Englishman Roger Bannister was the first
man to break the four minute mile. For years it had been said by coaches,
runners and sportswriters that is was impossible. No man can run that
fast. It had been tried many times and was no longer considered a valid goal. Nine
years since the last record for a mile was set at 4 minutes 1.4 seconds, it was
thought if no one had broken it in nine years it would not be done.
Roger Bannister did the
impossible on May 6, 1954. His triumph inspired others and in the next fifteen
years over 300 runners ran a mile in less than 4 minutes. Roger had opened the door.
Roger Banister went on
to become a distinguished neurologist earning an honorary doctorate from the
University of Bath. He became Sir Roger Bannister when knighted in 1975. In
2004 on the 50th Anniversary of his 4 minute mile, a British 50 Pence
coin was minted in honor of the event. His record was noted by the British
people as 13th in the top 100 World’s Greatest Sporting Events. One race, one
record brought Sir Roger all the fame and glory for a life time. The win made the
difference but the many unknown number of prior attempts and failures were the
secret to his success.
The late Thomas J.
Watson, Chairman of IBM said, "Would you like me to give you a formula for
success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You're
thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all... You can be
discouraged by failure - or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make
mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that's where you'll find success,
on the far side." I am looking forward to seeing you on the far side.
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