The amount of specific training it takes to even run under 4:20 in the mile is insane. There is no way that a caveman, or any random person throughout history randomly ran a sub 4 mile before Bannister. I bet that the fastest mile that anyone ran before they kept records and actually raced was probably only slightly under 4:50. And by before they kept records, I mean in the 1700s and earlier.
Walter George ran a 4:12 mile (and a 4:10 mile in a handicap race) in the 1880s with very unspecific training. The training he is best known for is the 100-Up exercise which appears to be a high knee drill.
Lon Myers was the talent of that era. We know W G was a bit faster at events 1 mile and longer while L M was setting world records 100 yards to 600 yards. Of the two men, only L M proved he had 440 yard speed to be a world class miler today.
any Tarahumara man over the past millenium could have broken 4 minutes, probably thousands of them have done it. It's not even a big deal to them. They are such pure runners.
For all of you that downvoted this…the majority… the poster was being sarcastic
This was an interesting read but there are many holes in Wood’s story.
- He said that he didn’t think it was a big deal that he broke 4 minutes when he did it which was complete BS. He had to know the significance of running a world record time in training back then let alone surpass a mark once thought humanly impossible.
- He said the man holding the watch would verify his story. He probably did not realize that they could track Fitz down after 50 years and he said he never recalled a time under 4.
- He claimed Bannister dodged him in competition. I highly doubt that considering Bannister had taken on Landy and won in Vancouver when it was thought that he could not beat Landy In a non paced race.
The bottom line is that Bannister had the first verified sub 5 minute mile that they made sure would be documented prior to running it. Any number of these guys could have done that also. I don’t believe in accounts from that time period of athletes running that time in practice. It would be equivalent to someone today boasting about running a 3:42. How many of us would believe that?
To the poster claiming Haag did it that is also false. 3:43 /1500 is not equivalent to a sub 4. He was an incredible athlete and he certainly was capable and very close having held the record prior to Bannister but he didn’t despite many attempts run the first sub 4.
Many were capable and Bannister was a little lucky to get there first but they didn’t.
It is conceivable that someone ran a sub four “mile” long ago. A courier, military scout, footman, or pedestrian likely ran from one village to another. The respective villages were known to be a mile apart according to maps or surveys of the time (likely 1400-1500 meters if measured with modern equipment). On a day with a strong tailwind and a 100 foot drop on the road between the two villages, this man covered the “mile” in an amazingly swift time of just over 3 and 7/8 minutes timed by a horse rider that was alongside. This achievement became part of the local lore and was largely forgotten until someone found an old newspaper or diary much later.
Was a true sub four possible? Yes. Did an accurately measured, flat sub four mile happen? Likely, not.
Watches weren't that accurate up until the invention of the stopwatch in the 1820s, and even then, those stopwatches were rare expensive pieces for the rich, not for couriers.
So in addition to poorly measured distances between towns, unknown measurement points (are there marker posts in the ground? Is it from town border, which changes? Town square or what?), not to mention who's doing the actual timing (the courier? And why?) yeah sure, easily someone ran 1400 yards in "3:59.9" which is maybe a 430 mile. btw Europe never got into meters till mid 1800s, except for France in 1795.
The mile race started in earnest in mid 1800s, with dedicated training the record in the UK started at 428, so i can't see a seldom trained person going sub 4 on a flat accurately measured course before then, especially without any incentive. Games like soccer weren't mainstream until mid 1800s as well, so not too many activities before then to get someone unintentionally trained up.
So in addition to poorly measured distances between towns, unknown measurement points (are there marker posts in the ground? Is it from town border, which changes? Town square or what?), not to mention who's doing the actual timing (the courier? And why?) yeah sure, easily someone ran 1400 yards in "3:59.9" which is maybe a 430 mile. btw Europe never got into meters till mid 1800s, except for France in 1795.
Many roads in the US are and were set up in 1-mile section grids as part of the public lands survey system The distance would have been correct.
Read the book "the perfect mile" which tells the story of John Landy, Wes Santee and Banister trying to break the barrier all at the same time. They were the best of the world, training harder and smarter than anybody at the time. All the men were stuck at 4:01- 4:03 for years. There is no possible way anybody in history trained as dilligently and intelligently as those men at any point before the mid 20th century.