Words of Wisdom: Dr. Roger Bannister
Sir Roger Bannister is an English athlete and doctor of neurology who became the first man in history to run the mile in less than four minutes on May 6, 1954. Here are some of his thoughts:
- I came from such a simple origin, without any great privilege, and I would say I also wanted to make a mark. It wasn't until I was about 15 that I appeared in a race
- 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
- I found longer races boring. I found the mile just perfect
- If there was the opportunity to climb a mountain, or to go ballooning, or some adventurous activity, I would always be keen to do it. I loved the countryside
- Life was very simple. My parents had come from the North of England, which is a fairly rugged, bleak, hard-working part of England, and so there was not the expectation of luxury
- It's a question of spreading the available energy, aerobic and anaerobic, evenly over four minutes. If you run one part too fast, you pay a price. If you run another part more slowly your overall time is slower
- May is a very early time in the year and the weather is usually bad. You cannot run a fast mile race if there is a strong wind, because it makes your running uneven
- I couldn't disappoint people. I did not want to fail and exhaust myself, because I was the kind of runner who trained so little that I couldn't race again within another 10 days
- My family actually lived in the same village for about 400 years. They had great stability until the last century. People lived and intermarried in small villages
- I lived on the top of one hill and the school was at the top of another hill. Nobody ever went to school by car-we didn't have any cars during the war. So that to and from school was itself a training
- My introduction to track racing was through the background of cross country running, which is not a sport perhaps as popular in America as it is in England
- I think that is a universal adolescent feeling, trying to find your place. The adolescent who is perfectly adjusted to his environment, I've yet to meet
- The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win
- I was always a great bundle of energy. As a child, instead of walking, I would run. And so running, which is a pain to a lot of people, was always a pleasure to me because it was so easy
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Posted by DDFD at 9/30/2009 3:23 PM 
Categories: Self Improvement, Words of Wisdom, Personal Philosophy
Tags: Self Improvement Quotes Roger Bannister Quotes Personal Philosophy
Categories: Self Improvement, Words of Wisdom, Personal Philosophy
Tags: Self Improvement Quotes Roger Bannister Quotes Personal Philosophy
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