FIFTY years to the day that Roger Bannister shook the sporting world with the first sub four-minute mile, Guernsey athletics stars of the present and future gathered at Foote’s Lane to commemorate the great man?s achievement. But although 17 GIAAC club bests were set on the ‘Night of Records’, one barrier that remained elusive was the four-minute mile itself.

Four of the club’s brightest prospects brought the curtain down on the evening with their own attempt at emulating Bannister’s run of 6 May, 1954.

The odds were always against the under-15 4 x 400 relay team and so it proved on a chilly evening at the end of a race programme that had seen three of the team take club records at different distances.

The team of Danny Arblaster, 13, Matt Loveridge, 14, Daniel Carre, 13 and Michael Batiste, 14, came within 3.7sec. of beating 4min.

By then end of the summer they will no doubt achieve it, but on this occasion had to settle for beating the club 4 x 400 record by the little matter of 46.4sec.

Club president Charlie Cottam described the evening as ‘a fantastic way to commemorate the first four-minute mile.

‘We had 17 new records and raised well over £500 for club funds.

‘It was shame the boys (4 x 400 team) just missed out.

‘For me the star performances came early on in the 600m races and I would pick out especially Kelly Loveridge and Michael Batiste.’

The latter took almost four seconds off the time set by Mark McKeary 11 years ago.

Meanwhile, Batiste’s good mate Matt Loveridge lowered the under-15 boys’ mile record held by Ian Carre for 13 years, by seven seconds.

In the same race Sarah Mercier finished nearly 11sec. inside Rowena Mackay’s decade-old record, while senior Debbie Doherty was fractionally outside (less than a second) the senior women’s best that has belonged to Caroline Wickham for 10 years.