May 6, 2004
Four minute mile? Pretty impressive, but what about a ONE minute mile...
Today marks the 50th anniversary of Roger Bannister running the first sub-4 minute mile. However, on June 30th, 1899 (that's right, 1899), another remarkable achievement in human performance, which has largely been relegated to the dustbin of history, took place on several miles of Long Island Railroad track . Charles Murphy, an accomplished professional cyclist, drafted a train and traveled a 1 mile interval in approximately 58 seconds becoming the first man to travel a mile-a-minute under human power. Unlike the fake-ass truck drafting episode of protagonist Dave Stohler in Breaking Away, Charles Murphy is the real McCoy. I'm a bit sketchy on the details of this event, but somehow Murphy managed to have several miles of boards laid down 
between the railroad tracks for him to ride on, he convinced the L.I.R. to supply their fastest locomotive, and he had a passenger car custom fitted with extended walls and ceiling to act as a fairing. This guy must have had a pair of big ones and nerves of steel to ride at 60mph on a narrow section of wood behind a belching, raging locomotive. Forever after that magical day, Charles Murphy was referred to as Charles "Mile-a-Minute" Murphy. The New York Times had a reporter on site to witness this historic athletic feat, read the official eyewitness account for yourself.
