Thursday, May 6, 1954.
I was 10 years old at the time.
The radio still dominated most the country. In fact, less than 40% of the homes had a television across America.
Maine’s first TV stations started in late 1952 through mid-1953-54, in three of its largest cities: Portland, Lewiston and Bangor.
It wasn’t until after school let out – 3:15 in those days – that I first heard the news of a British pre-med student named Roger Bannister, running on a cider track at Oxford University earlier in the day, local time, had set a world record for running the mile.
Bannister had done something that had NEVER be done before by a human. He had run the mile under 4:00.
3:59.4 to be exact.
Cold day. Slightly breezy. Overcast, except in the heart of one Roger Bannister. Such was Oxford, England.
Bannister running in a pair of worn spiked shoes, and on a very poorly cider-surface track, before less than 3,000 spectators, changed the sport of running forever, made it professional – with thousands of runners, and coaches, getting paid under the table for years – which is a story with demons and devils for another time.
The shoes that Bannister ran in on May 6, 1954, sixty-one years ago today, probably cost less than $4.50. A quality running / training shoe today costs at a minimum, $225.
Lobster on the Prairie 