Module 7- Part 1: 1,609.344 meters, 239.4 seconds…
Benji
1,609.344 meters, 239.4 seconds…
It’s a grey, windy day at Oxford, and you’re running.
For nearly 100 years, people have tried to do what you’re about to attempt.
(And for nearly 100 years, other people have told them that it isn’t even physically possible.)
You’ve been training intensely for years, but, in order to earn your medical degree—only for an hour a day.
All of that is behind you now.
The rain and winds have died down just in time for the attempt to go forward. Today’s the day.
Frankly, it has to be.
There are approximately 3000 spectators here to urge you on—but, once the pain kicks in and your fellow runners drop off, it’s all down to you.
You set off, and your first ‘pacer’, future Olympian Chris Brasher, tucks in ahead of you.
You fly around the first lap, seeming to float on the air. The time is good so far—58 seconds.
The pace stays strong. Light. Easy.
Chris drops off after the second lap, and your second pacer, Chris Chataway, moves in to replace him.
You complete the third lap at 3:01, the crowd urging you on—realising that they might just be about to witness history unfold before them.
But if you want to do this, you’re going to have to MOVE like no one has ever done before.
With 275 yards to go, you ‘kick’ and race away from the pack, your legs eating up the ground.
From here on out, it’s all on you.
You see the finish line approach you, the clock ticking…
3 minutes 55.
You cross the tape, history sealed.
It’s a grey, windy day at Oxford, and you’re running.
The 4 Minute Mile
This race, of course, is the famous race run by Sir Roger Bannister, where the 4 minute mile was broken for the very first time. The mighty 4 minutes had stood as a physical and mental barrier to runners for decades, and this was the day that everything changed.
To me, there’s something that never gets old about watching a tinny video from the 50s showing Bannister fly around the track and do something people had only been able to dream about for decades…
…run a mile in under 4 minutes.
We were recently fortunate enough to watch Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge pull off a feat of similar proportions when he ran a marathon in under 2 hours (1:59:40).
Both times, there were people who thought it simply ‘couldn’t be done.’
And both times, they were proven wrong.
What’s perhaps most amazing about these examples is not just the feat in itself—but about what it DID.
See, even though it took decades for the 4 minute mile to be broken—just 46 days after Bannister set the record, it was beaten by Australian runner John Landy.
As of writing this, 1497 people have run a sub-4 minute mile.
All because Bannister proved that it was possible.
See, people had the physical ability for it. The biggest barrier was mental.
And while nobody has replicated Kipchoge’s marathon achievement yet—he’s done the same thing. He’s proven that it CAN be done. And that’s what it’s about.
I wanted to share this with you before we get into module 7 for a very specific reason.
I’m about to share something with you that will sound crazy.
Heck, it might even sound ‘impossible.’ at first.
But I want you to know something very important:
It’s not.
It’s very possible.
As soon as you have that firmly planted in your mind, you’re ready to move forward.