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The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It | 
 enlarge | Author: Neal Bascomb
Publisher: Recorded Books
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $8.79
You Save: $21.20 (71%)
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Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 926659
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Items: 12
Pages: 25
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 5.7 x 5.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 1402575610
UPC: 807897015328
EAN: 9781402575617
ASIN: 1402575610
Publication Date: April 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be entirely beyond the limits of human foot speed. And in all of sport it was the elusive holy grail. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three world-class runners set out individually to break this formidable barrier. Roger Bannister was a young English medical student who epitomized the ideal of the amateur -- still driven not just by winning but by the nobility of the pursuit. John Landy was the privileged son of a genteel Australian family, who as a boy preferred butterfly collecting to running but who trained relentlessly in an almost spiritual attempt to shape his mind and body to this singular task. Then there was Wes Santee, the swaggering American, a Kansas farm boy and natural athlete who believed he was just plain better than everybody else.
Santee was the first to throw down the gauntlet in what would become a three-way race of body, heart, and soul. Each young man endured thousands of hours of training, bore the weight of his nation's expectations on his shoulders, and still dared to push to the very limit. Their collective quest captivated the world and stole headlines from the Korean War, the atomic race, and such legendary figures as Edmund Hillary, Willie Mays, Native Dancer, and Ben Hogan. Who would be the first to achieve the unachievable? And who among them would be the best when they raced head to head? In the answer came the perfect mile.
In the tradition of Seabiscuit and Chariots of Fire, Neal Bascomb delivers a breathtaking story of unlikely heroes and leaves us with a lasting portrait of the twilight years of the golden age of sport.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 51 more reviews...
 More than a race against time July 31, 2008
Neal Bascomb's account of the race for the first four minute mile was produced (just) in time for the 50th anniversary of this mile-stone (pun intended). It is a very easy read, and a highly enjoyable account of the intertwining events of three very different athletes. A factional account, the book is very much based on the events of the early 1950's, but with events described from the viewpoint of the three protagonists. Like a race, the book wills you to get to the end.
There are undoubtedly a few liberties taken with the details, but, after all, the aim is to tell a story; a story very much based on events that many would recall details of, or have seen old cinematic or still pictures of. Australian John Landy, American Wes Santee and the British Roger Bannister had all failed to meet expectations at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. If not failing to meet the expectations of others, then certainly they had failed to fulfil their own dreams. Yet their ensuing race against time caught the imagination of many, not limited to the three countries of their respective births.
Almost every schoolboy of 30 years ago would know that it was the Brit Roger Bannister who had the distinction of being the first to dip below the magical 4 minutes for the mile. In that, the book reads like a detective story in which, like Lieutenant Columbo, readers know the end. However, this does not take away from the telling of the tale. It seemed to matter little that the centre photographs show the result of the 1954 Empire games 1 miles race before you get to the narrative, so even that particular race has no mystery in it.
The world of the mid-1950's seems to be a long way from modern professional athletics. The training schedules and diets simply cannot be compared to those enjoyed and endured today. This is what makes the book for me, a harking back to the days of amateur athletics, little or no expenses or appearance money, and ambition as the primary motivation. Not only were the three athletes raving against `the clock' and against each other (albeit against each other's shadows, not on the same track for the most part). Both the Englishman, and the Australian knew that they had limited time, both before the record 4 minutes was first broken (for ever), and before they had to finish with athletics to move on top the next stage in life.
This is a different era, the dying days of the gentleman amateur, before athletics was taken up by the countries of the former Soviet block, as a political weapon. It was before the win-at-all-cost drug cheats, before corporate sponsorship, and massive investment in strict training and dietary requirements. You could not have a career as an athlete, because there was no money available.
Part of the success of this volume is that it is undoubtedly nostalgic, it is a good story told well, and it touches upon events that have a place in the collective culture of those who lived in the third quarter of the 20th century in Britain. The final parts of the book review what has happened in the years since May 6th 1954. The total amount of pages for the progressive lowering of the mile record after Bannister takes less space than used to describe `The Mile of the Century' at the Empire Games in Vancouver, when for the first time ever, 2 athletes broke the 4 minute barrier. This mile race is partly the perfect mile in Bascomb's title.
The book will inspire readers to persist, to begin again and to achieve. It will also prove to be a good read. Well done Mr Bascomb.
Peter Morgan (morganp@supanet.com)
I loved this book May 30, 2008
If you enjoy running and reading. This is an awesome story. I didnt want to put the book down.
 The perfect mile May 27, 2008
A very well written book on an extraordinary feat of running. I true page turner!
Makes you feel like you watched it happen March 7, 2008
I'm not a track fan, but this book was recommended to me as being very well written, and I have to agree completely. Following the story of these three men from very different backgrounds as they all strive to be the first to break a previously considered unbreakable human feat, you get a sense that you were there watching it transpire. Even though it's a recounting of historical events, the narrative is so compelling that you find yourself mentally urging on the runners as the races are described. After reading this book, I immediately got myself a copy of "Chariots of Fire". :-)
If you ever tried to break 5:00 in high school, you will love this book December 27, 2007
3 atheltes; 3 continents; 3 training methods; 1 goal.
Roger Bannister - trained by Franz Stamfl (heavily influenced Mihaly Igloy and the LATC). Emphasis on intensity and speed endurance. A meticulous athlete who believed in measurement and gradual improvement.
John Landy - trained by Percey Cerutty (Herb Elliott's coach). Emphasis on longer intervals and higher volume. Ran most of his races solo; talented and agressive.
Wes Santee - trained by Bill Easton (coach of Billy Mills). Old school methods. Heavy racing schedule. Santee was a gritty competitor who liked to race, and had little patience for the patronizing AAU.
The book details these three atheltes attempts to break the "unbreakable" barrier. A number of close attempts are described in agonizing detail, in particular Santee's 4:00.2
If you have ever tried to break any running "barrier" - 5:00 mile, 4:00 marathon, etc. you will understand how this text captures the solitary focus that envelopes a runner as s/he pursues a goal.
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