

There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be entirely beyond the limits of human foot speed. And in all of sport it was the elusive holy grail. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three world-class runners set out individually to break this formidable barrier. Roger Bannister was a young English medical student who epitomized the ideal of the amateur-still driven not just by winning but by the nobility of the pursuit. John Landy was the privileged son of a genteel Australian family, who as a boy preferred butterfly collecting to running but who trained relentlessly in an almost spiritual attempt to shape his mind and body to this singular task. Then there was West Santee, the swaggering American, a Kansas farm boy and natural athlete who believed he was just plain better than everybody else. Santee was the first to throw down the gauntlet in what would become a three-way race of body, heart, and soul. Each young man endured thousands of hours of training, bore the weight of his nation's expectations on his shoulders, and still dared to push to the very limit. Their collective quest captivated the world and stole headlines from the Korean War, the atomic race, and such legendary figures as Edmund Hillary, Willie Mays, Native Dancer, and Ben Hogan. Who would be the first to achieve the unachievable? And who among them would be the best when they raced head to head? In the answer came the perfect mile. In the tradition of Seabiscuit and Chariots of Fire, Neal Bascomb delivers a breathtaking story of unlikely heroes and leaves us with a lasting portrait of the twilight years of the golden age of sport.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Worth your time submitted by xisui on February 7, 2007, 8:47pm this is a great non-fiction read. Especially recommended for any runners out there or anyone who really knows what it is like to perservere.

just wonderfully written & researched- shows a real love & understanding of the subject.

*also recommend the movie CHARIOTS OF FIRE if you enjoyed this book.