NMAC would like your help in re-creating this historic event.
Would your club be able to put on a mile race for NMAC members to compete in? All you would need is a track and a short period of time to hold the event as well as a few timekeepers to record the efforts of the participants to see if they are capable of running under 4 minutes for the mile. You could even put on a race for non-masters runners such as a relay for younger athletes or parents to commemorate this significant event in athletics. If you are able to provide a venue to host a mile anniversary event, please get in contact with NMAC via the site or Facebook.
It was on the 6th May 1954 that Roger B became the first runner to break the 4 minute barrier for the mile in Oxford by recording a time of 3min 59.4 seconds. Today many good club runners may regularly run under 4 minutes if they do run a mile which has since been superseded by the 1500m. However back in those days it was very much a leap forward in athletics. Some of our members may be old enough to remember the day it happened. For those of you too young to recall, the event YouTube show the race in its entirety as shown on the BBC.