Reddit reviews The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It
We found 3 Reddit comments about The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Mariner Books
I'm going to recommend The Perfect Mile as well. I have non-runner friends who've read that and loved it. It goes more into how Wes Santee (American) and John Landy (Australian) were all battling for 4 minutes at the same time, and also how Santee got kind of screwed out of a chance by the AAU while Landy and Bannister entered this race.
I haven't read it yet, full disclosure, but it's next on my list as I've heard nothing but good things.
Edit: Also, I think there's some interesting parallels between the 4 minute mile and the 2 hour marathon. Both seemed impossible, even for the athletes in the sport, and both are such arbitrary time limits, but still, wouldn't you love to see someone break it!?
I very much enjoyed "The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It" by Neil Bascomb. It's about Bannister and his two contemporaries as they tried to break the four-minute mile. Surprisingly riveting stuff, and an interesting insight into the training of the times.
Pizza is also great. I ate a whole pizza for breakfast today. Highly recommend.
Not a documentary, but inspirational nonetheless: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457350/
And this is a great book about it (the 4 minute mile): http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Mile-Athletes-Minutes-Achieve/dp/0618562095/ref=pd_sim_b_1