The Impossible Takes a Little Longer

Many things are possible when we believe.

Roger Bannister running: Image from Wikimedia Common Public Domain.

When We Believe

The story of Roger Bannister breaking the barrier of the 4-minute mile is one of my favorites. Not because it is a running achievement though it certainly was one.

More for what it shows us about achieving our dreams.

Bannister Believed

The 4-minute mile represents those mental barriers we create for ourselves. There was nothing magical about a human running a mile in four minutes. Many had nearly done it going two seconds over four minutes prior to Bannister’s record including his running rival John Landy.

Bannister believed he could run 2 seconds faster.

While he trained he couldn’t train particularly hard because he was in medical school and his time was limited.

He knew he would have to take his chance when everything was right. The aforementioned Landy kept getting closer and closer. Bannister thought for sure the record would fall to Landy.

When Landy’s track season ended in April 1954 without the record, Bannister knew he had his window.

The Race

He selected a race held on May 6. With winds of up to twenty-five miles per hour (40 km/h) before the race, Bannister considered not running and conserving his energy to run at another meet.

As luck would have it, moments before the race, the winds stopped. Bannister decided to run.

As we all now know, Bannister made it. His time was 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

Within 46 days rival John Landy broke the 4-minute barrier with a world record time of 3 minutes 57.9 seconds.

Two months later, the two runners competed head-to-head in a race, finishing under 4 minutes with Bannister narrowly winning the race.

A year later, three runners ran sub four-minute miles in a single race.

Now Possible

It was once believed the four-minute mile was an impossible barrier. A few, like Bannister and Landy, knew better.

They believed and ultimately achieved it. Once they achieved it, others began to believe, and even more runners broke the once impossible 4-minute barrier.

Today top-level high school runners routinely break four minutes.

The impossible takes a little longer.

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🌀Reflection:

What’s impossible in your life right now?

Is there someone like Bannister in your life ‘modeling’ the possibility rather than impossibility?

What’s one small thing you could do today to move you closer to your dream?

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