Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile while training as a full-time medical student, squeezing in workouts during his lunch break. The four-minute barrier had been called physically impossible. He broke it on a windy day in Oxford with a time of 3:59.4, and his record lasted exactly forty-six days.

This episode traces Bannister from his working-class London childhood through his disappointing 1952 Olympics, his scientific approach to training, and the race at Iffley Road that changed athletic history.

• He ran the first sub-four-minute mile on May 6, 1954, with a time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds
• He trained during lunch breaks while completing his medical degree at St Mary’s Hospital
• His record was broken just forty-six days later by Australian John Landy
• He became a distinguished neurologist after retiring from competitive running at age twenty-five