ON this day (March 23) in 1929, British athletics icon Sir Roger Bannister was born in the London Borough of Harrow.

During his time as a student at the University of Oxford and at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, London, Bannister won British and Empire championships in the mile run and the European title in the 1,500-metre event.

He became the first person to finish a mile run in under four minutes with a time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds in a dual meet at Oxford on May 6, 1954.

As an athlete, Bannister competed in the 1,500-metre final at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, setting a British record and finishing fourth in the final race.

After retiring from athletics in 1954, Bannister spent the next forty years practising medicine in the field of neurology.

Sir Roger specialised in understanding and treating disorders of the autonomic nervous system, which controls all the automatic functions of the body, such as heartbeat, blood pressure, and digestion.

Bannister said he was prouder of his contribution to medicine than his running career. In a 2014 interview, he said: "I'd rather be remembered for my work in neurology than my running. If you offered me the chance to make a great breakthrough in the study of the autonomic nerve system, I'd take that over the four-minute mile right away. I worked in medicine for sixty years. I ran for about eight."


 

In September 2021, a memorial stone to Sir Roger was dedicated in Westminster Abbey, close to the graves of Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Professor Stephen Hawking.

Across Cumbria, there are a wide variety of runs that people of all abilities can take part in.

Weekly Parkrun events take place across the county, as well as numerous 5 and 10k runs. The Wainwrights, one of most popular peak challenges in the UK, includes all 214 of the Lake District fells.

In today’s nostalgia section, we take a look back at Cumbrians who have taken to courses across the county for events, from charity fun runs to cross country championships. Have a look to see if there’s anyone you recognise.

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