LEE MERRIEN demolished the island one mile record last night on the same Iffley Road track in Oxford that Roger Bannister ran into the sporting history books 50 years ago. Merrien had a major role to play in the official commemoration of Bannister’s sub four-minute run, not only running in the B race, which he won, but being hired to be a pacemaker for the elite race won by Australian Craig Mottram in 3-56.

‘They wanted me to go through the half-mile in around 1-56 and I did it in 1-57, said a chuffed Guernseyman, who was later to meet Chris Chataway, the man who paced Bannister’s record run in 1954.

Merrien also got to meet Sebastian Coe, but sadly not Bannister himself.

‘They had a full stand and seats all down the back straight. There was probably a thousand there, it was quite busy.’

‘I was more nervous for the big race than actually I was for mine,’ he added.

Merrien’s own mile race saw him take the honours in 4-08, a personal best and four seconds inside the island record held by Keith Falla since October 1971.

It was also 8.6sec. inside the GIAAC club record that had stood to Dave Kreckeler since 1965.