The People Equation

CHAPTER 6

IT ONLY TAKES ONE

For thousands of years, the four-minute mile was considered an unbreakable barrier. Ancient Greek trainers had fought hard to break this barrier. They supplemented the meat- and fish-rich diet they fed their (much celebrated) athletes with lion’s milk in an attempt to build greater strength, but to no avail. The ancient trainers even resorted to having wild beasts and raging bulls chase their athletes to get them to run faster. It did not work. The ancients concluded that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible. They theorized that the human lung had inadequate capacity and that wind resistance was too great. Another theory was that attempting such a feat would actually be dangerous, that the heart would fail ...