70 YEARS SINCE BANNISTER'S RECORD BECKONS

Athletics programme 6 May 1954, with race results noted in pen

70 YEARS SINCE BANNISTER'S RECORD BECKONS

A poem by an eye-witness to the sub-four-minute mile, Roger Shakeshaft

Published: 2 May 2024

Author: Roger Shakeshaft

 

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FOUR MINUTE MILE

Cross, at Oxford, Magdalen Bridge then cycle round,

To reach, tucked in the river Cherwell’s basin,

The, now fabled, Iffley Road Athletic Ground.

Here, a year on from Everest and her Coronation,

Three Achilles meet to plan and carve their notch.

One of them will run four circuits of the track

Against the second hand’s four circuits of a watch.

Is it on? The wind is strong; let’s wait a sec.

Saint George’s flag is dipped to start the race.

Three laps on time, then Bannister’s let free;

The second hand is breathing down his neck;

The tape, the wait and then McWhirter’s “three”.

Fated, we thank the gods for Iffley Meadow,

And I can claim: “Et in arcadia ego”.

©Roger Shakeshaft

Revised Jan 2024.

Roger Shakeshaft (Lincoln, 1953) will be attending the celebrations in Oxford to mark the 70th Anniversary of the sub-four-minute mile run by Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954, and this marks the first of a mini-series of reflections by Roger in the lead-up to actual day.