Les Croupiers Running Club Forum

A bit of nostalgia for you. First up, congratulations to Phil and all the helpers who put on another successful season of One Mile Races throughout the summer. Even though we all tend to think of ourselves as distance runners, there's nothing like running something short, like a mile. Yes it's painful, but the pain is over quickly. It's really good to try and utilise those fast-twitch muscles which don't get much of a look-in for the rest of the year.
We've got quite a long history of putting on similar events, and, of course, the One Mile remains an iconic distance, not least due to 6 May 1954 when the 4 minute barrier was broken. As a club, we have celebrated this many times, so here's a fond look back to 6th May 2004 (the 50th anniversary). Some of the names are familiar, but the times recorded may be a distant memory.

50th Anniversary Sub 4 Minute Mile


It was cold, but this was a really good night. Considering we don’t have a reputation for being a track club, we showed far more initiative than many others who have. Truth of the matter is, we’re just better organised. Many thanks to Derek, for setting up the evening at Cyncoed, and to Huw Roberts, who did the interview with the S4C crew on live TV. Apparently we had at least five minutes live coverage. My wife Caroline said it came over really well, even though, being a non-Welsh speaker, she hadn’t understood a word Huw had said. I replied that I don’t understand a word he says when he speaks English.

Well done to everyone who was there, whether in a competitive, officiating, or supporting role. For the record, the performances were:

Julian Baker 4:41.07 Richie Sewell 5:47.41
Richie Bullen 4:44.67 (& 4:50.85) Jeff Aston 5:47.84
Rob Sage 4:51.92 Chris Pristavec 5:50.98
Phil Cook 4:56.56 Jo Pritchard 5:51:46
Kit Edwards 5:06.13 John Crofts 5:57.00
Matt Townsend 5:09.30 Graeme Donnan 5:58.27
Martin Clissold 5:21.24 Alan Mann 5:59.70
Dave Coles 5:21.78 Yvonne Bullen 6:14.81
Huw Roberts 5:23.22 Mel James 6:17.50
Dave Miller 5:26.50 Alan Mason 6:20.00
Keith Quinn 5:33.58 Shaun Connor 6:20.00
Phil George 5:36.99 Frank Williams 6:25:08
Martin Pinnell 5:38.24 Mark Farrar 6:25.71
Rob Evans 5:41.76 Stephen Williams 6:42.00
John Plain 5:44.57

There was, of course, the official 50th anniversary celebrations at the original site of the historic achievement, Iffley Road, Oxford. Sir Roger Bannister was there.
There were a number of mile races. Guess how many Brits managed to beat 4 minutes on the night? Correct. Zero.

That’s not to say today’s runners are slow. Far from it. 4 minutes remains a very difficult target. Given that in 1954 the race to break this elusive barrier was, in essence, a race between an Englishman and an Australian, it’s somewhat ironic that the man who won the race to commemorate the 50th anniversary was Australian, Chris Mottram, who clocked 3:56.6. I’m sure the irony wasn’t lost on him. Anything to beat the Poms!
(Just like last Saturday).

You tell me who the 9 are and I'll tell you if it's risen.

That's a pretty good guess, Mel. 7 right, Steve Jones, Tony Simmons and Nick Comerford are all very near misses.
Tony Simmons, one of my favourite athletes of all time, ran 4:03 as a junior in 1967.
In case anyone thinks I carry all this around in my head, the key is knowing where to look, so thanks to the British Milers Club. To the best of my knowledge and research there are 12. In chronological order:
03 July 1965 Tony Harris 3:58.96
25 May 1973 Bob Maplestone 3:58.5
19 July 1976 Glen Grant 3:59.16
25 August 1984 Gareth Brown 3:59.5
08 July 1986 Neil Horsfield 3:54.39 (WELSH RECORD)
13 July 1986 Roger Hackney 3:58.77
19 Sep 1987 Malcolm Edwards 3:57.8
05 July 1991 Ian Hamer 3:56.19
15 Feb 2003 James Thie 3:57.71i
06 Aug 2005 Matt Shone 3:58.66
25 Aug 2007 Steve Davies 3:59.18
08 Feb 2014 Chris Gowell 3:57.29i

Is it " easier " to run a 4 min mile in a straight line than round a track.
I use the term "easier" in a relative way.
if the 200m / 400m etc were run on a straight track would the world records be faster ?

Just to clarify, the above are all track times, so even if Steve Jones had broken 4 minutes on the road, it wouldn't be on the list. Quoting from Rob Cole at last weekend's Half Marathon press conference, Steve Jones just missed 4 minutes at Butetown, and I'm sure that's right (inside 4:01 anyway).
As to whether road times would be faster, the main variable is wind speed/ direction - which is why straight mile times like Butetown can never count as records (same reason as Great North Run, Boston Marathon etc). The distance between the start and finish has to be less than 30% of the total distance run.