YOU VS THE WORLD (THREAD)
Let me tell you a story about Sir Roger Bannister.
He was the first man to run a mile in under four minutes
Before Sir Roger, it was the mainstream GLOBAL belief that it was IMPOSSIBLE for the human body to sustain such speeds without breaking down ..
They thought the human body couldn’t physically go that fast – that it would literally collapse under the pressure.
Imagine going against a belief held by EVERYONE.
Everyone telling you that if you did this thing, your body would break down...
and doing it anyway.
"No-one can run a mile in less than four minutes.
It is impossible. You're crazy to even try!"
The 'experts' believed that the record could only be broken on a day with no wind, at 20 Celsius, on a hard dry clay track in front of a huge cheering crowd;
Ideal conditions.
May 6th, 1954 was no such day.
It was cold, the track was wet, and there were only 3000 people in the the Iffley Road crowd.
Bannister had rested for five days before because he’d reached his peak, both physically and psychologically.
Six men entered the race. Straight away, Bannister took the lead
Bannister began his last lap with a time of 3.07. He needed to do the last one in 59 seconds.
He flew past Chataway onto the last straight. He knew this was it.
The world stood still.