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6th out of 89 books
—
239 voters
The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It
by
Neal Bascomb
There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be 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 each set out to break this barrier. Roger Bannister was a young English medical student who epitomized the ideal of the amateur...more
Paperback, 322 pages
Published
April 6th 2005
by Mariner Books
(first published January 1st 2004)
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As Usain Bolt captivated the world in London just as he had done in Beijing, my mind wandered to some of my favorite Olympic- and running-themed books. It is a genre that takes up nearly an entire shelf in my library and is perfectly book-ended by David Halberstam's AMATEURS and Christopher McDougal's BORN TO RUN. But one of the most underrated books on this shelf has to be Neil Bascomb's THE PERFECT MILE. Written before THE NEW COOL put Bascomb on the map, this book is to running what Laura Hil...more
The subtitle of this book is "Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It." This is the story of the race to break the four-minute mile barrier in 1954, but also the story of the three men who were all poised to do it first: Englishman Roger Bannister, Australian John Landy, and American Wes Santee. My husband and son (who was a miler himself in high school) would probably give this book a 5. We found ourselves groaning and cheering in the car as we listened to the audiobo...more
I started my running career in high school about 2 years after Bannister broke the 4-minute mile. He was, of course, a great inspiration to all us middle-distance runners, but my real hero was Landy. The sportsmanship he demonstrated in the 1500 meters final at the 1956 Australian National Championships when he stopped to help the fallen Ron Clarke was an example I have never forgotten. Then for him to leap back into the race and win decisively after losing several seconds was one of the greates...more
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This is a well-researched account of the dramatic race to be the first man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes - a barrier once thought to be unbreakable. The author has created a very readable story, reconstructing conversations and documenting the feelings and emotions of those involved. The three main competitors - Roger Bannister of the UK, Landy of Australia, and Santee of the US - are all included in great detail. The book rambles a bit and occasionally uses pretty unimaginative prose. Bu...more
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(At the end I'll give a list of places to go for race footage and other info relating to the subject for those who have already read the book and are interested in knowing more) I have no interest in sports, and of all the sports, I would vote for running as the least interesting, but I absolutely LOVED this book. The author does a wonderful job of building suspense even if normally it is something you couldn't care less about. How many times I have been on the edge of my seat waiting to hear wh...more
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If you enjoy reading about running then this book is one you are likely to enjoy. Neal Bascomb recounts the story of three men vying to become the first person to run a sub four minute mile. Anyone familiar with running knows Roger Bannister was the first man to break this mark (not much of a spoiler as that's him on the cover setting the record); even with that being the case this book is still somewhat suspenseful as you follow each man in his attempts to get below the four minute mark.
Being a...more
Being a...more
Excellent. Excellent. Excellent. After reading this, I attended Big River Running's "Festival of Miles" at St. Louis University High School and witnessed three of the elite men's group achieve sub-four minute miles and it was just breathtaking! I felt as if I had stepped inside the pages of this book and got to partake in this incredible feat of the mind/body.
Event 9 Men 1 Mile Run Elite
1 Manzano, Leo Nike 3:55.29T
2 Scott, Derek Team Indiana Eli 3:57.87T
3 Schmitz, Tommy Wisconsin 3:59.36T
Fes...more
Event 9 Men 1 Mile Run Elite
1 Manzano, Leo Nike 3:55.29T
2 Scott, Derek Team Indiana Eli 3:57.87T
3 Schmitz, Tommy Wisconsin 3:59.36T
Fes...more
On the whole, I really liked this book. I felt very deeply for each of the 3 primary players in this story - Bannister, Landy, and Santee - and I really wanted all of them to be the first to run a sub-4 minute mile (but let's face it, I really wanted the American to win). Bascomb was good at presenting the obstacles and the suspense of who was actually going to do it first and the general public's fascination with the ongoing story. I thoroughly enjoyed the side characters, like the brothers who...more
Even as a novice runner with little exposure to the lore of the four-minute mile, I couldn't put this book down. Bascomb did a phenomenal job in showing the drive, dedication, commitment, failures, and rivalry of the three men who sought to break through the four minute barrier. Bascomb not only framed the competition of each race, but he put the races in the perspective that these three men were in a competition with one another--even while on separate continents--to be the first man to break t...more
Oh my holy fudge, I LOVED this book. I savored every page and looked forward to reading it at every opportunity. At the same time, this wasn't one of those books where I could toss off a few pages while cooking dinner. I had to make sure I could really give myself to the reading of it, so I often had to wait until all other obligations were taken care of (see also: why it took me more than two weeks to get through it).
That said, there is a litmus test for predicting one's potential interest in T...more
That said, there is a litmus test for predicting one's potential interest in T...more
What a delightful read. This book has it all--drama, action, suspense. One can not help but be inspired by the story of Bannister, Santee, and Landy as they struggle to acheive the first sub-4 minute mile. Bannister's story is perhaps the most engaging of all, as he achieved the distinction of breaking the mark first, while he was going to medical school and pursuing a life outside of athletics. In an age when records are regularly broken by professional atheletes who train hours a day and frequ...more
This book was probablly the best book I have ever read. It was very compelling and just amazing. It is about three men, Roger Bannister, John Landy, and Wes Santee, who are trying to become the first men to run a mile in under four minutes. The story goes through each of their training and determination. This book was especially interesting to me because I am a runner and it taught me about what it like to have all this glory and how hard you have to work. Towards the end of the book, one runner...more
I found this quite by chance at the library, as I was looking for new fodder on running and triathlon. Wow. I'd probably rate this my favourite book of 2009 to date. I read it during a cottage / training getaway, which turned out to be very fitting.
One review compared the book a bit to Seabiscuit, and it very much had that feel. As in the '30s horse racing captivated all of America, in the '50s middle-distance running was all the rage in many parts of the world. This is the backdrop for this bo...more
One review compared the book a bit to Seabiscuit, and it very much had that feel. As in the '30s horse racing captivated all of America, in the '50s middle-distance running was all the rage in many parts of the world. This is the backdrop for this bo...more
I’ve recently begun the acclaimed Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. While the opening scene hints at the hardships coming up for Louis Zamperini, the hero of the story, the first part is about his running career as a young man and the quest for the four minute mile. What serendipity when I came across The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb as a Kindle promotion. I’m no athlete; sports on TV are boring and sports reporters act like a big game has the global significance of the Second Coming. However, Basc...more
I really enjoyed this story of three athletic heroes of my youth back in 1953-54. Back then the story of the quest for the four-mile was as big a story in the newspapers as the NFL. Roger Bannister of England, John Landy of Australia and Wes Santee of Kansas, U.S.A., were on the level of other sports luminaries such as Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Rocky Marciano.
This author really got behind the scenes of things that were only barely known back then such as the resentment to...more
This author really got behind the scenes of things that were only barely known back then such as the resentment to...more
This book is what the ESPN movie "4 Minutes" should have been. Instead of focusing solely on Bannister and his juggling of running, medical studies, and a girlfriend who, frankly, I could care less about, it should have included the other two contenders for the auspicious title. This would have given the story that 'race against the clock' feeling and would I believe, more adequately convey the urgency in completing the task. Though I was recovering from the '07 Boston marathon while I watched t...more
I enjoyed how the author wrote this book, moving back and forth between the lives of the 3 runners, trying to break the 4 minute mile record. It was interesting to learn about the details of each of these 3 men, who were are different but incredibly gifted and committed to being the first to run the mile under 4 minutes. Roger Bannister, who was a medical student at the time, spent most of his time seeing patients, doing research, and completing other medical tasks. It seemed impossible that he...more
Excellent book! Well written, and compelling in so many ways: historical, biographical, dramatic, great running story…
I had heard of Roger Bannister, but never knew about John Landy or Wes Santee, the Canadian and American runners who chased the same 4-minute mile as the Briton, Bannister.
The author did such a great job with historical context that I feel this book is equal parts history and running. For example, I did not know that Bannister's quest to break the 4-min barrier was on the heels...more
I had heard of Roger Bannister, but never knew about John Landy or Wes Santee, the Canadian and American runners who chased the same 4-minute mile as the Briton, Bannister.
The author did such a great job with historical context that I feel this book is equal parts history and running. For example, I did not know that Bannister's quest to break the 4-min barrier was on the heels...more
Jul 22, 2011
Aleisha Z Coleman
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone!
Shelves:
favorite-authors-of-all-time
Holy Crap! you ALL need to read this book, TODAY! i don't even like running...i often say...if a bear isn't chasing you, why run? nevertheless, this book ROCKS! i wasn't sure who actually broke the 4 minute mile record for the first time so the first half of the book read like a suspense/mystery. neal bascomb does a superb job of intertwining two time frames, the past in a somewhat linear fashion and yet referencing the end knowledge/future that we know. i am particularly inspired by one of the...more
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5 stars! Three cheers for Neal Bascomb's account of the race for the first four minute mile.
A perfect race. Four laps around the track, 400 meters X4, all in under four minutes. Many thought it was unchievable like landing on the moon or climbing mt. Everest. Some thougt your heart might explode. Back in the 1950's the race was on to be the first to run the four minute mile. Roger Banister a Brittish medical student trained in between ward rounds on a cinder track. Landis an Australia, did repe...more
A perfect race. Four laps around the track, 400 meters X4, all in under four minutes. Many thought it was unchievable like landing on the moon or climbing mt. Everest. Some thougt your heart might explode. Back in the 1950's the race was on to be the first to run the four minute mile. Roger Banister a Brittish medical student trained in between ward rounds on a cinder track. Landis an Australia, did repe...more
Neal Bascomb is extraordinarily competent in his research but he treats his subject with a professional distance and that's unfortunate. Before opening a page, I knew who broke the four-minute mile but I was hoping to get caught up in the drama of the chase. Bascomb doesn't allow for that, probably from a desire to let the story tell itself. There are wonderful characters involved here including the three men chasing the record. Roger Bannister, John Landy and Wes Santee. In addition, the suppor...more
You might think fourteen hours of narration about a race lasting around four minutes is a bit ridiculous, but this is a fabulous and fascinating account of not just the three athletes who individually strove to run the sub-four-minute mile, but of the history of the sport of racing, the ideal (and reality) of amateur athletics, the tension between Great Britain and its former colonies in the mid-20th century, and the psychology of people faced with what appears to be an insurmountable barrier. I...more
A historic milestone was reached between the times when two Swedes (Gunder Hägg and Arne Andersson) kept renewing each other’s Mile world records and when the British dominated the Mile world records and races. 4-minute Mile was getting ever so close to conquer, but the barrier was so monumental that Hägg’s world record of 4:01.04 had not been broken for nine years, which is the longest gap between any two world records to-date since IAAF era started. Neal Bascomb’s The Perfect Mile took me back...more
This is, without question, the best sports story I have ever read. That it's a meticulously researched historical account makes it even better. This book functions not only as a dramatic retelling of the battle to be the first to break the 4 minute mile, but as a short history of competitive running and coaching up to the 1950's. Bascomb does a wonderful job of presenting each of the three milers' personalities and motivations, as distinct and different as the continents they hail from. The incl...more
A great book describing an inflection point in sports. The race for a goal, the nature of competition whether against the clock or others and finally the changing nature of athletics from amateur ideal to a professional reality. I really liked the exploration of the motivations and rives of the main actors. The pursuit of glory not only for the men in question, but the weight of countries on their shoulders. If you are interested in competition, athletic training or just human drama toward the l...more
I'm a running geek and a writer and I loved THE PERFECT MILE
It's the story of three athletes, Roger Bannister from England, John Landy from Australia, and Wes Santee from Kansas, USA, each of whom wanted to be the first to break the four-minute mile barrier, a feat many thought beyond the capability of any man. Author Neal Bascomb weaved the three men's backgrounds and race histories into a tale with enough tension to keep me listening despite the fact that I knew many o
...more
An interesting book on the race to break the four-minute mile barrier. Bascomb looks at the three main contenders: the incredibly hard training Australian John Landy, American college athlete Wes Santee, and British trainee doctor Roger Bannister. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that Bannister was the first to break four-minute barrier only to have his record smashed my Landy just six weeks later. Their rivalry eventually culminating in going head to head in the Empire Games in V...more
As a teenager, because I shared my surname with Roger Bannister and when he broke the four minute mile barrier 1954, my nickname became "Roger. Hence, that event has always caught m attention. I came across this book recently while on holiday in the Lake District and, unusually for me, it became one of those books which was difficult to put down.
It tells the story of three athletes - Roger Bannister from the UK, Wes Santee from the US and John Landy from Australia who all tried to reach this goa...more
It tells the story of three athletes - Roger Bannister from the UK, Wes Santee from the US and John Landy from Australia who all tried to reach this goa...more
I wanted to like this book,I really, really did. It had all of the making of a good story three runners in different corners of the globe all trying to be the first to break the 4-mile mark. But I frequently caught myself imitating a little kid on a car ride and thinking, "are we there yet?" as in - is the end of this book coming anytime soon? I've seen a lot of praises for this book, so maybe it's just me. And I was annoyed that the pictures in the middle of the book gave away the answers to no...more
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