Roger and me

Dear Congressman,

Since I will be leaving for England in the next few days to scatter my mothers ashes on her brother's farm near Sherborne, Dorset, I thought it would be appropriate if I blogged today about something British.

So today it is Roger Bannister, the first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes. Sir Roger managed to accomplish this feat on May 6, 1954 when you were about 5 years old. This achievement was accompanied by a very famous photograph of him crossing the finish line at Oxford University's track. However, there are a few unusual points to ponder on this photograph.


First of all, look at the gentleman kneeling to the house right/stage left of Mr. Bannister as he approaches the finish line. Looking at his pose, one would have to assume that either he has the worst toothache on the planet flaring up and is too busy massaging his gums to view this historic event or he has stepped straight out of a DeLorean (for the "Back to the Future fans) or a Tardis (for the Dr. Who devotees) because he looks to be holding a cell/mobile phone and is calling in the story to scoop everyone else there scribbling on note pads.

The more interesting individual is the one directly behind him. If you look closely you will observe that he is wielding a sword and letting out a yell at the same time. My guess is he is assisting a Japanese exchange student as his second in a seppuku ritual, as the Japanese student was failing his Medieval English literature class and did not want to return to Japan dishonored. Either that or it was part of standard 1950's English celebrations that included large amounts of alcohol followed by indiscrimitate sword swinging among large masses of people. However, this scenario tends to be very unfavorable to the health of the general public and probably would have been just as big of a headline as Sir Roger's feat.

As for Sir Roger Bannister, he went on to go to medical school and become an accomplished neurologist, which his forty year body of work in clinical research in this area he still considers a greater achievement than running fast as a young man.