MIDDLE-DISTANCE RUNNING

in athletics (track and field), races that range in distance from 800 metres (roughly one-half mile) to 3,000 m (almost 2 miles). In international competitions, middle-distance races include the 800 m, the 1,500 m (the metric mile), and the 3,000 m (a steeplechase event for men, but a regular run for women). In English-speaking countries, until the second half of the 20th century, the 880 yards (half mile) and the mile were run as the equivalents of the 800 m and the 1,500 m. Middle-distance races are set apart from the sprint (dash) races of 200 m (about 650 feet) or less by the pacing required; dashes are run at top speed the entire length of the race, whereas middle-distance races require that the athletes maintain a plateau pace that allows for a final spurt of speed, or kick. An early favourite among middle-distance races was the mile, which in the first half of the 20th century was run in times exceeding four minutes. Breaking the four-minute barrier was considered unlikely. On May 6, 1954, however, the 25-year-old Roger Bannister of Great Britain set a record of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds in a dual meet at Oxford. With increasingly controlled climatic and surface conditions and increasingly accurate timing devices, however, the record was lowered many times thereafter.