Four-minute mile event to return as annual fixture

Sir Roger Bannister managed the feat just 0.6 seconds shy of four minutes

A community race to celebrate the first four-minute mile will become an annual event, its organisers have announced.

The Bannister Community Mile was first held last year to mark 70 years since Sir Roger Bannister ran the distance in three minutes and 59.4 seconds.

More than 1,500 runners of all ages and abilities completed their own miles along Oxford's central streets in May 2024, with Olympian Ossama Meslek setting an Iffley Road track record.

Now the University of Oxford and Oxford University Cross Country Club have said the event will be repeated each year.

In total, 2,000 people participated in the first Bannister Community Mile

The 2025 run will be held on 5 May, setting off from St Aldate's and heading down Oxford's High Street to Iffley Road. Thousands are expected to join.

In the afternoon, a series of track races will feature runners of all ages and abilities.

Samuel Waite, cross county club men's captain, said: "We cannot wait to welcome some of the UK's top athletes back to Iffley Road.

"With the new track surface and a growing legacy, anticipation is high for another thrilling year of racing, where athletes may once again push the limits of human endurance."

Sir Roger (left) was awarded sportsman of the year 1954, alongside sportswoman of the year Pat Smythe

Sir Roger, who died in 2018, completed his record-breaking run on 6 May 1954 in front of a crowd of 3,000.

He described it as "the moment of a lifetime".

The medical student would later win a Commonwealth and a European Championship gold medal, before becoming a distinguished neurologist.

His son Thurstan Bannister said the community mile was "fulfilling for everyone – from the eight-year old trying it out with her mum, to the near-pro aiming to quality for international events".

"Seeing [it] providing these opportunities and expanding year on year makes my heart sing," he added.