1500M


The mention of sports at Bannister's reminds me of having to do the 1500m. This was four laps of the running track. Thing is, right over the other side of the track was the little dip which could be filled with water for the steeplechase. Three or four lazy sods valiantly did half a lap before hiding in the steeplechase dip while the swotty, sporty types panted their way round. On the final lap, we got out and jogged to the finish, taking care not to come in too near the front otherwise Jenkinson would have sussed it and punished us. And with that grisly old perv, who knows what that punishment might have been?
(Paul Burke 73-80)


Talk of the 1500M - A tale with a moral dilemma springs to mind.

One afternoon at the Roger Bannister centre, the whole year, which means that CJ, DJT and GM would have been involved and might remember this incident, were compelled to run the 1500M, which for us 1st years was about 1100M more than we would have been used to. Everyone had finished except for one boy called PC, who was neither academically nor sportingly gifted. In fact I think he had a pretty miserable time at Salvo. Everyone else had finished and we were all on the side of the track watching this poor kid on the home straight close to collapse. Everyone thought that Fr Louis would allow him to stop short of the finishing line as he had completed most of the race. But no, Fr Louis insisted that he finish the race unaided, which he eventually did, but promptly collapsed as soon as he had crossed the line. Even though we were just 1st years, a lot of us were pretty angry that PC had been forced to complete this race in the condition he was in. Fr Louis's explanation was that he wanted him to finish under his own steam in order to give him a sense of achievement. I have to grudgingly admit that The Snake did have a point, and as far as I'm aware the kid did not suffer any after-affects, but if things had turned out differently, then Fr Louis could have copped it.
(John T 66-71)


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