THE FOUR-MINUTE MILE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 54, 27 November 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE FOUR-MINUTE MILE

Is It Possible? S. C. WOODERSON’S CHANCE Will S. C. Wooderson, of England, be the first man to run a four-minute mile? asks a writer in an exchange. That is the question. And it has risen to many people's lips since he reduced the world’s record for the distance to 4.6 6-10. at Hotspur Park, England, on August 28, 1937. A good manly years have passed since someone first posed the query, is a four-minute mile within the range of human running capacity? For some time, the popular reply was “No.” Then the great Finnish champion, Paavo Nurmi (whose best return was 4.10 4-10 in 1923) changed the answer to “Perhaps.” A word that was altered to something in the nature of a positive “Yes” one sun-flooded June afternoon (the sixteenth of the month, in fact) at the Palmer Stadium, Princeton, 11 years later, when Glenn Cunningham, of the U.S.A., beat his countrymen, Bill Bonthron and Gene Venzke, in 4.6 8-10, thereby clipping 8-10 off the world mark, set up by the one and only Jack Lovelock, of New Zealand, in 1933. Fast Opening Half.

Now Cunningham, when he did this, revolutionised what may be described as the time-technique of running a fast mile. The fashion used to be to reel off a steady first half, relax a trifle for the third quarter and then throw in all reserves for the last lap. But Glenn worked to a different schedule. He covered the opening half quickly as a prelude to doing a fast third quarter and a faster final one, as you can see from his times at the end of each 440 yards. They were:—Quarter. Minutes. Seconds. I''irst 1 1-8 Second J 4 Third I 1-S Fourth 59.2 You may be interested to compare those times with what Wooderson did when he beat Cunningham’s record by 2-10 on August 28. The Englishman’s intermediate returns were:— Quarter. Minutes. Seconds. First 58.6 Second 1 4 Third 1 4.6 Fourth *>*'••»

Before Cunningham’s great recordbreaking run at Princeton, Oscar Hedlund, one time a mile record-holder, and all times an enthusiastic statistician. pursued some investigation which tended to prove that a four-minute mile was physically impossible. He took the four fastest quarter-miles run in the course of all the one-mile races that had produced world’s records up to that time and added them together. Thus:—■

58 seconds in the first quarter by Norman S Taber, when he returned 4.12 6-10. Imin. 22-10 sec. in the second quarter by Jack Lovelock, when lie returned 4.7 6-10. Imin. 1 8-10 sec. in the third quarter by Cunningham when ho returned 4.9 8-10. 58 2-10 sec in the last quarter by John P. Jones when he returned 4.1 4-10.

Having done this, it seemed fair reasoning that, if a combination of the four best quarter-miles in all the record miles did not produce a four-min-ute mile, a single human could hardly be expected to produce one either.

After Glenn's great run, however, the theoretical aspect of the case looked different. His 1.1 S-10 came into calculation as the fastest third quartermile, bringing the total down to 4.0 2-10. Which is, to all intents and purposes a four-minute mile. Four different men contributed to that aggregate time of 4.0 2-10. And w e are still waiting for the exceptional athlete who can do the whole trick himself. Perhaps his name is S. C. Wooderson.

Wooderson. a city clerk of exceptionally slight build, makes a striking contrast, wjth the man whose record he has just put in the shade —the bar-rel-chested Cunningham. Glenn thunders over the cinders into the last straight with a surging display of muscular power; Wooderson skims along, witli nothing in his appearance to indicate the phenomenal reserve of strength that sends him striding ahead of his rivals in the final burst for the tape. It was away back iu .lune that Wooderson and his trainer, the old Olympic and English champion, Albert G. Hill, decided that Glenn Cunningham’s world record had been on the books long enough. They picked upon the Montspur Park track as being the fastest in the country, and a special handicap was framed so that the champion might be fully extended over the whole distance. R. H. Thomas, a former holder of the British mile record. received 10 yards start, and the •’limit” man, Wooderson’s brother, was 140 yards ahead when the gun barked. Thomas went off at. cracking pace and was eight yards ahead at the end of the first ouarter-mile. Wooderson passeil him *>on after reaching the half-way mark, whereupon Thomas dropped out. having done excellent service as pace-maker. When the bell sounded for the last lap, the recordbreaker had six runners still to pass. And he accomplished the feat with one of the most breath-taking “finishes” ever seen. In the last 300 yards he flashed by man after man and passed the last of his rivals, .1. V. Powell, within a yard or two of the winning post. An unforgettable sight. Half a Century After. The announcement of the new record was followed by a great demonstration of enthusiasm, in which Wooderson was “chaired” from the arena by excited officials, spectators and competitors. Nobody looked more delighted than that wonderful veteran, W. G. George, who, 51 years and 5 days previously, had, as a professional runner. lowered the world record for the mile to 4.12 J. George was the last Englishman to hold the record and the span of half a century was bridged as he and Wooderson warmly clasped hands.

Wooderson’s run was timed by four official watch-holders from the English Amateur Athletic Association, and, to make sure that the performance was flawless, the track was re-measured at the conclusion of the race. The surveyor entrusted with the job found it to be 21n. and a fraction short of 440 yards, making an under-measure-ment of 8 2-3 in. for the whole four laps. Fortunately such a discrepancy was anticipated and had been allowed for by Wooderson’s starting lOin. behind the usual starting-line. Wooderson’s previous best time for the mile was 4.10 8-10, a British record. He has now almost halved Iho distance between that and the four-minute mile we are all awaiting. His great ambition now is to knock off the odd ti.Gsec.