Monday marked 59th anniversary of Bannister's sub four-minute mile

In the spirit of Hillcrest High School’s success at the state track and field meet this week in Gulf Shores, I thought it was fitting that this week also marked the 59th anniversary of one of the most remarkable events in the history of track and field.

On May 6, 1954, a 29-year-old medical student named Roger Bannister became the first person in recorded history to run a mile in less than four minutes. Prior to this, people thought that it was impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes, but Bannister proved them wrong.

Bannister, who was knighted in 1975, broke this famous track and field record at the Iffley Road Track in Oxford, England, where he was studying medicine while on a track scholarship at Oxford University. Incredibly, it’s said that Bannister only trained about 30 minutes a day, spending the rest of his time on his medical studies.

On May 6, 1954, Bannister had two friends pace him and then he sprinted the last 200 yards, crossing the one-mile mark in 3:59.4.

The current record for the fastest one-mile run is held by Morocco track star Hicham El Guerrouj, who broke the world record in 1999 with a time of 3:43.13 during a track event in Rome. The women’s record is held by Russian sprinter Svetlana Masterkova, who ran the mile in 4:12.56 in 1996. Fleet-footed ladies in the reading audience take note: No woman’s ever ran the mile in less than four minutes, so if you’re looking for a way to make a name for yourself, the opportunity’s there.

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From the weird news file this week, I saw in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! cartoon on Friday that Bolin Enterprises of Casey, Ill. used chainsaws to carve a 30-foot-high, 6,660-pound golf tee for a local country club in February. In doing so, they set the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest golf tee, which was to be erected at the Casey Country Club. The previous record-holding tee was 27 feet long.

I guess now Titleist or TaylorMade need to get with the program and construct the world’s largest golf ball to sit atop the giant golf tee at the Casey Country Club.

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As of Monday, eight teams remained in the mix for this year’s NBA title. Teams in the Conference Semi-finals included the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls, the Indiana Pacers, the New York Knicks, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Memphis Grizzlies, the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors.

I look for the Heat and the Knicks to meet in the Eastern Conference Finals, and for the Thunder and the Spurs to face off in the Western Conference Finals. Of those four teams, I expect the Heat and the Thunder to advance to the NBA Finals and for Miami to win it all.

As always, only time will tell and you’d be well advised to take these predictions for what they’re worth.