... was created by Sir William Carr, son of Sir Emsley, to encourage the breaking of the four–minute mile 'barrier'. It seems to have worked, because by the time it was run for the second time Roger Bannister had succeeded in achieving that objective.
Sir William sponsored the event until 1969, when it was taken over by the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA). From 1953 until 1968 it was held at the White City Stadium, London, and for eight of the next ten years it was at Crystal Palace. Since 1979 it's been held at various stadiums around Great Britain, including Meadowbank (Edinburgh), Gateshead, and (on three occasions since 2013) the Olympic Stadium, London.
Since 1964 the winning time has been under four minutes on all but ten occasions. The fastest time to date was 3:45.96, set in 2000 by Hicham El Guerrouj of Egypt.
© Haydn Thompson 2022