3.59.4 on 06.05.1954

Sixty years ago today, a young medical student sharpened his running spikes on a grindstone in a hospital lab, caught the train from London to Oxford, and as the wind had dropped and the condition of the cinder track seemed favourable, he decided to make an attempt to break the four minute mile. He ran the mile in 3.59.4 seconds.

With the world record for the mile now standing at 3 minutes 43.13 seconds - more than six seconds faster, one can only be conjecture as to what Sir Roger Bannister might have achieved, had he been in his prime today.

Back then, he was running on average a mere 35 miles per week, training in his 45 minute lunch break.
The timing was by handheld stopwatches.
The running track was made of cinder - a loose black gravel that is a by-product of burning coal in power stations. It is thought that a modern running track gives an advantage of 1.5 seconds per lap over cinder.
Bannister had no physiotherapist, psychologist or dietician to support him. On the day he had porridge for breakfast and a ham and cheese salad for lunch!