Roger Bannister and the Four-Minute Mile
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister stepped onto a cinder track in Oxford, England, wearing running shoes. Nearby, a stopwatch was ready to measure a race that would make history. Bannister hoped to run a mile in less than four minutes, a time no runner had officially recorded before.
Born in 1929, Bannister grew up in England and became a talented runner. He also studied medicine at Oxford University and trained while preparing for a career as a doctor. Rather than spending all day running, he fitted hard training sessions around his studies.
For the Oxford race, Bannister had help from two friends, Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway. They served as pacemakers: runners who set a planned speed to help another runner reach a goal. Brasher led for the first two laps. Chataway then took the lead and kept the pace through the third lap and into the fourth. Bannister followed closely before surging ahead toward the finish.
The time was 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. Bannister had become the first person to run an officially recorded mile in under four minutes. His record did not last long: Australian runner John Landy broke it the following month.
- cinder:
- A small piece of partly burned material.
- sessions:
- Periods of time set aside for an activity.
- surging:
- Moving forward quickly and forcefully.
- retellings:
- Accounts of a story told again.
- remarkable:
- Unusual or impressive enough to be noticed.
- achievement:
- Something accomplished through effort or skill.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1How did Bannister balance his running and his preparation for a medical career?
- 2How did Brasher and Chataway help Bannister during the race?
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About this biography passage for 5th Grade
“Roger Bannister and the Four-Minute Mile” is a biography reading passage about Athletic achievement, written for 5th Grade. It takes about 2 minutes to read (277 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.