This was the wind which concerned Bannister but as the time of the race , 6pm , approached , it died down a little . “ There was a St George ’ s flag flying on the church steeple and I ’ d used this during the afternoon as a wind gauge ,” Bannister said . “ It wasn ’ t until half-an-hour before the race that I really made my mind up .”
George Dole recalled that he was part-competitor , part-spectator . “ I was living in digs and I rode a bicycle down to Iffley Road , leaned my bike against a tree and went in to change . When the race started I realised that after about a quarter of a mile that I would not be able to keep up .”
Hulatt told his own story in an interview with the Derbyshire Times .
“ Fifteen minutes before the event I heard that the attempt on the fourminute mile was off because of the wind , but about ten minutes later the wind dropped a little . Roger came up to me and said ‘ Don ’ t hang on to me and Chris ( Chataway ) – we are going all out . You run your own race .’ After the first lap , which Roger completed in 57 seconds , I was lying fourth . I knew he was too fast for me . The pace was terrific and I realised that if I was to finish the race I would have to ease off . Roger was running very easy . How he kept it up I don ’ t know . After two and three-quarter laps , Brasher , who had been pacing Roger , dropped back and I passed him . I was lying third with Chataway leading and Roger close on his heels . Gordon drew up and passed me and then I had only one thing on my mind – to beat him . About 300 yards from home I put on an extra bit of speed to regain my former position and came in to finish a comfortable third .”
Result : 1- RG Bannister 3:59.4 ; 2- CJ Chataway 4:7.4 ; 3- WT Hulatt 4:16.0 ; 4- AD Gordon ; 5- GF Dole ; 6- CW Brasher .
There was time for Bannister , Chataway and Brasher to autograph Hulatt ’ s programme and , after a meal , they began to journey home to Derbyshire . Bannister ’ s record lasted only 46 days before Landy beat it and then came the ‘ miracle mile ’ at the Empire Games in Vancouver in August 1954 when Bannister defeated Landy , each running sub-four minutes . Hulatt , representing London Polytechnic , broke the Dutch-All-Comers record when winning the 1500 metres in The Hague that month .
Eric Glover had been away on National Service at the time of the record but
he quickly picked up his friendship again with Hulatt when he returned .
“ The village was obviously proud of him but there wasn ’ t a great deal of fuss . He was just Tommy Hulatt , one of us , although we all knew what a good athlete he was . He once said to me , ‘ Eric , if I had known they were going to go for the record I ’ d have started my training a bit earlier .’ Of course , he knew he would never have caught Bannister or Chataway but I think he felt he could have made an even better showing . Later on he began running longer distances , such as the 3000 metres steeplechase and after he finished he did some coaching at Chesterfield and was employed by Derbyshire County Council as a pest control officer . He had a rare talent for rat catching and he also trained greyhounds .”
Hulatt ’ s career was the subject of deep research by Peter and Paul Stanley in their excellent book The First Four-Minute Mile and Tom Hulatt of Tibshelf ( Descartes 2003 ). Hulatt ’ s fastest recorded time for the mile was 4:12.4 in 1958 which leaves him in good company amongst his contemporaries .
Sir Roger Bannister became a neurologist of international renown and Master of Pembroke College , Oxford . Sir Christopher Chataway broke the world record for 5000 metres and was a Conservative MP and Cabinet Minister . Chris Brasher won the 3000 metres steeplechase gold medal in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and was co-founder of the London Marathon .
Tom Hulatt , who never married , lived with his sister Ann at Tibshelf . He died suddenly on 21 May 1990 , aged 59 .
On the 50th anniversary of the four-minute mile , a one-mile stretch of the Five Pits Trail , part of the old LNER line , was designed as the Tom Hulatt Mile , identified by two marker stones with inscribed plaques in coal measures sandstone donated by the National Trust .
It is a fitting tribute for a man who ran competitively against John Landy and Roger Bannister , the two greatest milers of his day .
To do the ‘ Hulatt Mile ’ park in the car park on Station Road Pilsley and follow the Five Pits Trail down to the plaque and then start running like mad and see how long it takes you .!! Ed
KEDLESTON HEATING
Monday-Friday 9.00 - 5.00 , Saturday 9.30 - 4.30
Tel : 01332 200303 kedfires @ btconnect . com • www . kedlestonheating . co . uk
34 Duffield Road , Five Lamps , Derby , DE1 3BH
CountryImagesMagazine . co . uk | 37