One of Britain’s greatest athletes and the world’s first four-minute miler, Sir Roger Bannister, is to officially open a new athletics track.
The eight-lane, floodlit track, is being built at Sutton Valence School, near Maidstone, at a cost of more than £800,000 as a training facility for young athletes throughout Maidstone and Medway.
It is being jointly funded by Sutton Valence School and Maidstone council.
Work got under way on the track in March and is scheduled for completion next month .
Sir Roger will give the track a final seal of approval when he officially opens it before students, staff and invited guests, on Tuesday, September 22.
The track will be one of the finest in the region and a facility local athletes have been looking forward to for 25 years, according to Paul Alcock, chairman of Maidstone and Medway Athletics Club.
The track has already been declared an official training centre for the 2012 London Olympic Games and club members will be able to train there five days a week, meeting the school’s policy to widen access to its sports facilities.
Sir Roger Bannister ran into the history books on May 6 1954, when, at the age of 25, he ran a mile in just 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.
Although the record was broken soon after – and many times since – Sir Roger’s achievement has gone down as one of the most memorable events in sporting history.
Sir Roger, who was knighted in 1975, has retained a keen interest in athletics throughout his life and has served as both chairman of the Sports Council of Great Britain and President of the International Council for Sport and Recreation.
Sutton Valence School’s incoming headmaster Bruce Grindlay said: “There has been an extraordinary amount of development at the school in the past four years and the new athletics track is the latest in a long line of investments which will benefit not only our students but the local community.
“We as a school are proud of our sporting heritage and traditions and it is a great honour for us to be able to welcome Sir Roger Bannister to officially open the new track.”
The track, floodlighting and race officials’ facilities are being constructed by Kent-based specialist AMB Sports from West Kingsdown and Polytan of Loughborough, whose clients include the Crystal Palace athletics stadium, Harrow School , Bradfield College and K2 Stadium Crawley.