But back to the '50s. Noakes attributes the accelerating gains in performance to the adoption of better training methods after Zatopek showed the way with interval training in the early 1950s. Added factors that might have played a role: a post-war growth in the pool of runners; the psychological component we've talked about; and Benzedrine. How influential that last factor might have been is unknown, but of course there was no testing back then, amphetamines were definitely becoming more present in the culture and their possible benefits in athletics were known.

As for Landy, despite that amazing 3:57.9, his most glorious mile might have been one in which he ran 4:04.2. It was at the 1956 Australian national championships. Here's how one of the players in the drama, the great Ron Clarke, told the tale in his autobiography:

"For two and a half laps the crowd watched enthralled. Robbie Morgan-Morris went through the first lap in 59 seconds followed closely by myself, Alec Henderson, John Plummer and the favourite [Landy]. At the half-mile Robbie was still there and the time was 2:02. I loped along behind him, anxious to finish at least among the first three runners and improve my best mile time. Soon after the third lap I took the lead and then on a bend occurred an incident that stunned everybody. … Alec came up on the inside of John. He evidently tried also to wedge his way through between me and the kerb, and in doing so accidentally clipped my heel. I lost balance and went sprawling on to the track while Alec staggered on to the verge of the arena, recovered and ran on. John had no other choice but to jump over me, his spikes lacerating my right arm as he did so. I was in such a daze that I felt no pain. Within seconds the whole field was jumping over me or running wide. Then John did a foolish, but typically thoughtful thing—he came back to say he was sorry and see if I was alright. The mile title, his bid for the world record, even the approaching Olympics… all were forgotten as the champion made his spontaneous gesture to the raw stripling floundering in the cinders."

But that's not the end of the story! As authors Peter Cochrane and Brian Hoepper wrote, "Even more amazing is that Landy did race on. He took off, caught the field in the final lap on the back straight, hauled in the front-runners and won in the remarkable time of 4:04.2."
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