The first precisely measured running tracks were built after 1850. Foot racing had become popular in England by the 17th century, when footmen would race and their masters would wager on the result. By the 19th century pedestrianism, as it was then called, had become very popular. A professional racer named Walter George set a record of 4:11.8 in 1886 that was not broken until 1915. The mile record accelerated in the 1930s, as newsreel coverage greatly popularized the sport, making stars out of milers such as Jack Lovelock of New Zealand and Glenn Cunningham of the United States, popularized by
Jack Lovelock
Glenn Cunningham
Chariots of Fire. In the 1940s Swedes Arne Andersson and Gunder Haag lowered the record to just over four minutes (4:01.4) before racing was curtailed in the combatant countries during World War II.
