Book Review for

The Perfect Mile --
Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less than Four Minutes to Achieve it
by Neal Bascomb

This book reads like a fast-paced, very engaging, adventure novel.
It is the true story of how English runner Roger Bannister broke the
 4-minute mile barrier (3:59.4) on May 6, 1954. The Australian,
John Landy, and the American from Kansas, Wes Santee, were also
trying to be the first to run under 4 minutes. In July 1954,
Bannister (3:58.8) beat Landy (3:59.6), who secretly had a gash
on his foot from stepping on a photographer's flashbulb and who
had maintained a more grueling training schedule. But
Bannister had a trade-mark finishing kick that propelled
him ahead of Landy 70 yards from the finish line.


 Return to "Reading for Pleasure" page