posted
This story has been repeated many times over the years -- primarily by motivational speakers -- and can be found all over the internet.
As the story goes, before Roger Bannister was able to run the mile under four-minutes in 1954, no less than 50 medical journals throughout the world had carried articles insisting that it was physically impossible for a human to do so. The rest of the story goes on to mention that within six weeks of Bannister's accomplishment another individual had broken the four-minute mark, and within three years sixteen other runners had, also.
The primary point of the story, of course, is to illustrate how the actions of one can motivate others to break loose from self-imposed limitations. No doubt that's a valuable lesson for all of us. But it's the 50 medical journals part of it that I'm wondering about. No one ever identifies any of these pre-1954 journals or when they appeared.
Can anyone amongst the Snopes community identify where and when even one such article appeared in a medical journal?
Posts: 1 | From: El Cajon, CA | Registered: Nov 2006
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The moral that Bannister was able to influence the others to break the 4 minutes is apocryphal. Landy et al KNEW they could do it too - it was just a question of who would do it first.
FWIW, the current world record is an astonishing 3:43.13, by Hicham El Guerrouj (MOR), 7 July 1999, Rome .
-------------------- If you don't cry it isn't love If you don't cry then you just don't feel it deep enough Posts: 238 | From: Ireland | Registered: Jan 2006
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quote:The primary point of the story, of course, is to illustrate how the actions of one can motivate others to break loose from self-imposed limitations.
I would also question that point. I'm by no means a specialist in the area, but I saw some documentary about it some years ago, and if I recall it correctly, it was not a big surprise when he did it, as there were several runners who were good enough and there was quite a race between them (and their nations...) to be the first to actually do it. It was about to happen, and even without Bannister, someone else would have done it within the same time span.
It's like saying that Charles Lindberg inspired transatlantic flights, when he was actually just one of several competitors and happened to be the one who managed to pull it off.
Edit: Damn, spanked by less than a minute because I wanted to add an example. Well, I'll add some long distance running bragging instead: The best Swedish runner in this years New York marathon and finishing at 23rd place is a coworker of mine. We should have sent a couple more. I don't know how this would make me look better, but it's worth a try.
-------------------- /Troberg Posts: 4360 | From: Borlänge, Sweden | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote: Somebody said that it couldn't be done, But he with a chuckle replied That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried. So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin On his face, and joy simply filled him. He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done, and it killed him.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that; At least no one ever has done it"; But he took off his coat and he took off his hat, And the first thing we knew he'd begun it. With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, Without any doubting, he tried, He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done, and he died.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, There are thousands to prophesy failure; There are thousands to point out to you, one by one, The dangers that wait to assail you. But just buckle in with a bit of a grin, Just think of the trouble trying to do it; Just start to sing as you walk from the thing That "cannot be done"--you'll live through it.
And
quote: If at first you don't succeed, try again. If you don't succeed then, give up. No use making a damn fool of yourself.--W.C. Fields
-------------------- "No hard feelin's and HOPpy New Year!"--Walt Kelly Hear what you're missing: ARTC podcasts! http://artcpodcast.org/ Posts: 7581 | From: Gainesville, Georgia | Registered: Jun 2000
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quote:Originally posted by remigo: FWIW, the current world record is an astonishing 3:43.13, by Hicham El Guerrouj (MOR), 7 July 1999, Rome.
What I find astonishing is that it hasn't been broken in seven years. Is that because the record is Bob-Beamon-like, or no one runs a mile in competition anymore?
Pogue
-------------------- Let's drink to the causes in your life: Your family, your friends, the union, your wife. Posts: 11325 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Nov 2000
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quote:Originally posted by remigo: FWIW, the current world record is an astonishing 3:43.13, by Hicham El Guerrouj (MOR), 7 July 1999, Rome.
I'm not impressed. The fastest sprinters run at about a 2:40 mile pace.
Nope. According to Running Times, if a world-class sprinter were able to maintain top speed for a full mile, he would cover a mile in 2:16 to 2:17.
Pogue
-------------------- Let's drink to the causes in your life: Your family, your friends, the union, your wife. Posts: 11325 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Nov 2000
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quote:Originally posted by remigo: FWIW, the current world record is an astonishing 3:43.13, by Hicham El Guerrouj (MOR), 7 July 1999, Rome.
I'm not impressed. The fastest sprinters run at about a 2:40 mile pace.
Nope. According to Running Times, if a world-class sprinter were able to maintain top speed for a full mile, he would cover a mile in 2:16 to 2:17.
Pogue
Well, that's not quite what I was talking about. They calculated that based on the top speed in mph, and my calculation was based on the fastest time in the 100m dash (9.77 sec). They ignore the fact that runners do not get a running start, and I chose not to. I guess it depends on how you look at it.
Posts: 16 | From: New York | Registered: Sep 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Pogue Mahone: According to Running Times, if a world-class sprinter were able to maintain top speed for a full mile, he would cover a mile in 2:16 to 2:17.
Pogue [/QB]
Of course, the most important word in that sentence is the "if"!
-------------------- If you don't cry it isn't love If you don't cry then you just don't feel it deep enough Posts: 238 | From: Ireland | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Exactly. No sprinter can maintain that pace for a mile.
Now, they have for decades called the 100m dash record holder "The World's Fastest Human," since he was. But a 100m specialist would run out of gas a 200m if he didn't run slower than he did in the 100m.
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posted
But the 200m world record of 19.32 seconds is less than twice the 100m record of 9.77, so surely the 200m man should be known as "The World's Fastest Human".
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posted
If you want to talk about the "World's Fastest Human", the men's world record for the 1000m long-track speed-skating is 1:07.03 - faster slightly in average speed than both the 500m and 1500m.
That average speed is 14.91 m/s, or 53.7 km/h, or 33.38 mph.
That 200m sprint record corresponds to an average speed of 37.27 km/h, or 23.16 mph.
The skater is 44% faster.
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-------------------- Heisenberg may have slept here.
I got an idea... an idea so smart my head would explode if I even began to know what I was talking about. Posts: 291 | From: Greenville, SC | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Most of it is "It Couldn't Be Done," by Edgar A. Guest, master of doggerel; however, I always thought it was far too optimistic, so I changed the concluding lines of each stanza.
ETA: the original, unimproved version:
quote:It Couldn't Be Done Edgar Guest
Somebody said that it couldn't be done, But he with a chuckle replied That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried. So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin On his face. If he worried he hid it. He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that; At least no one ever has done it"; But he took off his coat and he took off his hat, And the first thing we knew he'd begun it. With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, Without any doubting or quiddit, He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, There are thousands to prophesy failure; There are thousands to point out to you, one by one, The dangers that wait to assail you. But just buckle in with a bit of a grin, Just take off your coat and go to it; Just start to sing as you tackle the thing That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.
-------------------- "No hard feelin's and HOPpy New Year!"--Walt Kelly Hear what you're missing: ARTC podcasts! http://artcpodcast.org/ Posts: 7581 | From: Gainesville, Georgia | Registered: Jun 2000
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-------------------- Let's drink to the causes in your life: Your family, your friends, the union, your wife. Posts: 11325 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Nov 2000
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quote:Originally posted by remigo: FWIW, the current world record is an astonishing 3:43.13, by Hicham El Guerrouj (MOR), 7 July 1999, Rome.
What I find astonishing is that it hasn't been broken in seven years. Is that because the record is Bob-Beamon-like, or no one runs a mile in competition anymore?
Pogue
Any track competitions I've been to or seen have had both the 1000m and the full mile, so there should be no reason why another phenom can't shave a hundreth off.
-------------------- "To be or not to be! That is the question! Now, will you answer, dare, double dare, or take the Physical Challenge?" --Mark Summers as Hamlet Countdown: 177 days and counting... or less. My blog. 14 keyboards owed. Posts: 5584 | From: Ohio | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Brad from Georgia: Most of it is "It Couldn't Be Done," by Edgar A. Guest, master of doggerel; however, I always thought it was far too optimistic, so I changed the concluding lines of each stanza.
To further hijack this thread... I actually think you're version is better.
-------------------- Heisenberg may have slept here.
I got an idea... an idea so smart my head would explode if I even began to know what I was talking about. Posts: 291 | From: Greenville, SC | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by remigo: FWIW, the current world record is an astonishing 3:43.13, by Hicham El Guerrouj (MOR), 7 July 1999, Rome.
What I find astonishing is that it hasn't been broken in seven years. Is that because the record is Bob-Beamon-like, or no one runs a mile in competition anymore?
Pogue
It's not especially unusual for a Track + Field World Record to stand for 7 years. This isn't unique to the mile - El Guerrouj has held the world 1500m record one year longer, since 1998.
Posts: 225 | From: Adelaide, Australia | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Is "the mile" still run as a mile these days? Or is it just the "may as well call it a mile" 1600-meter. Our home track in high school had never been properly converted, so it was a quarter-mile track that they just called 400 meters. The start/finish line was the same despite an actual distance of ~ 402.336 meters. In the 1600 and 3200 meter, that's enough difference to be noticable in finishing times. No wonder no one ever seemed to set records on that track!
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posted
(This is from memory but I'm almost certain): they run a real mile on a 400m track. They start 9m back from the finish line, and they run 4 laps + 9m = 1609m = 1 mile.
Posts: 225 | From: Adelaide, Australia | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by rocksong: (This is from memory but I'm almost certain): they run a real mile on a 400m track. They start 9m back from the finish line, and they run 4 laps + 9m = 1609m = 1 mile.
Correct as stated. That's exactly what they do.
-------------------- Små hönor skall inte lägga stora ägg för då blir de slarviga i ändan Posts: 1334 | From: Sweden | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Elwood: Is "the mile" still run as a mile these days? Or is it just the "may as well call it a mile" 1600-meter. Our home track in high school had never been properly converted, so it was a quarter-mile track that they just called 400 meters. The start/finish line was the same despite an actual distance of ~ 402.336 meters. In the 1600 and 3200 meter, that's enough difference to be noticable in finishing times. No wonder no one ever seemed to set records on that track!
If you watch track meets on TV you'll notice they call the mile the "metric mile" these days. I guess this was their way of acknowledging both measurement systems plus letting people know they haven't stopped running it.
For some reason I find "the metric mile" to sound so much cooler than the plain old mile.
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Richard W
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posted
I always thought "the metric mile" was a nickname for the 1600m, as opposed to the actual mile. (eta - I was probably wrong though.)
Posts: 8725 | From: Ipswich - the UK's 9th Best Place to Sleep! | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Richard W: I always thought "the metric mile" was a nickname for the 1600m, as opposed to the actual mile. (eta - I was probably wrong though.)
You are wrong. But close, the metric mile is the 1500m.
Richard W
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
Sorry, yes - 1500m. That's what I meant; it's the one we did at school. All this talk of the "1600m" confused me.
Posts: 8725 | From: Ipswich - the UK's 9th Best Place to Sleep! | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Richard W: Sorry, yes - 1500m. That's what I meant; it's the one we did at school. All this talk of the "1600m" confused me.
I'm with you on that. 1600m? 3200m? Whaaa? I'd never even heard of them as races until this thread. Who runs them? It looks like pretty much just American colleges.
quote:In the United States (especially high schools), distance events include 800 m, 1600 3200m.
Track in field events held locally at the high school level:
100 meter dash 4x100 meter relay 110 meter high hurdles 200 meter dash 4x200 meter relay 300 meter hurdles 400 meter dash 4x400 meter relay 800 meter open 4x800 meter relay 1600 meter open 3200 meter open shot put high jump long jump discus throw pole vault
I had the best success in the 800 meter events, but I've competed in 200x4 relay and 1600 meters from time to time. As previously stated, the county track is quite old, with an asphalt surface and a quarter-mile length that has never been corrected for to my knowledge.
Also, very often no one attempts the pole vault, so anyone is willing to try and succeeds at getting over the minimum height will usually win the event. I was approached numerous times about trying it, but I figured if no one else from any school was doing it, there might be a reason.
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posted
[nitpick]The name of the sport is "track and field" not "track in field".[/nitpick]
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posted
Pick away, I really deserve it on that one. How'd that even happen? Not only was I a varsity letterman in track and field, I was looking at a website of events while typing it up!
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Joe Bentley
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
For what its worth I vaguely remember hearing a similar, probably apocryphal tale. Apparently there was once a weight lifting plateau (can't remember the exist exercise or the exact weight) that no professional power lifter had ever been able to break despite many coming incredibly close, until one day he was told he was lifting just shy of the weight, when in fact he was lifted just slightly over it.
-------------------- "Existence has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long." - Rorschach, The Watchmen Posts: 8929 | From: Norfolk, Virginia | Registered: Jun 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Joe Bentley: Apparently there was once a weight lifting plateau ... that no professional power lifter had ever been able to break despite many coming incredibly close ...
Could it possibly be because a powerlifter lacks the technique needed for weightlifting? Apart from that I can very well imagine that in any sport where you compete by lifting something heavier, running faster, throwing longer etc than everybody else there are imaginary borders that can't be passed until the first person has broken the seal and showed that it can be done.
-------------------- Små hönor skall inte lägga stora ägg för då blir de slarviga i ändan Posts: 1334 | From: Sweden | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Joe Bentley: For what its worth I vaguely remember hearing a similar, probably apocryphal tale. Apparently there was once a weight lifting plateau (can't remember the exist exercise or the exact weight) that no professional power lifter had ever been able to break despite many coming incredibly close, until one day he was told he was lifting just shy of the weight, when in fact he was lifted just slightly over it.
I was always told that it was the "3 times the bodyweight" barrier. No one had been able to lift three times their own bodyweight until the event you described. No cite, just my recollection from my Dad.
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Apart from that I can very well imagine that in any sport where you compete by lifting something heavier, running faster, throwing longer etc than everybody else there are imaginary borders that can't be passed until the first person has broken the seal and showed that it can be done.
