Title/Author:
“The
Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less than Four Minutes to Achieve
It” by Neal Bascomb
Tags:
Track and
Field, running, mile, records, history
Published:
April 6,
2005
Length:
336 pages
Rating:
4 of 5
stars (very good)
Review
Sports
records can generate a lot of buzz – whether it is a seemingly unattainable
mark, a star athlete is threatening a record, or if it is set at a famous
venue, these events not only leave their mark in history, but may also have a
very interesting story. Such is the
case for May 6, 1954 when Englishman Roger Bannister became the first man to
run one mile in less than four minutes.
The barrier was seemingly never going to be broken until Bannister did
so with the help of other runners who helped set his pace.
Santee,
however, could not compete in this race because of his commitment to the US Marines. His story was the most heartbreaking of the
three, especially in Bascomb’s account of how Santee felt he could beat both of
them by running a certain style of race.
This was illustrated by Santee thinking of this strategy while watching
the race in the studio and providing commentary. Santee’s rise to elite miler status and his
subsequent events did make me think of a promising career derailed by
circumstances that were mostly out of his control.
Landy’s story is also interesting, especially those with his coach involved and his single-minded determination to break this record. Bannister’s story is the most well known of the three, especially that of the training leading up to the race as it was limited due to his medical studies. He did complete them as well, becoming a doctor soon after the “Perfect Mile” race.
This book
reads much like a mile run – slower at first, getting the reader accustomed to
the three athletes and setting the pace.
Then when Bannister takes his starting position in what would be the run
that makes history, the book is a blur, just like the last lap for each of
these runners – a fast paced story that the reader will have a hard time
putting down.
Did I skim?
No
Did I learn anything new?
Yes. While I have read about Bannister’s race with
pacers to break the four minute barrier before, I learned more about the man
and the “Perfect Mile” race against Landy.
I had never heard of Santee before reading this book and very little about
Landy, so learning their stories was also interesting.
Pace of the book:
As
mentioned in the review, I felt the beginning was slow and I had trouble
keeping track of the stories of the three runners. But by the time Bannister was in the blocks
for his record setting mile, the book took off from there and was a fast read.
Positives:
Two aspects struck me as outstanding in this
book. One was the recap of Bannister’s
record setting race and his interaction with each of the pacers. The detail in which these were written was
excellent. I felt like I was running alongside
them on the track during these passages.
Some of
the prose in this book was also outstanding.
Here is an example – my favorite passage in the book and it came early. It was a description of Bannister’s running
style: “Bannister had terrific grace, a terrific long stride, he seemed to ooze
power. It was as if the Greeks had come back and brought to show you what the
true Olympic runner was like.”
Negatives:
While the
detail in the research will help the reader understand the lives and thoughts
of the three athletes, at times I felt those dragged down the book and made it
a tougher read. That was more than made
up, however, in the last half of the book, when the competition and description
of the famous races are excellent.
There was
one odd editing problem with the Nook edition.
Every time the word “often” was used, there was a period in front of the
word. It would .often drive me crazy,
especially when the sentence began with “.Often.”
Do I recommend?
Yes, for
people who enjoy reading about sports history. This book covers not only the
historical race well, but many running events of the 1950’s well. A touch of historical context also should
attract readers who may not be sports fans. Ebook (Nook)
Author Media Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Neal-Bascomb/e/B001IU2RRA/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Buying links:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perfect-mile-neal-bascomb/1102805039?ean=9780547525068
I saw the race as a young kid. It was really big news then. It was as if he went to the moon.
ReplyDeleteThat would have been great to see. Guess we have to "settle" for Usain Bolt now.
ReplyDelete