You don't expect a great, hokey (in the best way) original sports flick to suddenly emerge on ESPN2, of all places. But "Four Minutes" is a superb piece of work that draws favorable comparisons to "Chariots of Fire," which was no less than a best picture Oscar winner.

This made-for-TV mini-epic lacks the sheer scope and complexity of "Chariots" but packs a similar inspirational wallop, earning its heart-in-the-throat tears honestly. It tells the story of Englishman Roger Bannister's momentous breaking of the magical four-minute barrier for the mile run on May 6, 1954, and all of the events (personal and professional) leading up to it. The film manufactures some people and details to goose the drama, giving Bannister a coach he never had and a romance that didn't really exist until after his record-setting event. But despite those pieces of artistic license, the telepic proves transcendent.

Scripted with loving care by one-time Sports Illustrated scribe Frank Deford and flawlessly directed by Charles Beeson, "Four Minutes" stars unknown British actor Jamie Maclachlan in a vivid performance as the shy and enigmatic Bannister, who was studying to be a doctor during his running days and didn't really seem to care all that much about being the best or making history. But he was so swift afoot that England wound up pinning all of its track and field hopes on Bannister at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. When he finished fourth in the mile, he was dismissed as a failure even as he continued to ace his studies in med school.

It's left to the largely fictitious coach, Archie Mason (played with quiet intensity by Christopher Plummer), and Bannister's spirited girlfriend, Moyra Jacobsson (nice work from Canadian actress Amy Rutherford), to bring him out of his funk and attack the four-minute barrier with a vengeance. The mark grew to become a get-there-before-anyone-else obsession for Bannister and his coach, in part because the number was considered so unbreakable and iconic. It had long been presumed that the limitations of human physiology and endurance made running a mile in less than four minutes nearly unfathomable. That the record has since been lowered well below 3:50 is a testament to improved training techniques, equipment and, perhaps, will.

Besides the ending that makes you want to stand up and cheer in that old-fashioned Hollywood way, the elements that turn "Four Minutes" into a great sports movie surround the attention to detail. Deford, Beeson and executive producers Gerald Abrams, Olympic film guru Bud Greenspan and Nancy Beffa evoke a sometimes breathtakingly realistic vibe even as the script occasionally veers into Fantasyland. As a former track man myself, I can tell you that the way that Bannister is paced by his training and race cohorts is exactly right.

Also, the rainy conditions on the day Bannister broke 4:00 are staged impeccably, making for an important side note to the feat itself. Not only did Bannister give his all to go under four minutes, he did it on an outdoor track riddled with puddles and slop. That makes this all the more remarkable in hindsight and adds to the rah-rah glory of a film that celebrates the unadorned love of competition. Here was a guy who sacrificed much -- an amateur training hard while working a regular hospital shift -- to accomplish something tied not to money or material gain but simply to honor. Kudos to ESPN2 for so vividly bringing back the good ol' days, if only for two short hours.

Four Minutes
ESPN2
Cypress Point Prods. and ESPN Original Entertainment
Credits:
Executive producers: Gerald W. Abrams, Bud Greenspan, Nancy Beffa
Co-executive producer: Michael R. Goldstein
Producer: Lynn Raynor
Director: Charles Beeson
Teleplay: Frank Deford
Director of photography: James Chressanthis
Production designer: Karen Bromley
Art director: Lucinda Zak
Costume designer: Joanna Hansen
Editor: Michael Ornstein
Composer: John Frizzell
Sound mixer: Thomas Hidderley
Casting: Jeremy Zimmermann, Deidre Bowen
Cast:
Roger Bannister: Jamie Maclachlan
Archie Mason: Christopher Plummer
Norris McWhirter: Shaun Smyth
Moyra Jacobsson: Amy Rutherford
Chris Brasher: Drew Carnwath
Chris Chataway: Grahame Wood
Dr. Walker: Leon Pownall
Annabelle Davenport: Audrey Gardiner
Mr. Bannister: Philip Craig
Mrs. Bannister: Darcy Dunlop
Burnett: Chris Wiggins
Bellamy: Shaun Austin-Olsen

Copyright 2005 The Hollywood Reporter

Jamie Maclachlan as Brit runner Roger Bannister leads the pack to break the mile record in 'Four Minutes,' on ESPN2.

Filmed in Toronto by Cypress Point Prods. Executive producers, Gerald W. Abrams, Bud Greenspan, Nancy Beffa; co-executive producer, Michael R. Goldstein; producer, Lynn Raynor; director, Charles Beeson; writer, Frank Deford;

Roger Bannister - Jamie Maclachlan
Archie Mason - Christopher Plummer
Norris McWhirter - Shawn Smyth
Moyra Jacobson - Amy Rutherford

Despite a spotty record with dramatic programming, ESPN takes to the track, stumbles onto a classy story and appears to have no idea how to market and schedule it. Chronicling Roger Bannister's siege on the seemingly unbreakable four-minute mile, this handsome production surely will evoke memories of "Chariots of Fire," thus repping a big hop, skip and jump away from past ESPN biopics on Pete Rose, Bobby Knight and Dale Earnhardt. So it's off to ESPN2, meaning "Four Minutes' " best shot at 15 minutes of fame will likely come on vidstore shelves. Many sports fans doubtless have heard Bannister's name, but there's surprising depth to his story. A brilliant Oxford medical student, he embarked on running as a lark and resisted formal training with a coach, focusing on his studies even as he became post-war Britain's great hope for track-and-field glory.

As his father tells him, other than scaling Mount Everest, the four-minute mile is "all that's left to conquer on God's green Earth." Yet Everest has fallen by the early 1950s, and runners are still chasing the mile -- including Bannister (well played by Jamie Maclachlan), who takes a drubbing from the press for pursuing his medical career when he could be circling the track.

A square-jawed individualist, Bannister's failure to medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics is treated as a national setback. Afterward, he grudgingly relents and begins working with a wheelchair-using former athlete (Christopher Plummer) who devises an almost-clinical approach to scaling this particular peak that involves a two-man team of runners to set the pace before letting Bannister dash to the finish line.

Scripted by sportswriter Frank Deford and directed by Charles Beeson, "Four Minutes" is at times a little too sober and straight for its own good. Moreover, Bannister's modest personal life -- which entails being disappointed by one girl, then wooing another -- feels like window dressing as pic builds toward the main event.

Still, the movie kicks into a higher gear during its finishing lap, as Bannister preps to break the four-minute mark while two great runners in America and Australia mount their own assaults.

In terms of history, the story also provides a noteworthy glimpse of an English population hungry for a hero following World War II and more subtly documents the gap between today's pampered athletes and a chap who broke the world's most insurmountable record virtually as a hobby.

Given the limitations of basic cable, this is an unusually sleek production, from the period trappings (deftly re-created in Toronto) to John Frizzell's sumptuous score.

All in all, it's a first-rate effort that probably deserves wider exposure than it's apt to receive here. Still, as Donald Rumsfeld might say, those who remain in the TV movie race must go to war with the network they have, not necessarily the one that they want.

Camera, James Chressanthis; production design, Karen Bromley; editor, Michael Ornstein; music, John Frizzell; casting, Jeremy Zimmermann, Deirdre Bowen. 120 MIN.

Date in print: Thurs., Oct. 6, 2005, Los Angeles

Jamie Maclachlan plays Roger Bannister, who broke the four-minute mile in 1954. Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.

October 6, 2005

Even athletically challenged TV critics know that sports records are broken all the time, and that an especially famous one - the Four-Minute Mile - seems a relic of the good old days, when Ozzie met Harriet or Fords had running boards. A quick online check reveals that the middle-distance Moroccan runner Hicham El Guerrouj ran a 3:43.13 in the mile back in 1999, or about 16 seconds quicker than Roger Bannister's when he first broke the four-minute threshold (3:59.4) on May 6, 1954.

Why a movie on Bannister now? The answer, as with any effective biopic, lies in a production team's skill in creating a picture so specific to the man and his singular moment that the viewer pretty much forgets why he came along for the ride in the first place. That's called "transporting" an audience, and if the story is a good one and the protagonist worthy, then we, too, join in the hunt for that one true thing - in this case, 5,286 feet under four bloody minutes, a mark long thought to be unattainable.

Based on a story and script by sports journalist Frank Deford, "Four Minutes" does have a loving and generous specificity that brings Bannister (played by British TV newcomer Jamie Maclachlan) and his achievement fully alive. What this film may lack in imaginative power - "dutiful" is the word that comes to mind here - it more than makes up for in narrative propulsion. Deford and his executive producers, the TV veterans Gerald W. Abrams and Bud Greenspan, have mounted a taut and well-paced story - even though their England, with its postwar sterility alongside an Old World gentility that stubbornly hangs on, seems a place ill-suited to athletic excellence.

Bannister had arrived at Oxford's Exeter to pursue a degree in medicine, although his precociousness on the track quickly sets him on a collision course - a career as a neurologist or a man who will break the four-minute mile? That's ultimately (and expertly) mediated by Archie Mason (Christopher Plummer), Oxford's track coach and onetime track champ who wound up in a wheelchair after an injury in World War I.

Bannister is clearly a brilliant student, though his gift for running seems ultimately compromised by a quirky training regimen as well as by his refusal to sacrifice medicine for even a landmark record. Mason convinces him that he can balance both, and devises an ingenious strategy that allows Bannister to shave his time through the use of pacers. They are close friends, Chris Brasher (Drew Carnwath) and Chris Chataway (Grahame Wood), who probably deserve enormous credit for Bannister's achievement, as "Four Minutes" makes clear. Both, in fact, went on to distinguished track careers of their own.

And although veteran viewers are numbingly used to climactic scenes when the hero breaks the record, the crowd roars, and the credits roll, few will be disappointed by Bannister's crowning moment here. The filmmakers neatly avert cliche, and for just an instant, Bannister's victory seems as beautiful and timeless as it must have felt all those years ago.

FOUR MINUTES. Made-for-cable movie stars Christopher Plummer as the gruff and gifted coach of one of Britain's - and the world's - premiere athletes, Roger Bannister, who was the first to break the four-minute mile 51 years ago. ESPN2 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

Roger Bannister (Jamie Maclachlan) races into the history books in "Four Minutes."

October 4, 2005

In the years before it was accomplished, the four-minute mile was considered the Mount Everest of athletics - tantalizing, yet probably unconquerable and maybe even deadly.

And it was true that, until Everest was eventually scaled, men had died in unsuccessful assaults on its summit. And, in that same era, it was believed by many that running a mile in four minutes would prove fatal to whoever achieved it.

On May 29, 1953, an Englishman, Edmund Hillary, and a Nepalese, Tenzing Norgay, proved that Everest could be scaled when they became the first men to do so.

And a little less than a year later, another Englishman, an Oxford medical student named Roger Bannister, became the first human being to run a four-minute mile (actually, it was less than four minutes: His final time was three minutes, 59 and 4/10 seconds).

Both achievements are juxtaposed in "Four Minutes," ESPN's made-for-TV movie about the conquest of the four-minute mark. It tells the story of how Bannister set his sights on breaking the four-minute barrier and then went about achieving it.

It is a remarkable story charmingly told. The gist of it is this: Bannister (played in the movie by Jamie Maclachlan, with Christopher Plummer as his coach) was an amateur long-distance runner who was interested - as part of his medical studies - in researching the physical limitations of the human body.

His approach is so scientific that "Four Minutes" can hardly even be classified as a sports movie. It's more like the biographical movies they used to make about inventors or scientists such as Thomas Edison or Jonas Salk.

And Bannister is more like those men of science than someone we would associate, from the vantage point of the present day, with big-time sports stardom.

In the end, this modest Englishman quit competing just a few months after breaking the four-minute barrier to concentrate full-time on his studies.

Jolly good show.

Jamie Maclachlan as Roger Bannister in ESPN2's "Four Minutes."

October 6, 2005

ESPN2 presents "Four Minutes" tonight at the pre-bedtime hour of 7, when the story of the post-World War II track hero Roger Bannister might attract cross-generational viewers. This virtuous, formal film seems best suited for an audience of grandparents watching with grandchildren, enjoying the theme of discipline surmounting hardship.

The skilled hands overseeing this production have often broadcast the thrills of victory, including the producer, Bud Greenspan, known for his recaps of Olympic glory. Frank Deford, the venerable sports journalist, wrote the screenplay, which salutes a simpler time, when a young Oxford student pursued a medical degree, a young lady and a world record for the first sub-four-minute mile with unwavering decorum and dedication.

Sir Roger's orthodoxy was, in fact, unorthodox, then as now. In a furrowed-brow performance by Jamie Maclachlan, the young runner trains with an old-school coach (Christopher Plummer), but bucks even his elder's advice to scale back on his schoolwork. His med-school mentor, an owlish John Houseman-esque professor, chides him for dutifully sticking to his hospital rounds on the day before a big race. At least young Roger mocks his own single-mindedness on one occasion, when his girlfriend gets a look at the elaborate laboratory he has devised to test his pace and his breathing and the post-exertion lactic acid in his blood. "I'm Dr. Frankenstein," he tells her, "and I'm also my own monster."

The film occasionally verges toward Hallmarky malarkey, with running scenes à la "Chariots of Fire" and posed silhouettes of the coach in his wheelchair and the girlfriend under her umbrella. The story would seem suspiciously sanitized except that, in all likelihood, no one really had a dark side to hide, and misbehavior had no place in this achievement. (The only degree of peevishness that the stoic scholar-athlete displays is toward newspaper critics, who are portrayed as carpers when he loses and sycophants when he wins.) Therefore, the story is well suited to ESPN's revised outlook after its pro-football series, "Playmakers," offered a ruthless take on the sporting life.

Since the knighted champion's retirement from competition, his successors have shaved little more than 16 seconds off his record. Storytelling in the 21st century, however, moves at a much swifter pace, and rarely do sports biopics stay so studiously within the chalky lines of the track.

Four Minutes

ESPN2, tonight at 7, Eastern and Pacific times; 6, Central time.

Directed by Charles Beeson; Gerald W. Abrams and Bud Greenspan, executive producers; Frank Deford, screenplay. An ESPN Original Entertainment production.

WITH: Christopher Plummer (Archie Mason) and Jamie Maclachlan (Sir Roger Bannister).

ESPN Jamie Maclachlan as Roger Bannister in "Four Minutes."

October 2, 2005

THE way Frank Deford sees it, the pinnacle of athletic achievement in the 20th century was not to be found on the basketball court or baseball diamond, or even in the boxing ring. To Mr. Deford, senior writer at Sports Illustrated, the 20th century could be summed up in two events: the ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norkay and, less than a year later, the breaking of the four-minute mile by Sir Roger Bannister.

"Those were the real human achievements," Mr. Deford said. And his editor agreed. The result was "Hillary and Banister," an article about barriers and the men compelled to break them. Five years later, that story was adapted by Mr. Deford into "Four Minutes," a two-hour drama that stars Jamie Maclachlan as Roger Bannister and Christopher Plummer as his coach, Archie Mason.

Though there is talk of Sir Edmund and a fleeting vision of Everest in the film, "Four Minutes" is Sir Roger's tale. Set in a war-ravaged England of the early 1950's, the film moves quickly to his freshman year at Oxford, when, as a young medical student with a little cross-country experience, he became a pacer for the university running team. Soon he outpaced them all - and was tagged the country's great hope for breaking the four-minute mile. (The world record had been stuck at 4:01.6 since 1945, and John Landy of Australia and Wes Santee of the United States were also close to setting a new one.)

The day of the record-breaking race, May 6, 1954, was like any other: Mr. Bannister worked hospital rounds, ate a large meal, traveled to the meet by subway and train and then ran, in a stiff breeze and on a wet track, to crack the mile in 3:59.4 minutes. Fifty years later, Mr. Deford said, Sir Roger, who became a neurologist and the head of Oxford's Pembroke College, is a little irked that with all his other accomplishments, it is running for which he is best known. "Still," Mr. Deford added, "he wryly understands that nobody would be there to talk with him without it."

"At the end of the day it was a guy from Nepal and a guy from New Zealand who conquered the world's highest peak for the British Empire," Mr. Deford said. "Bannister's feat a year later meant as much to the nation if not more. An Englishman had finally got to the top of the mountain."

Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and ESPNC

It's the inherent dilemma facing biopics: We know how the story turns out.

The art, then, lies in fleshing out the subject when there's no suspense to the outcome. This is especially true with sports biopics -- if the athlete isn't interesting, the movie falls flat regardless of the feat in question.

The case of Roger Bannister presents a fascinating subject in "Four Minutes" (7 p.m. Thursday, ESPN2), a taut two-hour film that gives us a reason to care about the runner who, a half-century ago, held a momentous world record. For just six weeks.

History tells us that on a damp day in May 1954 in Oxford, England, Bannister (played by 24-year-old newcomer Jamie Maclachlan) was the first person to run a mile in under four minutes. The most ardent sports fan may -- may -- know that Bannister was also a doctor.

Bannister. Four minutes. End of story.

Even in England, Bannister's fame has eroded. "They know of him, that it had to do something with the four minutes, the mile, but they're not so sure who he is," said Maclachlan, a Shakespearean actor just two years out of drama school. A high-school runner, he lost 20 pounds training for the part.

The screenplay, written by veteran sportswriter Frank Deford and co-executive produced by Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan, shows that the man behind the record was as compelling as his historic race. As played here by Maclachlan -- making his film debut -- Bannister is a staunch nonconformist, and therefore perfectly suited for distance running.

But Bannister refused to be consumed by his sport or its dogma, even as Britain pinned its hopes on him. His passion was running, but Bannister's true calling was medicine. As a medical student working to become a neurologist, he confounded British track and field officials by placing his studies ahead of competition.

Even so, he was chasing an athletic feat that some thought was physiologically impossible -- and that anyone who attempted it was risking death.

"The four-minute mile is the last barrier left," track coach Archie Mason, played by Christopher Plummer, says in the film. After New Zealand beekeeper Edmund Hillary and his Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay conquered Mount Everest in May 1953, many talked about the four-minute mile as if it were one of the last unreachable human endeavors.

Bannister took the student-athlete moniker literally, and in order. The spine of the movie, which covers 1946-54, is his unyielding devotion to his studies and the tug-of-war between two mentors: Mason and the med-school professor (Leon Pownall) who dismisses Bannister's athletic pursuits.

"He has his whole life left for medicine," Mason tells the teacher, "and just such a short time to do what no other human being has ever done. ... What a waste it would be not to give it a go."

Plummer and Pownall are effective as the elders who helped drive Bannister's competing desires. Maclachlan, who manages to mimic the runner's flailing style, captures the medical student's competing drives.

There are few track and field movies that capture the imagination. Of course, one is "Chariots of Fire," which won the Oscar for best picture in 1982. (The opening of "Four Minutes," with a young Bannister running in his all-white training outfit on the beach, appears to be a direct homage to that film.) You can throw out a few others -- the Robert Towne films "Personal Best" and "Without Limits" -- but not many. "Four Minutes," which was filmed in Toronto, is the fifth sports-related movie for ESPN. While the franchise hasn't risen to the level of, say, HBO, as a body of work these projects compare more than favorably to what you see on broadcast television. "Four Minutes" is worth two hours, even if you've never heard of Roger Bannister.

By the way, the world record for the mile has been held for the past six years by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco. But would you tune in to a movie titled "Three Minutes, Forty-three Point Thirteen Seconds"?

Mark McGuire can be reached at 454-5467 or by e-mail at mmcguire@timesunion.com.

Like a top runner, Christopher Plummer doesn't lack for stamina and staying power. His long career in films and TV and on the stage began before he appeared in 1965's Best Picture Oscar winner "The Sound of Music" and continues after his role in a second Oscar winner, 2001's "A Beautiful Mind." At 77, the actor hasn't slowed a step.

This year Plummer has starred in a Showtime film, "Our Fathers," for which he earned an Emmy nomination; appeared in the Diane Lane-John Cusack romantic comedy "Must Love Dogs"; and completed filming for "The New World," due to open at Christmas. He'll also be seen in the upcoming "Inside Man," with Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, and "The Lake House," with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.

"I never stop working, even as I get older," says the Connecticut resident. "First of all, I have to pay my property taxes, which are huge. And I love working. I wouldn't know what the word 'retirement' meant."

Aside from all the projects listed above, Plummer had time to take a supporting role in "Four Minutes," an ESPN original film premiering Thursday at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN2 and adapted by noted sportswriter Frank Deford from his article "Hillary and Bannister."

The film tells the story of Roger Bannister, a British medical student who in 1954 became the first athlete to run the mile in under four minutes. According to Deford, the determined Bannister, played by British actor Jamie Maclachlan, "was not only an amateur, but he actually worked a regular hospital shift in London" (at the time of the record-breaking run).

(Bannister went on to become a medical doctor and to be knighted.)

Plummer plays Bannister's shrewd coach, Archie Mason, a former British running great who uses a wheelchair after losing his legs in World War II. Mason is a fictional character modeled in part on notable Austrian track coach Franz Stampl, who aided Bannister in his quest.

Says Plummer: "I hate not being authentic, but in this case we had to make a composite of characters for dramatic purposes. Unfortunately, Franz Stampfl didn't spend enough time with Roger to make my character's long association with Bannister plausible. And there was some legal reason involved."

Dramatically, the relationship between Bannister and Mason mirrors that of British sprinter Harold Abrahams and his coach Sam Mussabini, played by Ben Cross and Ian Holm, respectively, in the fact-based 1981 Oscar-winning film "Chariots of Fire."

Indeed, it was Plummer's idea to expand the role of Archie Mason.

"It was far less of a role (in the original script)," he says. "I had the choice of playing the coach or the head of the medical school Bannister attends. I thought that I'd rather play the coach if they improved the part and made him more a part of Roger's life. It's a supporting role, but it has its impact because Archie appears at key moments in the story."

Plummer also decided to give Mason a distinctive accent that one would hear in the northwest English county of Lancashire.

"It's a very hard accent to do, but I'm good at hearing accents, of which there are about 150 in England. I lived in England for nearly 20 years and each county is a different world. The Lancashire accent is a very warm accent and it can be very funny."

Though Plummer isn't known for appearing in films about sport, he quite enjoyed making "Four Minutes."

"It was very unassumingly done," he says. "It wasn't a loud and pushy movie like some sports films are. And Roger Bannister's story is a very touching one."
=====
Steve Hedgpeth is a staff writer for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. He can be contacted at shedgpeth(at)starledger.com.

September, 2005

Four Minutes opens with an image reminiscent of Chariots of Fire’s classic beach scene: a young runner, clad in white, dashes down Britain’s coastline. And also like Chariots, Four Minutes, an ESPN2 original film, is a delightfully touching and inspirational tale of the triumph of the human spirit evoked through the sport of running.

Based on a screenplay by sportswriter Frank Deford, Four Minutes portrays the build up to Roger Bannister’s legendary first sub-four minute mile on May 6, 1954. With artful action shots and a dramatic soundtrack, Four Minutes director Charles Beeson effectively captures the intensity of the mile race, while his use of actual vintage race footage helps seal the authenticity of the film.

Lanky newcomer Jamie Maclachlan is excellent in channeling the young “RG” Bannister, precisely picking up the runner’s upright, arm-swinging form as well as his soft-spoken, yet fiercely determined persona. Maclachlan is flanked by a standout cast, including veteran actor Christopher Plummer, who plays Archie Mason, Bannister’s fictitious wheelchair-bound coach with a steely reserve and a tender heart.

Also tender are the parts of Four Minutes sprinkled with romance—after all, the film does depict Bannister in his college years. But the women in his life are not forms of distraction; rather, they each have their own role in inspiring Bannister to run faster and farther. After his first love, Annabelle (played by the striking Audrey Gardiner), leaves him for nursing school in America, Bannister funnels his heartbreak into motivation on the track and hammers out a 4:11 mile—20 seconds faster than he’d ever run before. Later, Moyra (Bannister’s eventual wife, played by Amy Rutherford), encourages a downtrodden Bannister to keep training for a sub-four-minute mile despite his disappointing fourth-place finish at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

Bannister does continue to train while balancing the demands of medical school, squeezing in workouts on his lunch break. When he arrives at Oxford’s Iffley Road Track (actually Toronto’s Birchmount Stadium, which was modified to look more like the cinder track in 1954) on a day marred by torrential downpours and gusty wind, he nearly backs out of the challenge. But minutes before the race—as though the running gods were smiling down upon Oxford—the clouds part, the wind languishes, and Bannister takes off.

With dramatic flair, the riveting final race scene concludes with Bannister’s cleated foot striking the white chalk line marking the finish. He then collapses into the arms of his fans and friends, who at first are unsure of his time, but quite aware that something truly remarkable has just taken place.

Something remarkable indeed. Four Minutes premieres October 6 at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN2.

September, 2005

In the spring of 1954, a 25-year-old British medical student named Roger Bannister became the first person in history to run a sub-four-minute mile. In 1999, Frank Deford, an award-winning sports journalist, radio commentator, and television correspondent, wrote about this feat in depth for Sports Illustrated. Deford then adapted the story into a screenplay for the ESPN2 original movie Four Minutes, which premieres Thursday, October 6 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. The film recounts Bannister's disappointment and subsequent retirement from racing after the 1952 Olympics, when he saw track and field competition as a completed chapter in his well-rounded life and shifted his focus to his medical career. But the public fascination with the sub-four-minute mile in England ultimately convinced him that he should take on the record.

As New York once again prepares for its own mile race, the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile Powered by Four Minutes, an ESPN2 film, New York Road Runners spoke with Deford about Bannister, mile running, and his new film.

New York Road Runners: The idea that Bannister had no time to train well and didn't even run a practice mile in the winter or early spring of 1954 is incredible. How were the ideals of athletes in Bannister’s era different than those of today?

Frank Deford: You couldn't make a living at running. And so the ideal was to do as well as you could, but with the understanding that it was never going to dominate your life.

NYRR: Sport as an avocation?

FD: Yes. Because racing is something that you can't do every day, you couldn’t make a living under the table. So I think the runners who succeeded best were those like Bannister who could put the running into the context of their lives and understand that this was just a phase they were going through.

NYRR: Was there a huge crowd there to watch Bannister at Iffley Road Track on May 6, 1954?

FD: There were just 1,500 people in attendance on a quaint afternoon in a way that wouldn't happen today. There wasn't much press there. Somebody was smart enough to set up a couple of cameras. What's really amazing is that there's film of the four-minute mile.

NYRR: Was there any real thinking at that time that this was a physiological barrier?

FD: No. At the turn of the century and somewhat later, a four-minute mile may have looked impossible, but I think by the time you got it down to within five or six seconds, nobody could reasonably say that anymore. That's not to say that it didn't have a huge psychological impact among the people of that time. I think it got into their heads.

NYRR: In the heads of other people even more than Bannister, perhaps. Was he something of a reluctant hero?

FD: Well, once he decided to go for it, it became the paramount goal in his life. At the same time he wanted to be a doctor, but for the short term, this was what he wanted. But even to the very day he ran the thing, he started off in the morning on his rounds, walking on his feet in a hospital! Then he took a subway, went across town and got on a train. He refused to compromise anything. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't completely committed. Today if somebody were trying for a record, they wouldn't be doing anything else. They would probably be home in bed all morning.

NYRR: Can you talk about the moment in Four Minutes on race day when Bannister decides to go for the record by looking at the flag in the distance to determine whether the wind was dying down?

FD: Right up until the very end he didn't know whether the conditions were sufficient. It was really just a few minutes before [the gun] that the flag kind of, well, flagged. He already knew the track was too wet, and in those days the cinders would stick on your spikes. But he finally decided to grab the moment.

NYRR: In the film, you give Bannister a fictitious coach called Archie Mason. What was the inspiration for this character?

FD: He really represents England at that time. So much of this is connected with the travails that England was going through then. England won one gold medal in the 1952 Olympics and it wasn't by a human—it was a horse. It was an equestrian event. Plus, rationing was worse in some respects in 1954 than it had been a few years before. And Germany, who had caused all these problems, was coming to life; the United States was just moving leaps and bounds ahead. And England was struggling. Mason represents this sense of defeat—and of hope. He's the personification of all that's brave about Great Britain.

NYRR: How do you think sports contribute to the wider culture?

FD: Athletics bind us together. You go out to the game and suddenly you're with people that ordinarily you might have nothing to do with whatsoever rooting for the same team, cheering for the same accomplishment. That commonality is very important, particularly today in a world that's so bifurcated.

NYRR: Do you have an affinity for the mile distance in general?

FD: Oh yeah. I hate that it sort of disappeared. The 1500 meter race is not nearly as glamorous. We talk in terms of miles: How many miles is it to here? How many miles per hour? It's so much in our minds and part of our culture. And from a track point of view, even though a mile is a bizarre number—5,280 feet— it's four times around, and each lap takes [a world -class male runner] about a minute. There's a symmetry to it that I think is really lovely. There's no symmetry to 1500 meters.

NYRR: Have you watched the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile in New York?

FD: Yes, I have. They're running [slightly] downhill there, a straight shot. I think it's kind of fun.

Jeff Venables is the editor of Running & Fit News, the publication of the American Running Association. He sold his first screenplay in March.

SI: Your character is a composite of Bannister's several coaches. How did you approach the part?

Plummer: I watched film on Franz Stampfl [Bannister's coach when he broke the four-minute mile in 1954, pictured below with Bannister]. And the writer [SI's Frank Deford] did enormous research on the language coaches use when speaking to runners.

SI: How familiar were you with Bannister's story?

Plummer: My wife saw him win that race. I lived in England in the swinging 1960s. It was after Hillary and Everest. Then came Bannister. We were all cognizant of his rise to fame.

SI: What are the origins of your lifelong affair with tennis?

Plummer: I've played since I was five. I play singles, but it will be doubles soon; it's getting a bit dodgy out there.

SI: Is Roger Federer worthy of a stage production?

Plummer: Federer is almost too perfect to be dramatic. I compare him to Manolete, the bullfighter who achieved such perfection that the Spanish found him dull.

SI: What about McEnroe: The Play?

Plummer: His story might repel audiences. They would leave in droves [laughs]. He's great now: He has a sense of humor about himself and is a wonderful commentator.

SI: Memorable partners?

Plummer: Sean Connery, when he was making the Bond movies. I had much longer experience on the court. But he was a very good athlete and picked things up very quickly.

SI: It must be sweet to own James Bond.

Plummer: Oh, I know. I felt very smooth. --Richard Deitsch

GRAPHIC: PHOTO: PAUL FENTON/ZUMA PRESS, INC. (PLUMMER), PHOTO: NORMAN POTTER/CENTRAL PRESS/GETTY IMAGES (STAMPFL AND BANNISTER)

Actor Jamie Machlachlan puts wraps up in a blanket between takes on the set of the ESPN-produced film "Four Minutes" in Toronto Tuesday. The film is about English runner Roger Bannister's 1954 quest to run a four-minute mile. (CP/Aaron Harris)

TORONTO (CP) - More than 250 actors and extras clad in 1950s garb gathered at a Toronto stadium to re-create sporting history Tuesday for a movie depicting the life of English runner Roger Bannister and his quest to set a new record for the world's fastest mile.

Cast members and extras in the made-for-TV movie, called Four Minutes, stood on the sidelines and cheered as actor Jamie MacLachlan, who plays Bannister, crossed the finish line in a dramatic conclusion to the re-enactment of Bannister's historic 1954 run.

"Today was the hardest day," producer Lynn Raynor said of the ESPN project, which stars Emmy and Tony award-winning Canadian actor Christopher Plummer as track coach Archie Mason and British actor Grahame Wood as runner Chris Chataway.

"We're trying to recreate one shot that created history and it's a ton of work."

In preparation for the shot, crews had to make sure Birchmount Stadium in east-end Toronto looked exactly like the University of Oxford's Iffley track, where Bannister first set the world record by running a mile in 3 minutes and 59 seconds.

That not only included dressing the actors in costumes that reflected the era, but also building a replica mahogany clubhouse from the ground up and scattering a few vintage vehicles near track level.

The entire process had to be very exact and precise, said Raziel Tassone, a Toronto resident who was among hundreds of other locals hired to act as cheering spectators in the film.

"If you don't mind waiting, this job can be something for somebody," said Tassone, who donned a black cap, grey suit and red bow tie for his role as an extra.

"But if you really don't like waiting around or can be impatient, then this is the worst kind of job anybody can do. It requires a lot of patience."

Equally exacting was the work asked of the runners in the film, local athletes who were expected to mimic every nuance and stylistic quirk of the original runners they portray.

"One of the challenges we had was recruiting runners who would represent the look of the mid-50s," said Peter Pimm, a technical consultant for the film who also helped select the production's track actors out of a group of 30 prospects.

"We've had to work with the actors to transform them to have the look of the elite athletes of that day."

Mario Iozzo, a Toronto native hired to portray a runner in some of Bannister's early race scenes, said some aspects of filming are harder than others.

"Most of us are current athletes, so the running isn't too bad," Iozzo said. "Trying to keep those legs moving after sitting down is the biggest challenge, though. After a while you get a little stiff."

For Toronto resident Kevin Smith, wearing the stiff, unpadded track shoes of the 1950s has been the worst experience so far.

"Wearing those track shoes on a track that is rather firm has been the most challenging," Smith said. "We've suffered a lot of black toes."

But amid the pains that come with filming an authentic period piece, there also come rewards, said Wood, whose character Chataway was the second man to break the four-minute mile record after Bannister.

"For me, it's a tremendous honour to be playing this national hero," said Wood, noting that both athletes were knighted for their achievements.

"I love to play real life characters who have shaped the world we live in today."

ESPN spokesman Rob Tobias said the idea behind the movie was to finally pay tribute to Bannister's historic accomplishment.

"It's one of those compelling stories that has never been told," Tobias said. "Bannister was a very intense guy. He had a goal and he set out to prove himself. This was, like, headlines around the world at the time. That's how big it was."

Shooting in Toronto is expected to wrap up by the end of the month.

Toronto, which has endured largely gray skies in recent weeks, has been an excellent stand-in for Oxford, Tobias said.

The film, which is directed by Charles Beeson, is scheduled to air Oct. 6 on ESPN2 and is expected to be picked up later by Canadian sports network TSN.

Roger Bannister's achievement of running the first sub-4 minute mile will be featured in the ESPN2 movie Four Minutes.

Bannister broke the record with his head back and mouth agape on May 6, 1954, in Oxford, England. He ran the mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds, a stunning accomplishment at the time because humans thought it would be impossible to break the barrier.

Bannister, a 25-year-old medical student at the time he set the mark, felt it took so long to break it because of psychological, not physical reasons.

"The man who can drive himself further, once the effort gets painful, is the man who will win," Bannister said after his accomplishment.

British stage actor Jamie Maclachlan will play Bannister and Christopher Plummer will portray track coach Archie Mason in the movie, which debuts Oct. 6.

Bannister, a retired neurologist, wrote a book about his feat called The First Four Minutes. Award-winning journalist Frank DeFord, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and a regular correspondent on the HBO show, RealSports With Bryant Gumbel, wrote the movie for ESPN Original Entertainment.

Associated Press

May 2, 2005

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) ESPN has found the two stars for its next original movie, about Roger Bannister's breaking the four-minute barrier in the mile. "Four Minutes" will star Emmy- and Tony-winning actor Christopher Plummer ("A Beautiful Mind," "The Thorn Birds") as track coach Archie Mason. British actor Jamie Maclachlan, whose credits are mostly in theater, will play Bannister.

Production on the movie, directed by Charles Beeson ("Second Sight," "The Pale Horse") is set to begin in Toronto on Friday (May 6), the 51st anniversary of Bannister's barrier-breaking run. Long-time Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford penned the script, and Olympic documentarian Bud Greenspan is among the executive producers.

Critics initially scoffed at Bannister and others who aimed to break the four-minute barrier in the mile, saying it was physically impossible. Yet the 25-year-old medical student broke the tape in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds (the current record is 3:43.13, held by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj).

Plummer has won two Emmys, for his role in the 1976 miniseries "The Moneychangers" and for voice-over work on the children's series "Madeleine." His two Tony Awards came in 1974 for "Cyrano" and 1997 for "Barrymore." His recent credits include the TNT miniseries "Nuremberg," "National Treasure" and Showtime's "Our Fathers," which premieres later this month.

"Four Minutes" is scheduled to premiere in October on ESPN2.

Veteran stage, screen and television actor Christopher Plummer has been cast as track coach Archie Mason in the upcoming ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE) movie, Four Minutes, the inspiring true story of one man’s courage, passion and sheer determination in accomplishing what was considered impossible – running the first sub-four-minute mile. British stage actor Jamie Maclachlan will play the lead role of Sir Roger Bannister. Principle photography will begin in Toronto on May 6 -- the 51st anniversary of Bannister’s historic run. Four Minutes will premiere Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Four Minutes was written by award-winning journalist, author and sports commentator Frank DeFord. The movie will be directed by Charles Beeson, whose roster of work includes Second Sight starring Clive Owen and Agatha Christies’s The Pale Horse. Four Minutes will be executive produced by award-winning TV and movie producer Gerald W. Abrams of Cypress Point Productions (The Mystery of Natalie Wood, Nuremberg) and acclaimed Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan.

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER is recognized as one of the finest classical actors of his generation. He made his New York debut in 1954 and went on to star in many celebrated productions on Broadway and in London. He became a leading actor at England’s National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and Canada’s Stratford Festival. Plummer has also written for the stage, television and the concert hall.

A veteran of more than 80 motion pictures, his film credits include the Oscar-winning The Sound of Music, as well as The Man Who Would Be King, Waterloo, The Pink Panther, Somewhere in Time, Star Trek VI, Dragnet and Alexander the Great. Among his numerous honors are two Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, Britain’s Evening Standard Award and Canada’s Genie Award, plus many nominations.

JAMIE MACLACHLAN is a 2003 graduate of Britain’s prestigious East 15 Acting School where he was the winner of The John Gielgud Charitable Trust. His Theater credits include Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night and Macbeth. His TV credits include Walking the Dead.

Continuing the precedent set by ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD will deliver its first high-quality movie in high definition. ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD, the sister high-definition services from ESPN, will deliver over 300 major events plus over 2,000 programs totaling more than 6,000 hours in high definition in 2005. ESPN2 HD is delivered to cable systems and satellite providers in the 720p high-definition format.

April 21, 2005

GOOD MORNING: Two of the principal players of "Our Fathers," award-winners Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy, pull no punches in their reactions to the story -- and both wonder about the future fate of the characters they play. Plummer plays Cardinal Bernard Law, demoted from his tenure as Archbishop of Boston and sent to the Vatican where Pope John Paul II set him to head St. Mary Maggiore Basilica. Dennehy plays Father Brian Spagnolia whose powerful condemnation of the church from his pulpit brought him removal from the church. Spagnolia is suing while the unsavory story unfolds nationwide ... Dennehy, reached in London where he was readying his legit bow at the Lyric in " Death Of A Salesman" says "I have very strong feelings in this area. I know personally of families to whom this happened. I know of one in which the guy committed suicide. I don't think the church realizes the repercussions on the families -- it's a crime that keeps on going. I don't know what the church didn't send them (the failing priests) to jail instead of to a new assignment. The Church is a dictatorship .This scandal is not over -- the Church has to figure out a way. It must be held accountable. They cannot hide behind their crimson robes."

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER WAS as vehement in his condemnation of the Church -- and Cardinal Bernard Law -- whom he portrays. "He should be in a labor camp. And it was incredible that they (the priests) were (exonerated)." Plummer reminds he's no stranger to playing villains, "I played Hitler and Richard III, and it was fascinating to play Cardinal Law. I like playing villains -- they always believe they are right." He also reminds that he played a cardinal on "The Thorn Birds" and Archbishop Hume in "Blessed." ... Law is awaiting his future status under Pope Benedict XVI -- who was present (as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) when Law was brought before JPII for judgment. ... Dan Curtis directs the Showtime no-holds barred film about the pedophilia scandal, the rape of hundreds of Catholic youth by priests serving under then-Archbishop Bernard Law. And Curtis tips his fedora to Showtime for going full throttle in this story without end. "Showtime backed us 100%. Bob Greenblatt loved this project. I want to show my appreciation to them and will appear at the Boston premiere," he says. "We had some of the real victims on the set." ... Plummer is a member of the Church of England. However, growing up in Montreal, he says he went to services in the Catholic Church "which was more showbiz -- it even had a full orchestra." Plummer had just returned home from L.A. and a quickie three-day re-shoot on "Must Love Dogs" in which he plays Diane Lane's father. He's also completed "The New World" in which he plays Capt. Newport who sails with Capt. John Smith (Colin Farrell) and bride Pocahontas to England. And he'll also costar in "Il Mare" with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Next, he stars in "Four Minutes," the story of the four minute mile-breaker Roger Bannister with Jamie Machlachlan running-starring for ESPN with Gerald Abrams and Bud Greenspan exec producing, Charles Beeson directs. Frank Marshall told me in June he was readying to bigscreen Neal Bascomb's "The Perfect Mile" based on the four-minute mile race of Bannister, John Landy, and Wes Santee.

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) ESPN has greenlit production of an original movie, its fifth, about Roger Bannister's quest to break the four-minute barrier in the mile.

"Four Minutes," which will tell the story of how Bannister became the first man to record a sub-four mile, will be the first ESPN-produced movie to premiere on ESPN2. Shooting is set to begin next month in Toronto, with a premiere scheduled for the fall.

"Doing what some felt was impossible, running the first sub-four minute mile, is an enduring athletic milestone," says Mark Shapiro, head of programming and production at ESPN. "Some 50 years later, Bannister's achievement continues to inspire. It is with great admiration that ESPN2 will bring Sir Roger Bannister's story to life."

Long-time Sports Illustrated writer and novelist Frank Deford is writing the script for "Four Minutes," and Bud Greenspan, known for his documentaries on the Olympics, will serve as one of the film's executive producers. Gerald W. Abrams ("44 Minutes," "Nuremberg") is also exec producing. Bannister, an Oxford student and the fourth-place finisher in the 1,500 meters at the 1952 Summer Olympics, ran the first recorded sub-four mile on May 6, 1954, crossing the finish in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. The current world record, held by Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj, is 3:43.17

ESPN today announced the green lighting of production of the first-ever original movie premiere on ESPN2, Four Minutes, an ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE) production based on Roger Bannister’s breaking of the four-minute mile in 1954. Principle photography will begin in Toronto in April.

The movie, set to premiere this fall, will be executive produced by prolific TV and movie producer Gerald W. Abrams of Cypress Point Productions and acclaimed Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan. Four Minutes is written by award-winning journalist, author and sports commentator Frank DeFord.

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile in history -- a barrier previously considered insurmountable. The 25-year-old native of Harrow, England, completed the distance in 3:59.4. At the end of the year, Bannister retired from running to pursue his medical studies full-time, becoming a neurologist. He became the first Chairman of the British Sports Council and was knighted for these services in 1975.

“Doing what some felt was impossible, running the first sub-four minute mile, is an enduring athletic milestone,” said Mark Shapiro, ESPN executive vice president, programming and production. “Some 50 years later, Bannister's achievement continues to inspire. It is with great admiration that ESPN2 will bring Sir Roger Bannister’s story to life.”

Continuing the precedent set by ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD will deliver its first high-quality movie in high definition. ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD, the sister high-definition services from ESPN, will deliver over 300 major events plus over 2,000 programs totaling more than 6,000 hours in high definition in 2005. ESPN2 HD is delivered to cable systems and satellite providers in the 720p high-definition format.

Gerald W. Abrams has had a long and distinguished career. His many credits include The Defection Of Simas Kudirka, which received five Emmy nominations and two Emmy Awards. Other high-profile projects include, Family of Spies, Flesh And Blood, Out of the Ashes and 44 Minutes, all of which received Emmy nominations and Emmy Awards. In addition, Abrams executive produced Nuremberg, a four-hour mini-series for Turner Network Television, which was nominated for both the Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. Most recently, he executive produced See Arnold Run about the historic California recall election for A&E.

Frank Deford is among the most honored and versatile writers in the country. He has been described as the most influential sports voice in America and as the world's greatest sportswriter. His work has appeared in virtually every medium. In magazines, he is the senior writer at Sports Illustrated. On radio, he may be heard as a commentator every Wednesday on National Public Radio and on television, he is a regular correspondent on the HBO’s RealSports With Bryant Gumbel. He has been elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters. Six times Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year.

Bud Greenspan has been called the foremost writer/producer/director of sports films and one of the world's leading sports historians. He is recognized throughout the world for his lifetime body of work and commitment to capturing the humanity of sport on film, most notably receiving a George Foster Peabody Award, the broadcast and cable industry's most prestigious honor. He has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Directors Guild of America, the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Track & Field Association. A four-time producer of official films of the Olympic Games, Greenspan produced the official motion pictures of the 1984 Los Angeles, 1988 Calgary, 1992 Barcelona, and 1996 Olympic Centennial Games.

FOUR MINUTES: DID YOU KNOW?
• Australian John Landy beat Banister’s record the following month with a time of 3 minutes 57.9 seconds, but Bannister will always be remembered as the man who ran the "miracle mile."
• The current mile record is held by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, who ran a time of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds in Rome on July 7, 1999.
• Bannister continued to run to keep fit until he broke his ankle in a car accident in 1975, the year that he was knighted.
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Media Contact: ESPN Communications at 860/766-2000

LONDON (AFP) - Fifty years ago on Thursday a tall English medical student thrust back his head and charged for the finishing line traced on a cinder running track in Oxford.

There was an anxious wait before the announcer began to speak. The time, he said, for Roger Bannister's mile run was three minutes and...

No one heard the rest, for 25-year-old Bannister had just broken the barrier that many people thought might never be breached.

His time of 3 min 59.4 sec at the Iffley Road stadium was a remarkable milestone in human endeavour.

The late Norris McWhirter, one of the men who helped organise the meeting, recalled: "The four-minute mile had a beauty in it, a symmetry. There was a magic in it.

"Harold Abrahams, the 1924 100m Olympic gold medalist (immortalized by the Academy Award winning film Chariots of Fire), was the chief timekeeper," said McWhirter, who died last month.

"He came across and gave me the piece of paper with the official time on it - 3 minutes 59 seconds.

"I read the time to the crowd - but I can assure you that the 59.4 seconds was not heard. All they cared about was the three minutes."

The current mile record stands at 3:43.13 to the Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, and even a top-level club athlete can break the four-minute barrier, but in 1954 it remained a magical barrier.

Bannister may have been an amateur, but his time was the product of a group of friends who agreed to help him to the record and planned thoroughly to achieve it.

The budding doctor's plan had originally been to win 1,500 metres gold at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, but he could only finish fourth behind Joseph Barthel of Luxembourg.

"A week later, I received a letter from Roger asking if I would pace him on an attempt on the four-minute mile," said Bannister's friend Chris Chataway.

The third piece in the jigsaw was the late Chris Brasher, like the others educated at private schools and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Bannister began training with a new coach, the Austrian Franz Stampfl, but he was acutely aware that two other athletes, the Australian John Landy and Wes Santee of the United States, were edging closer and closer to the four-minute barrier.

The earliest date in the season Bannister could find was May 6, an Oxford University v Amateur Athletics Association meeting.

McWhirter persuaded the BBC to send a camera crew, ensuring the most famous milestone in athletics was recorded for ever.

The day of the race was wet and windy, but when Bannister saw the flag over a nearby church drop to its pole he decided the attempt would go ahead.

Bannister recalled how the race unfolded, with Brasher setting the early pace and Chataway taking over to 'drag' Bannister along from the third lap onwards.

"During the first lap, I was so full of running that I thought we were going too slowly," Bannister said.

"I shouted at Chris, 'faster, faster' - but he said afterwards that he was going as fast as he possibly could."

On the back straight of the final lap, Bannister accelerated and made his charge.

"I overtook decisively with a burst of speed, feeling as if I was in the finishing mode and would have to keep it going as long as I could," said Bannister

"The only question on my mind was, could I make it without slowing down?"

He did - and the crowd of just over 1,000 people erupted as he collapsed in the arms of his coach.

Bannister maintains that fortune played an enormous role.

"It was a stroke of luck whether it was Santee, Landy or me who got there first."

He was right - just six weeks later Landy destroyed his record by clocking 3.57.9 in Finland.

The 50th anniversary will be commemorated by an athletics meeting in Oxford on Thursday, with a still vigorously healthy Bannister the guest of honour.

[Photo: "An exhausted Roger Bannister is carried off the track by two officials at Iffley Road stadium."]

On May 6, they will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the day a 25-year-old medical student named Roger Bannister (search) did the impossible — running a mile in under four minutes.

In honor of the half-century anniversary, Bannister's autobiography, "The Four-Minute Mile," is being re-released; "The Perfect Mile," a new book about the history of the record-breaking run, is hitting shelves; and commemorative mile-runs are taking place across the world.

For Neal Bascomb, author of "The Perfect Mile," Bannister's achievement transcends sport.

"It's really a story about what it takes to do the impossible," he said.

Bannister was a 25-year-old medical student when he ran his record-setting time of 3:59.40 at the Iffley Road Track in Oxford, England, on May 6, 1954. He ran at a time when tracks were made of cinder, running shoes were simple and athletes were amateurs.

"The Perfect Mile" tells the story of Bannister and his main competitors of the time: American Wes Santee, who was the first to announce he wanted to break the four-minute barrier, and Australian John Landy, who broke Bannister’s record seven weeks after Bannister’s run. The three athletes were driven to change their training approaches after disappointing performances in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics (search).

"The lessons the characters learn from their failure and triumphs are just as relevant to the same challenges we experience in our lives and careers,” said Bascomb, who said he was inspired by the men's incredible tale.

"No one had told the story completely about the race among these three men," he said. "Bannister, I believe, may not have been able to set the record without the competition."

By today's standards, when elite athletes endure grueling training, Bannister's history-making time seems almost insignificant. After all, Hicham El Guerrouj (search) of Morocco, the current record-holder, ran a 3:43.13 mile in 1999. But Bannister’s run happened at a time when amateurs ruled track and field and when the sport enjoyed a worldwide following.

"It was the glory days of running," said Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Kan., who set the male high school record of 3:55.30 in 1965, which stood for 36 years.

Bannister’s determination to break a record that experts said was unbreakable is the lesson he hopes is his legacy.

"It may seem incredible today that the world record at this classic distance could be set by an amateur athlete, in bad weather, on a university running track," Bannister said in a statement released by Oxford University (search). "I hope that this serves as an inspiration to sportsmen and women everywhere to keep striving to achieve their best through personal effort alone."

Today, advances in nutrition science and technology have allowed more than 2,000 runners to finish under four minutes. Amby Burfoot, the 1968 Boston Marathon (search) champion and Runner’s World executive editor, describes the difference in athletes today as being full-time professional runners who make hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to Bannister, who was a medical student who enjoyed running.

“Today’s athletes run five to eight times as many miles a week as Bannister probably did,” said Burfoot. “They also avail themselves to a team of nutritionists, sports psychologists and exercise physiologists who analyze their breathing and muscle fiber.”

Despite these advancements, Bannister's run remains one of the most memorable achievements of the 20th century.

On Thursday, Oxford University will restage Bannister's race, in addition to hosting an elite mile race with the top three runners from Oxford and the British Amateur Athletic Association (search), the same teams who competed 50 years ago. Bannister, who became a neurologist and who was knighted in 1975, will be present for the Oxford festivities, as will John Landy (search) and other record-breaking runners.

And from Australia and England to small towns across America, running clubs will celebrate the history-making event with commemorative mile runs.

In Mt. Desert Island, Maine, runners will gather to run for 3:59.40, Bannister's record-setting time. The Badgerland Striders of Wauwatosa, Wis., are hosting mile runs beginning at 6:00 p.m., the same time Bannister's run was held. And on May 11 in Ventura, Calif., The Roger Bannister Mile Challenge will be held with a prize of $359.40 going to the first competitor who runs a sub four-minute mile.

For Bannister, he said he believes the lasting recognition of his achievement is in the simplicity of running.

"A man can, with his own two feet, overcome severe difficulties to reach a pinnacle upon which he can declare, 'No one has done this before.'"

April 2004

Interviewer's note: I interviewed Sir Roger Bannister on the morning of April 19, 2004, at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track, where he ran his barrier-shattering 3:59.4 mile. I'd taken the hour-long train ride to Oxford from London that morning, just as Bannister had done the day of his record. Bannister, now 75, has lived for years in Oxford just minutes from the track. Two of his children and several grandchildren live nearby.

The track was deserted that cool, blustery morning, apart from a few maintenance workers making their rounds, and we sat on the lower level of the stands not 15 feet from where Bannister made his famous finish-line lunge 50 years before. No longer made of cinders, the track today has been modernized in bright red tartan. Still, certain landmarks remained, namely the gothic St. George's church beyond the far curve. It was the flag on that church that Bannister used to gauge the wind on the day of his sub-4 attempt. He pointed out the church during our interview, but sadly the flag wasn't flying that day.

Meeting Bannister, especially right there at the Iffley Road Track, was a thrill for me. I'm a lifelong runner and former high school miler, so I'd heard of Roger Bannister from very early on in my running career back in the mid-70s. He was dressed in a classic English green tweed suit, with matching tweed golf cap.

What struck me most about him was how understated he was about his accomplishment, so lacking in American-style self-promotion. I had the sense he was doing all these interviews (he had them scheduled all that day) out of obligation, and would rather not have bothered if given the option.

He was well spoken, dignified, at times feisty, and slightly frumpy in that delightful English way. He told me he no longer ran--due to a knee injury from a 1975 car accident (the same year he was knighted)--but walked regularly and belonged to a walking club. He said they always finished all their walks at a pub, and then would have lunch. I told him I wanted to join.

Runner's World Daily: Thank you, Mr. Bannister, for talking with me this morning. Since this interview is for Runner's World readers, who know a thing or two about running, I wanted to ask you about your typical training week leading up to the sub-4-minute mile in May of 1954. How many days a week did you train? Sir Roger Bannister: I actually came across my training book recently and I was very interested to see what training I did. People have thought that I did not train or did minimal training, and that if I'd trained harder I would've run faster.

RWD: What do you say to that?
RB: Well, I didn't have to run any faster than I did. I would've liked to run faster in the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. But if I'd won a gold medal in Helsinki like I'd hoped to do, I would've retired, because I was having trouble combining the running and my medical studies. But I was so disappointed in my performance--I felt I let people down--that I just couldn't retire. I went on running.

RWD: So, about your training.
RB: I don't think my training really changed in the 5 years leading up to the sub-4. Mostly fast running on the track, broken up with short rest breaks. I trained 5 or 6 days a week, and on 4 or 5 of those days, sometimes 5 of the days, I would do that kind of fast running.

RWD: You'd do quality running--as we call it in the U.S.--every day then?
RB: Yes. I usually did a mixture of 200s, 400s, and 800s. On a particular day I might first do a couple of 200s, then a couple of 400s, followed by an 800, then I'd come back down again.

RWD: With a lot of rest between each repeat?
RB: No, no. The secret was to have the least amount of rest possible. But the next day, I couldn't be so tired that I couldn't do it all over again. And after all, I was only training to run for 4 minutes. Doing longer running would have been irrelevant.

One workout I did with Chris Chataway each week for the 4 to 6 months leading up to the race was 10 quarters--10 laps that is--with about two minutes between repeats. The first quarter would be a little over 60, and gradually they would get faster until I was doing them in under 60 seconds. I didn't warm up for these sessions, by the way. I didn't think it was necessary.

RWD: Any other workouts you depended on?
RB: Yes, I ran a very hard three-quarter-mile every two weeks as a way to test my fitness. I did this year-round, though in the winter, training slackened off, so I did the time trial less frequently. This wasn't all-out, but close to it. I tried to stay controlled, and usually ran it in around 3 minutes.

RWD: How about cross-training? Did you do any weight lifting?
RB: No. I always felt that the best training for running was running.

RWD: Did you have a pre-race or pre-training food that you depended on?
RB: No, we still had rationing from the war, so there weren't a lot of food choices. Of course we know more about diet today, but back then, as a miler, you simply tried to get a mixture of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

RWD: Moving to the morning of May 6, 1954, the day you set the record. Do you recall when you woke up that morning any sense of premonition that your life was going to change that day and that you were going to break the 4-minute mile?
RB: No, not really. I woke up in my flat in London, which was where I was doing my hospital training at the time, at St. Mary's Hospital. I went to the hospital in the morning, and while there I sharpened the spikes I'd be wearing on the track that day. Immediately, I was worried about the weather. It was windy and rainy.

Later in the day, I got the train up to Oxford, about an hour north from London, arriving there at 1. The wind was strong at the track, and I knew this was more of a problem than the puddles from the rain. You cannot run evenly when the wind is against you.

RWD: What did you do for the several hours you were in Oxford, before the race was due to start at 6?
RB: I had lunch with friends.

RWD: Were these track friends?
RB: No, not at all. It was a friend and his wife, and their children. So we didn't really discuss the race at all. It was a good distraction for me, actually.

Later in the afternoon, I went to the track and noticed the flag flapping on top of St. George's church beyond the far curve. About 20 minutes before the race was scheduled to start, the wind eased--again I could see this from the flag--and I got the feeling that I may be all right after all. So I decided to do it.

Then Chris Brasher--one of my friends in the race who was going to help with the pacing--false started! So we had to start again. Brasher goes into the lead, I'm behind him, and Chataway in behind me. I didn't know what was going on farther back. There were six or seven of us in the race, both Oxford University runners, and Amateur Athletic Association members, of which I was one at the time.

RWD: Tell me about the first lap.
RB: Okay, we go through the first lap in 58, and everybody cheers. Then the second lap was 60, so we hit the halfway point in 1:58.

RWD: Were you worried that was too fast?
RB: No, no, that was fine. I wanted to be a little ahead, but then we slipped back in the third lap. At that point Brasher was tiring, and Chataway had taken over the pace. When we came through the three-quarters in 3 minutes, I figured I had a 50/50 chance of breaking 4.

RWD: So when you got the 3-minute call with a lap to go, what went through your head, knowing that you needed to run the final lap in under a minute?
RB: I knew I had to make a decision going into that second-to-last curve, because I could see that Chataway was tiring. I would've preferred to have someone ahead of me, but I also knew I couldn't slow down. Should I pass him or stay behind a little longer? When we got around the turn and into the back straight, I made my move. I'd been restraining myself to that point, but then it was all out the last 250 meters.

RWD: At that precise moment when you broke the record, do you recall what you were thinking?
RB: I felt like I had reached a haven from the storm. In those seconds when I was pushing down the final straight, I thought what a cold and lonely place the world would be if I didn't reach my goal. But I did.

RWD: You retired less than a year after your sub-4, and went on to become a renowned neurologist and also a sports administrator for the U.K. So, at risk of sounding simplistic about this, your career accomplishments can be divided into three areas: your famous sub-4-minute mile, your work as a neurologist, and your work as a sports administrator. Which of those three means the most to you?
RB: Neurology by far. It has been a life-long pursuit for me. Running is an affair of youth. It helps you through adolescence and, for me of course, at a certain point it opened doors. I met people, and traveled. Of course it can make life more exciting and fulfilling.

RWD: So on May 6 this year, in 3 weeks from now, when you wake up on the morning 50 years after your record, the record won't seem like a big deal for you?
RB: Not really. Of course I'm glad Oxford University is going to have a track meet, and has invited young runners to compete. But I'm also glad it won't be some big sponsored extravaganza. It will be informal and low key, just like the meet 50 years ago.