'The Perfect Mile' 50 Years Later, Bannister-Landy Race Still Memorable The Perfect Mile May 6, 2004 -- Fifty years ago, Briton Roger Bannister ran the world's first mile under four minutes. Just six weeks later, Australian John Landy broke Bannister's record, setting up a face-off between the world's first two men to achieve that long-elusive goal. NPR's Juan Williams looks back on the Bannister-Landy matchup in an interview with Neal Bascomb, author of The Perfect Mile. In the Aug. 7, 1954, Empire Games race in Vancouver, "you have these two great runners, both of whom had broken four-minute miles, battling...