Mile 2:
Iffley Road, Oxford.
It was in
2013 that I started to raise awareness about Muscular Dystrophy; I wanted to ‘Move
a Mile for Muscles’ and all I could think of was the most famous mile in history.
On the 6th
of May, 1954 Sir Roger Bannister ran a sub four minute mile at the Iffley Road
track in Oxford and I’ve always wanted to get onto that hallowed ground. I
never got round to it, it’s something that I’ve always put off “We’ll go there
another day, we’re too busy”. So in 2013 I did carry out my mile but in the
luxury of a venue nearer to home and more convenient to myself.
Things have
changed and an opportunity has presented itself to me and there is no way that
I will be turning it down, I will be getting onto one of the most famous tracks
in the world.
I have
become so intrigued and interested with sports people that are mostly alone in
their event and how they overcome everything that comes with that. Some might
say that Roger Bannister was not alone and he was helped by pace makers,
similar to that of a boxer with his team in the corner of the ring. The pace
makers of the mile were Chris Chataway (co-founder of the Guinness book of
records) and Chris Brasher (sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon),
these three men were a band of brothers and had a lot to prove as Bannisters
training techniques were considered controversial and most certainly unorthodox
for a runner.
The event
nearly never happened at all, there was a very strong wind on the day and
Bannister decided he would rather save himself for another day but at 18:00 the
wind dropped enough to get the race underway. The gun fired and they were off!
The stadium announcer on that day was Norris McWhirter (Guinness book of
records presenter) and the BBC commentary came from Harold Abrahams (1924
Olympic 100 metre champion).
Each time the
men crossed the line the time was announced and could be heard by the men. The
first lap was 58 seconds, on time. On the second lap they heard 1.58, again,
good and on time. After the third lap the men heard the announcement of 3
minutes, 1 second and this wasn’t good enough. Bannister kicked and crossed the
line at the point of exhaustion.
 |
| Chris Brasher setting the pace for Sir Roger Bannister |
The final
announcement was made… “As a result of Event Four, the one mile, the winner was
R.G. Bannister of Exeter and Merton colleges, in a time which, subject to
ratification, is a track record, an English native record, a United Kingdom
record, a European record, in a time of three minutes...” The complete time was
not heard because of the erupting crowd but Bannister had done it!
Away from
the track Sir Roger Bannister spent most of his life as a Neurologist in
Oxford, which struck a chord with me. It was a neurologist in Oxford that gave
me the diagnosis of my condition and the coincidences don’t stop there. It is
no secret that I have great difficulty in walking and that I’m grateful for
this diagnosis and not anything else. Also, the love and appreciation I have
for my family, I write about them in nearly every blog and how I wish to be the
best role model I can be. Imagine my
surprise then when I heard a recent interview with Sir Roger…
“I’m having
troubles with walking, so I do have difficulties. Ironically it’s a
neurological disorder of Parkinson’s. I’m being well looked after and I don’t
intend to let it interfere with my other activities. Life has its physical challenges,
I’ve not been free of other illnesses but I take every day as it comes and the
pleasure I receive, much of it is seeing what my grandchildren are achieving. I
once said, as someone was commiserating with me about having this illness I
said just consider the alternatives, which is the way I look at it.
There is a
gentle irony about it but I’ve seen and looked after patients with so many neurological
and other disorders that I’m not surprised that I’ve acquired an illness; it’s
in the nature of things. I think it’s important to be a good father and
grandfather and of course what we pass on, we pass the gifts of the children
and grandchildren whom we have raised. The most important part of my life has
been my family, I’m extremely grateful for my wife who has always supported me,
putting that alongside my career these have gone hand in hand.
One of my
pleasures in life has been walking, apart from of course, running and I founded
a walking club in Oxford and we had our 100th walk a little while
ago but of course now the walks were always followed by lunch so now I’m a very
happy member of the lunching group that hears about the walk and therefore
vicariously enjoys the walk”
So it is with humour and a tongue firmly in my cheek that I
say there is little difference between myself and Sir Roger Bannister except
about 44 years and the fact my mile will take about 44 minutes.
I have been invited to the historic race track at
Iffley Road, Oxford to stand on the shoulders of giants and walk one mile in my
very own shoes. Three minutes and 59.4 seconds was the world record time and I
actually feel lucky that my time will be a lot longer. This will give me the
opportunity to appreciate not only where I’ll be, but also the family and
friends that will enjoy this experience with me.
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