German
English
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There were officials in bowler hats and suits, young men in cricket sweaters
and cream blazers with a gold trim. They wore college scarves and old club
ties. People crowded the fringes of the six-lane running track with its small
stand close to the home straight. Dark clouds hung around threatening rain. And
in the background, visible above hedges and houses beyond the final bend, was
the square tower of a church where a St Georges flag fluttered in the breeze.
At six oclock, a gun fired and a group of young men set off to run a mile in
less in than four minutes. One of them did it.