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For decades people did not expect the record to be broken, but sixty years on we have the privilege of looking back at the day that a daunting landmark was bested.
On May 6th 1954, Roger Bannister broke the 4 Minute Mile with a time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.
That record would be broken again less than two months later but as the first man to complete a feat hitherto considered impossible and dangerous, Bannister's name remains forever etched in the aeons of time.
Tonight we were joined by Harry Wallop of The Telegraph to tell us about the man and his achievements.
"Records are broken all the time but what is interesting is how they are becoming rarer events. Far fewer records were broken in the last decade than in the '50s, 60s and 70s. 1954 itself was a record for the number of world records that were broken. It really did open the floodgates and what was remarkable about Roger Bannister and indeed his two pacemakers was that they were all amateurs," he said.
Bannister had been a Oxford medical student and his fame came around the time when Great Britain was dealing with the aftermath of World War II and its place in the new global order.
Roger Bannister wins the one mile event at the Brittish Games. INPHO/Allsport
"Food rationing did not end until July of 1954 so Roger Bannister was technically on this ration book diet. So he couldn't have his full quota of meat. He usually had baked beans on toast after his training sessions in London when he was training as a doctor. And there was this patriotism: Could Britain be the very best at something?" said Wallop, of a time when a Briton had conquered Everest and the structure of DNA was deciphered by Cambridge academics.
Bannister had tried to break the record in 1953 but with challengers attempting to achieve the same feat across the globe, he knew his time was limited and kept tabs on his closest rivals.
Wallop explained the fascinating story of the day Bannister broke the landmark record from the details of sharpening his spikes with graphite, to the grimness of the day and the pacemaking during the race.
Joe also asked Wallop about the mental strength and personality of the 85-year-old, with The Telegraph writer revealing how Bannister had a "cold headed approach" and how he saw it as an "interlude" in his academic career.
Wallop revealed how Bannister almost retired two years before focusing on trying to break the 4 Minute Mile.
Sports psychologist and former Armagh footballer Enda McNulty also joined us to discuss belief systems and the role mentality plays in the pursuit of records.
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