Sir Roger Bannister died yesterday, aged 88. The first person in history to run a mile in under four minutes, he then enjoyed an illustrious career in medicine and was Master of Pembroke College, Oxford. But at my school, “Bannister” meant the Roger Bannister Sports Centre in Harrow, named after him because he was a local lad. We went there for “games” and didn’t take it terribly seriously. Rugby entailed passing the ball to an unfortunate kid called Hodgkins, then jumping on his head. The 1500m meant sauntering round to the steeplechase dip on the far side of the track and hiding there unseen before leaping out for the final half-lap. Frank Waites would even produce ten Embassy Regal. As the more earnest boys went panting round the track, this is what we’d sing to them. So is it any wonder that we’ve never had a sports centre named after us?
Bannister.
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