Baloo's bugle volume 21, Number 9
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- THOUGHTFUL ITEMS FOR SCOUTERS
- The Winning Spirit
PHYSICAL FITNESS TIPSSam Houston Area Council Exercises alone won’t keep you physically fit. Good personal health care should be practiced daily.
THOUGHTFUL ITEMS FOR SCOUTERSThanks to Scouter Jim from Bountiful, Utah, who prepares this section of Baloo for us each month. You can reach him at bobwhitejonz@juno.com or through the link to write Baloo on www.usscouts.org. CD Prayer Our Father in Heaven, we ask not for the strength to defeat any opponents, but the strength to Do Our Best, and excel at those things we put our hearts and minds to. Grant us the power of a healthy body and the vision of a healthy mind to see the possibilities in our lives. Amen
The Winning SpiritScouter Jim, Bountiful, Utah 
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person on earth to run a mile under four minutes, setting a new world record for the mile at 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. The mile has long been forgotten as all races are now metric and run in meters. For the time it was an accomplishment many thought was impossible. It was thought physical impossible for a man to run a mile under four minutes. John Landy of Australia bested Roger Bannister’s record on June 21, 1954 by running the mile in 3 minutes 57.9 seconds. History barely remembers the first person to accomplish a goal and the second is mostly forgotten to time. As for John Landy, despite that amazing 3:57.9, his most glorious mile might have been one in which he ran 4:04.2. It was at the 1956 Australian national championships. Here’s how one of the players in the drama, the great Ron Clarke, told the tale in his autobiography: “For two and a half laps the crowd watched enthralled. Robbie Morgan-Morris went through the first lap in 59 seconds followed closely by myself, Alec Henderson, John Plummer and the favorite [John Landy]. At the half-mile Robbie was still there and the time was 2:02. I loped along behind him, anxious to finish at least among the first three runners and improve my best mile time. Soon after the third lap I took the lead and then on a bend occurred an incident that stunned everybody. … Alec came up on the inside of John. He evidently tried also to wedge his way through between me and the kerb [curb], and in doing so accidentally clipped my heel. I lost balance and went sprawling on to the track while Alec staggered on to the verge of the arena, recovered and ran on. John had no other choice but to jump over me, his spikes lacerating my right arm as he did so. I was in such a daze that I felt no pain. Within seconds the whole field was jumping over me or running wide. Then John did a foolish, but typically thoughtful thing—he came back to say he was sorry and see if I was alright. The mile title, his bid for the world record, even the approaching Olympics… all were forgotten as the champion made his spontaneous gesture to the raw stripling floundering in the cinders.” But that’s not the end of the story! As authors Peter Cochrane and Brian Hoepper wrote, “Even more amazing is that Landy did race on. He took off, caught the field in the final lap on the back straight, hauled in the front-runners and won in the remarkable time of 4:04.2.” On August 7, 1954 during the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, B.C., England’s Roger Bannister and Australian John Landy met for the first time in the one mile run at the newly constructed Empire Stadium. Both men had broken the four minute barrier previously that year. Bannister was the first to break the mark with a time of 3:59.4 on May 6th in Oxford, England. Subsequently, on June 21st in Turku, Finland, John Landy became the new record holder with an official time of 3:58.  The world watched eagerly as both men approached the starting blocks. As 35,000 enthusiastic fans looked on, no one knew what would take place on that historic day.
Promoted as “The Mile of the Century”, it would later be known as the “Miracle Mile”. With only 90 yards to go in one of the world’s most memorable races, John Landy glanced over his left shoulder to check his opponent’s position. At that instant Bannister streaked by him to victory in a Commonwealth record time of 3:58.8. Landy’s second place finish in 3:59.6 marked the first time the four minute mile had been broken by two men in the same race. Landy quipped that; “While Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back.” Almost every part of the mile is tactically important: you can never let down, never stop thinking, and you can be beaten at almost any point. I suppose you could say it is like life. John Landy Directory: bbugle bbugle -> Perseverance head west young man bbugle -> Baloo's bugle volume 22, Number 2 Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future bbugle -> Baloo's bugle volume 16, Number 10 "Make no small plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized." bbugle -> Baloo's bugle volume 22, Number 6 The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance Download 472.29 Kb. Share with your friends:
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