Ken Wood

As a child, Ken Wood was brought up in the shadow of Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane football ground and went on to become a member of the Sheffield United Harriers. A salesman for a local paint factory, Wood finished second to Brian Hewson in the AAA mile in 1955 and went on to win the title the following year. He won 20 successive mile and 1500m races in the summer of 1956 but could only finish ninth in the Olympic 1500m final at Melbourne. Wood was the AAA mile champion again in 1959 and was runner-up to Michel Bernard of France in 1961.

When Derek Ibbotson knocked 0.8 seconds off John Landy’s three-year-old world mile record at the White City in July 1957, Wood finished fourth in a personal best 3:59.3, the only time he officially ran a sub-four-minute mile. He did, however, claim to have been the first person to run a sub-four-minute mile, albeit unofficial as it was during a training run.

In 2004, Wood made public his mile under four minutes and recalled the event in The Independent newspaper that it was at Sheffield University’s sports ground on a Wednesday afternoon in April 1954, some 29 days before Roger Bannister’s historic run. Accompanying Wood was Welsh international middle-distance runner Peter Adams and quarter-miler John Webster. Keeping time was Sheffield University geography student “Fritz” Koerner, and Wood was timed at 3:59.2. Wood’s claim was disputed by many notable athletics statisticians, however, including Mel Watman.

Not disputed is Wood’s record in the coveted Emsley Carr Mile. He won it a record four times between 1954-61. No other man has won the race as many times; only the current world mile record holder (as at 1 January 2024) Hicham El Guerrouj has come close, with three wins. Wood’s record is put into perspective when you look at the list of some of the men who have won the race over the years: Said Aouita, Roger Bannister, Filbert Bayi, Seb Coe, Haile Gebrselassie, Kip Keino, Steve Ovett, Jim Ryun, and John Walker.

Wood married Barbara, the daughter of the former Everton and England international footballer Wally Boyes in 1968, but she died after being knocked down in a road accident at the age of 30 in 1979. He re-married in 1991 aged 61.

Personal Best: 1500 – 3:42.6 (1957).