V 11 N. 18 Mile of the Century 1954, Photos surface in Michigan

Recently, Ned Price, who the past few years has provided us with excellent same day photos from Boston, put us in touch with Bill Stewart of Ann Arbor, MI.  Bill is the former American record holder for 40 years old Masters in the mile set in 1983 at 4 min. 11 sec.   When Bill found out I was based in Canada, he mentioned that he had a collection of memorabilia from the 1954 Empire/Commonwealth Games held in Vancouver, just across the Georgia Straight from where I live these days.  Bill sent several photos of the Mile of the Century between Roger Bannister and John Landy taken by a young American who was in the stands that day.  There are better photos of that race but these are a much more personal memento to Bill and now to me.  He also has pages of heat sheets for some of the races.  So we are also showing the sheets for the mile and that infamous marathon in which Jim Peters of England collapsed after entering the stadium with a huge lead.  You can see the mountains in on the horizon, the sunny skies and this beautiful setting on a track and stadium that no longer exists.  A statue is located in the park near where that event took place.  I think this event was one of the first coast to coast sports broadcasts of a sporting event in the western hemisphere apart from baseball's World Series.                          

    

                Heat Sheet for the Mile

I've chosen to show you each picture uncropped and then a cropped enlargement of the runners.

The photographer didn't pan with the runners, but it has the effect of showing the forward motion better with that slow shutter speed.  I didn't think I would search for a picture of the finish from another source, as we all know the outcome, so why mention it?  Okay, Bannister won.  

Bill noted that he had heard that Landy had cut the sole of his foot before the race and did not mention it to anyone before the race nor did he elect to withdraw from the race.    What happened was he was having trouble sleeping on Thursday night two days before the race and went out  barefoot on a lawn to walk a bit and stepped on a photographer's flash bulb that had been improperly discarded.  He was too much of a gentleman to bring that excuse to the table.  I will not explain what a flash bulb is as most of our readers are of a certain age and know those things.   He sought treatment that night (4:00AM Friday morning) got bandaged but not stitched.  On the Saturday morning of the race, he rose at 10:00AM, noticed the wound was still bleeding and got four stitches.  The race was at 2:30PM that afternoon.  It was in the sole, just forward of the heel where there would not be direct pressure when he ran, and years later Landy still contended that it did not impede his running that day.  (This info according to Jason Beck in his book  "The Miracle Mile") .

      2:40PM Saturday Same photo as above (enlarged)  Note Bill Baillie (NZ) ln 8  and Murray Halberg (NZ)ln 3 using a crouch start.   

          Landy (Aus) ln 1, Rich Ferguson (CAN) ln 2,  Halberg (NZ)  ln 3, Victor Milligan (N. Ire.) ln 4, Bannister (Eng) ln 5,  Ian Boyd (Eng) ln 6, David Law (Eng) ln 7, Baillie (NZ) ln 8   

440 Yards:  58.2,  Landy with a good lead, Bannister and Halberg side by side, followed by Baillie

                                       880 Yards:  1:58.3  Landy holding onto his lead, Bannister in pursuit

                                 1320 Yards:  2:58.4,   Bannister starting to close and challenge Landy

Frank McBride (red shirt)  holding a stop watch which was used to time the mile race at 3:58.8 (official), the watch appears to be 3:58.6.       Landy's time was 3:59.6  ...the hands have not moved since Bannister crossed the finish line...these guys appear to be quite

happy having just witnessed the first sub four minute mile in North American history,

and the third and fourth in all history.

In Bill Stewart's words:

"The man holding the watch is Frank McBride... he was an army lieutenant at the time.   Frank was from South Dakota  and had participated in the 1952 Olympic trials 1500m (7th 3:55.5). Soon after the picture was taken, he became the US army track coach in Germany... he then became  the track coach at Wayne State University. 

We shared an appreciation of middle distance running.  He gave me this collection knowing i would respect, protect and cherish it.

Thanks for your interest."

McBride attended and competed for South Dakota State University.  He was born in Carrollton, Ohio near Steubenville.  Died in 2019. (ed.)

The Marathon Route in East Vancouver and Burnaby

                    Marathon Line Up  Jim Peters would enter the stadium with a huge lead but collapse before the finish line.  It would be his last race.  Note Al Lawrence who would finish third in the 10,000 meters at the Melbourne Olympics two years later, then come to the US to run at U. of Houston and spend the rest of his life in that town as a coach.  Gerard Cote in the twilight of his career, a multiple winner at Boston.  Scotland's Joe McGhee would arrive 16 minutes behind Peters to win the race.  The South Africans Jack Meklar and Johan Barnard got second and third.  This finish occurred almost immediately after the mile race and milers were still in a state of recovery.  The whole crowd went from a state of euphoria to one of horror watching that scene unfold.

            In conversing with Bill Stewart, I mentioned that a lady who lives here in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island,  Diane Palmason, competed in the 220 yards as a 16 year old for Canada. She would go on to be one of the all time great Canadian Masters runners holding national records from 50 yards to 50 miles.  Bill was able to find her heat sheet in his collection.  Diane was eliminated in the semis and did not compete again for 22 years when she ran her first marathon in 1976.   See link:   Diane Palmason

             

 Here is Diane's reaction after I showed her this heat sheet.

"Wow George,

You and your Michigan friend have kept EVERYTHING.  I remember those daily programs - in a booklet, I think, which I must have jettisoned years ago.  There was a third heat, which Gerry Bemister - Canadian and BC record holder at the time - ran in.  Those Australians!  World record holder Margery Jackson-Nelson, Winsome Cripps.  To be waiting in a little below-the-stands change room with these world-ranked runners, as a 16 year old running 220 yards for only the 4th time in my life - 16 year-olds were not allowed to run SO FAR in Quebec - was a bit intimidating!

At least it is proof that I really was there in Empire Stadium during that week - including for the mile and marathon - the Landy-Bannister legendary race, and the Jim Peters' sad struggle to not quite finish the marathon.  Unforgettable.

Thanks for this.

Diane

"It would appear she and i had dinner together after the Skylon race in 1976..(it was a banquet for all the runners)".   Bill Stewart

George:   I really loved the pictures of the Landy Bannister race.   I remember Bill Stewart as he ran a lot of open races at Eastern Michigan when I coach at Hillsdale.  Joe Rogers

 George,

   Those are some really great pictures for just a guy in the stands.  NZ guys in a sprint start?  We had a 3-miler at Capital who did that to intimidate the opponents and later was NCAA Div. III coach of the year at Frostburg State.  It's a shame that stadium is no longer there because it was really a good one.  Wouldn't it be nice to return to large crowds at T&F meets when the sport was important.  They probably had other such crowds that same day for horse racing and boxing.  I remember hearing about that meet either in SI or on TV sports highlights, just having finished the fourth grade at Orville Wright School.  The research for your blog was really impressive, especially the Canadian "girl" whom you contacted about the meet.

   Bill Schnier