Roger Bannister

The first 4 minute miler

Getty Images

I just ran anywhere and everywhere - never because it was an end in itself, but because it was easier for me to run than to walk.

Just because they say it's impossible doesn't mean you can't do it.

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.

Doctors and scientists said breaking the four minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead.

The human spirit is indomitable. No one can ever say you must not run faster than this or jump higher than that. There will never be a time when the human spirit will not be able to better existing records.

It is a paradox to say the human body has ‘no limit’. There must be a limit to the speed at which men can run. I feel this may be around 3 minutes 30 seconds for the mile. However another paradox remains - another runner could be found to marginally improve on that time.

Sport, like all of life, is about taking your chances

We run, not because we think it’s doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves.

I trained for less than 3/4 of an hour, maybe five days a week.  I didn't have time to do more.  But it was all about quality not quantity so I didn't waste time jogging ever.

The essence of sports is that while you're doing it, nothing else matters, but after you stop, there is a place, generally not very important, where you would put it

The reason sport is attractive to many of the general public is that it's filled with reversals. What you think may happen doesn't happen. A champion is beaten, an unknown becomes a champion.

The mile has all the elements of a drama.