It’s 6pm on a rainy and windy May
6, 1954 at Iffley Road Track in Oxford.
Today is the annual competition between the Amateur Athletic Association
and Oxford University. Overwhelming seas
of people are here, to see if the mile can be broken in less than 4
minutes. The gun goes off and they
begin.
A 25 year old medical student,
Roger Bannister, is looking to break the world record set in 1945 by Sweden’s
Gunder Hagg, of 4 minutes and 1.3 seconds.
His friends, Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher paced him for the first
three-quarter mile and he was able to do that portion under 3 minutes. Bannister went on to finish the final lap in
less than one minute and history was made.
What’s so interesting about this
feat is how so many people thought that running a mile in less than four
minutes was impossible. And for good reason too… no one did it until
Roger Bannister. It’s funny how
something can be thought of as impossible, until it’s actually done. After the impossible has been achieved, the
floodgates of others doing that very same thing, opens.
A month after Bannister broke the
mile record, his record was broken by
Australian runner, John Landy. Landy ran
the mile in 3:58.8. And many others have
broken the 4 minute mile ever since.
Take a look at the video here from the British Pathe Series "A Day that Shook the World"
Take a look at the video here from the British Pathe Series "A Day that Shook the World"
What’s the lesson here? Well, when a goal is set, there’s always a
possibility to achieve it. The first step
is to believe that the goal can be achieved.
Once belief is set, the sky is the limit and the possibilities are
endless.
Check back next month for Part 3 of the dzlrunner’s Runner of Inspiration Series. We’ll talk about Abebe Bikila, the first man to win Olympic Gold while running barefoot!!
7/3/2013 - RUNNER OF INSPIRATION SERIES (ENTRY 1: TERRY HITCHCOCK)
I love watching movies… Actions, comedies, thrillers, classics, romantic comedies, dramas, horror, even documentaries. Most times it doesn’t matter what genre, I just love watching them. And the experience is even better, if the movie projects an inspirational message. A few days ago I watched a documentary entitled My Run. This movie was about a man, who handled the pain of the death of his wife by embarking on an excruciatingly hard journey, literally. A journey many of us, including myself, wouldn’t have even considered for one moment. Our first Runner of Inspiration is someone you may or may not have heard of: Terry Hitchcock.
Terry lived in Minneapolis, MN with his wife and children. His wife battled breast cancer and lost. After losing his wife, Terry decided that he would run from Minneapolis to the Olympics in Atlanta, GA. Now, this man defined selfless. Terry decided to run to bring awareness to single-parent homes. This struck a chord within me, because I come from a single-parent home.
What makes Terry even more inspirational to me is the fact that, when he embarked on this journey, he was not a very young and overly healthy man. Our youth can provide us with benefits that many times are taken for granted. And not having the healthiest of bodies makes this feat even more tremendous!! In fact according to the documentary, Terry had a heart attack a few months before his journey of over 2000 miles began!! Is that crazy or what??? I think it’s crazy… highly inspirational, but crazy all the same!!
Terry’s journey to Atlanta took 75 days and he ran an average of 31 miles a day. That’s an average of at least 75 ultra-marathons a day!! When I look at the journey of a 57 year old man, who ran a minimum of 26.2 miles every day for 75 days consecutively, I can’t help but become inspired. Terry’s journey gives me the faith and belief that I can train and run at least one marathon, right? I’m not even 30 yet, I’m healthier than I’ve been and with the good Lord’s help I know I can run one marathon!
There’s a lot more to Terry’s journey, which details how some of his family left to go back to Minneapolis after traveling with him a significant ways through; how his body began to break down and as doubt crept in, his will and desire became shaky. This is just a brief synopsis of Terry Hitchcock’s journey, but you can learn more about it in the movie My Run. It’s narrated by Billy Bob Thornton and gives a more in depth look at Terry’s journey with interviews from family and friends and even Terry, himself.
This running journey can be a tough one sometimes, but if we can find inspirations, both small and great, it can make our experience a more fulfilling one.
(If interested, you can rent the documentary for 7 days here. Or purchase the movie here.)
Check back next month for Part 2 of the dzlrunner’s Runner of Inspiration Series. We’ll talk about Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in 4 minutes!!
6/22/2013 -
A light bulb came on as I woke up this morning. I ran downstairs to my laptop and started typing, because I didn't want to forget this wonderful idea. There are times as runners, when we can get low on our drive and passion. It seems like our love for the sport fades away from time to time. But, I wanted to find a way, in which this blog could help lift up and inspire my readers during those low points... me included! I get joy out of writing and expressing myself through the written word and if someone reads some of what has been written and can lift their spirits through my words, then I've done something to help make our world a better place.
I decided to offer some of my favorite inspirational quotes and thoughts on my blog, as I record my journey to completing my first marathon. I hope that you can gain something too!
"Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right!" - Henry Ford
Over the last few days, I've been having some doubt and have been going back and forth about running the ING Miami Marathon and switching to the half marathon. I didn't want to do long training runs throughout the winter and I've been dreading how cold it would be. So, I talked to my wife about it and she just simply asked me, "why?" Frankly speaking, I didn't really have a good answer...
I think the problem is, that I have not officially registered for the race yet... I've been telling myself and others that I'm going to do it, but, I haven't really committed yet, have I? Until the money is paid, I haven't fully committed to running this race.
This quote by Henry Ford is so true. In the moments where our confidence is high or low and we either believe that we can accomplish something or we can't accomplish something, it's true. The point here is to keep the mind on positive things. Leave no room for negative things. It can be easier said than done at times, but, it is a goal to work on... just like all our other goals we work towards achieving.
With that said, I've got a 8 mile long run to finish today... Let me go and get that completed!!
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