In 1867, the University of Oxford built a grass track round at
Marston Road Sports Grounds. In 1948,
Roger Bannister, then a 19-year-old student at
Exeter College, was elected President of Oxford University's Athletic Club. He made it a prime aim of his presidency to replace the bumpy, uneven track with a new six-lane track. Two years later, in 1950, the new 440 yards track was refurbished and was opened by
John Lowe, the
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Since 1950, the running track has been modernised on several occasions.
The sub-four-minute mile commemorating the first sub-four-minute mile. In 1954, Bannister set himself the target of breaking the four-minute mile barrier. At the time Bannister was a 25-year-old full-time medical student at
St Mary's Hospital Medical School. He could only train for 45 minutes a day for the event. The opportunity to break the record came on 6 May 1954, when Bannister was competing in an event for the
Amateur Athletic Association against Oxford University. Six runners took part and the full placings at the event were: 1, Roger Bannister (
AAA) (world record) 2, Christopher Chataway (AAA) (4 minutes and 07.2 seconds) 3,
Tom Hulatt (AAA) (4 minutes and 16.0 seconds) 4, Alan Gordon (Oxford University) 5, George Dole (Oxford University) 6, Christopher Brasher (AAA). A third member of the Oxford University team Nigel Miller arrived as a spectator and he only realized that he was due to run when he read the programme. Efforts to borrow a running kit failed and he could not take part.
The stadium The
Taylor Report, published after the
Hillsborough Disaster, made a number of recommendations for the safety of all stadia. The capacity of the Iffley Road stadium had to be reduced to 499, as the cost of maintaining a stadium with 500 or more spectators was too high. The Roger Bannister running track is part of the Iffley Road Sports Complex, which in turn is part of Oxford University Sport. Oxford University Sport also runs the Marston Road Sports Grounds, the University Parks Sports Grounds and the University Sports Centre. ==Uses==