The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Ach...

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

I am a runner and I love it. (Though that hasn’t always been the case.) So I was naturally interested in this book since it’s all about runners. But there is also historical significance in learning more about this event along with what was going on in the world at the time it took place. I was fascinated by the view of amateur and professional athletics in the 1950’s, and how much athletics have changed since then. This book also introduced me to true heroes and role models of our day, and the writing is superb. The author paints pictures with words of people and events so that they come alive and are so relatable. I was just as nervous and engaged reading about the races in this book as I was while reading the Hunger Games. And when it comes down to it, this book is less about running and more about working hard with what life has given us to make something of ourselves and to contribute to the world in which we live. The 3 main running figures in the book sum it up best: John 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. It teaches you the ability to present under pressure. It teaches you the importance of being enthusiastic, dedicated, focused. All of these are trite statements, but if you actually have to go through these things as a young man, it’s very, very important.” Wes 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. You have to eat right, still have to get up early and work more than others.” Roger Bannister: “Sport is about not being wrapped up in cotton wool. 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.” All of these factors make this a book that everyone, runner or non-runner, athlete or completely lacking in coordination, should read. View all my reviews at (...) For more discussion material and for some of my favorite quotes and inspirations from the book see (...)

I did not know how the story ended, and I recommend not looking it up. Most books have a hero and villain or even a hero and anti hero. In this text we have three heroes and never figure out which to route for...and in that the author makes this story even more compelling. For those more interested in running as a sport or discipline, this book is also superb. Regardless of the current mile record, anyone serious about running performance can glean much from this text.

I am not a runner and was talking with a frined who is and mentioned that he was reading this great book about the quest to break the 4 minute mile. I figured I'd give the book a shot after reading some other very positive reviews. Wow, this book was an unbelievable read. This book reminded of the late radio personality, Paul Harvey, and his famous line "and that is the rest of the story". Certainly, I knew Roger Bannister was the first runner to break the 4 minute mile barrier, but that was about it. Bascomb gives us the rest of the story, including the fierce "race" among three men, the American Wes Santee, the Australin John Landy and the Brit Roger Bannister. These three individuals and the rest of their story makes for a fascinating story. Sure, you know how the story ultimately ends (but that didn't stopy "Titanic" from being the biggest grossing movie ever), but it is all the backdrop that makes for the compelling story. From the evolving training regimens and techniques of each of these runners, to their experiments and associations with different coaches to the conditions of the track. I am still shocked that I found a book about running the mile such a spectacular read. A great storyteller is someone who came make even the most mundane of things come to life in such vivid and an immersive way. Read this book. The story about the first 4 minute mile is much more than the answer to the trivia question: Who was the first person to break the 4 minute mile?

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.

Having read Once a Runner and Again to Carthage by John L. Parker Jr, this caught my eye. (Also as an elderly slow longish-distance runner who still remembers the head space of the long distance jog.) You don't have to be an elite athlete to appreciate the level of training, desire dedication and competition these three runners brought to the running stage at a time when running was still a truly amateur endeavor. Bascomb does an extraordinary job providing history and narrative to the quest to break the barrier of the four minute mile. A tribute to the author's journalistic expertise and skill as a storyteller.

The Perfect Mile shares a key quality with the short list of other superlative sports books* I've read: it's packed with the details that prompt knowing smiles from those who know the sport, yet it conveys lessons and inspiration far bigger that the sport. And perhaps better than any other nonfiction book I've read, Bascomb puts the story together in a way that made me race through it almost as fast as the protagonists raced around the track. So first off, The Perfect Mile was relentlessly researched, and Bascomb does an outstanding job including all the facts and context necessary to portray the three protagonists and the time period, but without slowing down the narrative with extraneous historical tangents. And the structure of rotating the chapters between the three runners keeps the suspense high and the narrative moving. I read it in a day and a half, and will make a point to seek out his other work. *My other first-tier sports books would be A Good Walk Spoiled (golf), Men at Work (baseball), Open (tennis), and Into the Void (mountain climbing).

Una storia epica, assolutamente da leggere, per chi è appassionato di sport e ama più le vicende da pioniere rispetto a quelle dei nostri giorni

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.

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.

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