The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It

I highly recommend "The Perfect Mile" by Neal Bascomb. I found it to be a very inspirational story about 3 heroic individuals and their pursuit to break the 4 minute mile barrier. It is a very well written story about the pursuit of human excellence through running.The book starts by giving us the background of our 3 runners: Wes Santee from the United States, John Landy from Australia and Roger Bannister from England. We also get to meet some interesting characters at this time: 2 very interesting ones are Emil Zatopek and Percy Cerutti.As the narrative unfolds, you will find yourself rooting for each individual to be the one to break the record. Each one works hard towards his goal while keeping that goal in the context of his overall life. Here is a passage from the book about Bannister's approach:"Bannister wanted to capture the four-minute mile to show how one could achieve athletic greatness without the sacrifice of everything else in life."While they each have coaches, they also need to determine what worked best for them individually. John Landy learned a lot from Percy Cerutti but then reached a point where there was no longer anything to be gained (and plenty to be lost) by continuing to follow his advice. Here is a quote from Landy: "I'm taking no more advice from anyone. I simply want to put together the best of what I've seen."As they work through their respective challenges and setbacks, we see them each continue to push to achieve their goal - while being aware that all 3 of them were trying to achieve the same thing on 3 separate continents. The competition brings out the best in each them. Each man shows incredible grit and determination to trying to break the 4 minute barrier.Roger Bannister received some key coaching advice toward the end of the pursuit and it proved to be key. His coach (Franz Stempfl) served as the last piece of the puzzle. Here is a great quote from the book:"Stampfl offered suggestions and guidance. He tried never to push too hard. From the start, he knew that Bannister needed three things if he was to run the four-minute mile: pacemakers to carry him through the first three laps; more strength in his legs; and complete belief in himself."On May 6th, Bannister broke the barrier (3:59.4). He later wrote that ""No words could be invented for such supreme happiness." On June 21st, just 46 days later, John Landy shattered Bannister's record with a time of 3:58. Our third hero, Wes Santee came very close several times but, in my view, was defeated by the only real villain in the book - the AAU.The book then showcases the head-to-head race between Bannister and Landy. The story of the race is well told and after reading it, I recommend watching the video of the race (which is available on the internet).I would like to close this book review with brief quotes from each of the runners:Landy: "Running gave me discipline and self-expression.... It has all the disappointments, frustrations, lack of success and unexpected success, which all reproduce themselves in the bigger play of life."Santee: "Hard work pays off...You have to be just as disciplined to run a business as you do to train for an athletic event."Bannister: "Sport is about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking your chances."For anyone who enjoys reading about the heroic pursuit of human excellence, I highly recommend this book (the book itself is a great achievement as well).

The book, as the title suggests, looks at three athletes looking to break the 4 minute mile barrier. All of this was well before my time, and I found all of it quite intriguing. I knew nothing about Bannister and his feats prior to reading this book. The book does a good job of giving you the stories of each runner and the obstacles they faced. The book, although non-fiction, read at a good pace as if it were fiction. Overall, I thought it was a worthwhile read, particularly if you like sports stories

Very engaging g read. Brilliant story of how the 4 min mile barrier was broken. Inspiring and motivating. Must read

A great, fun read full of suspense and drama. Learning about all of the competitors and others who helped added to the depth of the portrait of feat and times.

If you remember the film, Chariots of Fire and enjoyed it you will probably love this book. I ran track in high school and loved the story of these three men that competed to be the first to break the four mile barrier.

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, Bascomb introduces us to three runners from three different countries and backgrounds. The thing they had in common, besides physical ability and determination is that they were amateur athletes at a time when the rapid adoption of television was bringing massive sponsorship dollars into all sports and rendering "gentlemen scholars" obsolete. One runner was going to medical school - doing a residency and course work - while training. Another was running multiple events for his college while a full time student, and the third was also in college, but in Australia where track events had very little institutional support. The 1950s, when The Perfect Mile takes place, bridges the gap between the purer amateurism in the 1930s of Zamperini and today's world where "amateur" is really a technicality (although at the college level the issues raised regarding how organizers profit and the students are like serfs are unchanged).I gave The Perfect Mile four stars because it got my interest from the beginning and held it by showing what each competitor had to go through in order to run his fastest mile, without the kind of detail that gets boring. Bascomb had access to the principals, and it gives each of their story a solidity that doesn't come from collecting newspaper clippings alone.Anyone who runs will love The Perfect Mile, but it's more a cultural history than a sports biography. And of course, if you read Unbroken and want to know more about breaking the four minute barrier for the mile, you will also enjoy The Perfect Mile.

Loved this book. A must for any runner. The story and result is not new. The details and sacrifices were incredible. This book had great pacing and more to it than Bannister's legendary 4 min mile.

I read many running and sport regaled books and this is an interesting and fabulous read.

The story is very well written. You can feel yourself at that time cheering and suffering with the main characters. Also a good motivation for the ones who are going through sports, mainly running. I fully recommend it.

Um dos livros essenciais para quem ama esportes, relato incrível dessa busca pela quebra da barreira dos 4 minutos na milha

Una de las grandes historias del deporte. Una narración más que digna, que logra dotar a los protagonistas del carácter que tuvieron. Podríamos decir que ya no quedan deportistas como aquellos. Excelente