Death of Roger Bannister: ‘I drove on, impelled by a combination of fear and pride’

Roger Bannister, the first person to run a sub four-minute mile, died at the weekend. He was 88.

It was a typical British afternoon in early May: Wet, cool and blustery. Not exactly the ideal conditions for running faster than many thought humanly possible around four laps of a track.

A lanky Oxford medical student named Roger Bannister looked up at the white-and-red English flag whipping in the wind atop a nearby church and figured he would have to call off the record attempt.