Four-Minute Mile 70th Anniversary Festivities organised with help from St Cross MPhil

Jared Martin, Modern Middle Eastern Studies MPhil at St Cross is actively involved in organising events being held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Sir Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile, on Bank Holiday Monday 6 May 2024. 

A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1.6 km) in four minutes or less. It translates to a speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) and is a standard of professional middle distance runners in several cultures. The first four-minute mile was achieved in 1954 by the English athlete Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4 at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track. The mile record has since been lowered by 16 seconds. As of June 2022, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,755 athletes. The record for the fastest time stands at 3:43.13, achieved by the Moroccan athlete Hicham El Guerrouj, at age 24, in 1999. 

MPhil Jared is mainly involved with the communications for the Bannister Miles celebrations. This involves drafting a university press release and an article for its alumni magazine, as well as contacting national journalists, and emailing a wide variety of running clubs, colleges, departments, and universities to spread awareness about the events. His other main role has been organising a celebratory garden party and screening of the film Bannister: Everest on the Track at TS Eliot Theatre in Merton College on Sunday 5 May. 

Jared studied Bachelor of Arts - BA, History and Politics at Merton College and is currently pursuing Master of Philosophy in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at St Cross. Jared was the University's Cross Country Captain for 2023-4 and a member of its Blues team. He participated in the Blues Varsity match against Cambridge in December and came 8th (4th Oxford). He was also 12th in the British University Cross Country Championships in February (short course).

St Cross College students and staff are encouraged to join the Community Mile. A group has been set up by Jared on the Community Mile entry page, allowing participants to run together under the name 'St Cross College' with the password 'STX1965'. Organizers are also offering a 20% discount on entry fees for students who use the code STUDENT20 at checkout. 

Well done Jared and best of luck to everyone participating in the run!