Non-fiction. Takes place in the 1950s and follows these 3 guys, 1 australian, 1 american and 1 english, who are all trying to break the 4-minute mile barrier. The description of how these guys balance school, med-school, work and life with trying to achieve something athletically that no one, professional or not, has done before is pretty incredible. This one guy, Roger Bannister, is a full time med student, has his residency at a hospital, and still manages to train. There's this English ideal of the gentleman athlete to uphold, to carry on a full time job and make athletic prowess look easy. Kind of like how Roger Federer doesnt sweat, unbutton or untuck his shirt when he plays.
It's a really interesting book describing amateur athletes and the people who profit from them as well, NCAA stuff as well as the Olympics.
It struck a chord with me as a former runner and also as an ultimate player, a sport where the best in the world still have day jobs. The fact that none of these guys ever turned pro, they knew they had their window of opportunity and they put it all on the line. Pretty inspiring stuff. I highly recommend it.
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is this like chariots of fire?
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