How long does it take to read The Perfect Mile?
The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb takes about 6 hours 40 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 6 hours 40 minutes
A weekend read
First published 2004. 364 pages, about 100,100 words.
14 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 11 hours 7 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 6 hours 40 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 10 minutes |
The page count is the median across 14 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be beyond the limits of human foot speed, and in all of sport it was the elusive holy grail. But in 1952, three world-class runners set out individually to break this barrier. Rodger Bannister was a young English medical student who epitomized the ideal of the amateur, finding time to run only between his hospital rounds. John Landy was the privileged son of a genteel Australian family, who trained relentlessly in an almost spiritual attempt to shape his body to this singular task. Then there was Wes Santee, the swaggering American, a Kansas farm boy who believed he was just plain better than everybody else. Spanning three continents and defying all odds, their collective quest captivated the world and stole headlines from the Korean War, the atomic arms race, and such legendary figures as Edmund Hillary, Willie Mays, and Native Dancer. In the tradition of Seabiscuit and Chariots of Fire, Neal Bascomb delivers a breathtaking story of unlikely heroes and leaves us with a lasting portrait of the twilight years of the golden age of sport. - Back cover.
Subjects: Runners (Sports), Biography, Running, Runners, History, Athletes, biography
