The Shot That Made History
There were 35,000 people jammed into the Empire Stadium on August 7, 1954. It was the British Empire Games and they were watching The Miracle Mile. VPD Sergeant Howard “Cookie” Ryan, a veteran officer, raised a gun and signaled the start of the race that would go down in history.
Miracle Mile’s starter gun shell donated to Sports Hall
On August 7, 1954, 35,000 people jammed into the Empire Stadium to watch, what would be called The Miracle Mile, during the British Empire Games.
“At 2:30, the stands hushed as the runners took their marks” said Erwin Swangard in a Vancouver Sun story. Sergeant Howard Cook “Cookie” Ryan, veteran Vancouver Police officer had one of the best viewpoints for the race “” he started it. He raised the gun. “There was total silence. The gun barked. The field broke perfectly.”
Ryan was proud of his association with the famous race: England’s Roger Bannister bested his Australian rival, John Landy. Cookie kept the shell casing from that starter round, which was in his family ever since. In 2019, his son Mike donated it to the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
“I’ve had this in my bedroom for years,” said Mike Ryan.”It was a physical element that keeps me connected to my dad (who died in 1974). I recently turned 51 and overwhelmed with the feeling that I was being selfish, I let it go to share it. ‘Donated by the family of Howard Cook Ryan,’ his name in this place would make him pretty proud.”
It’s one of the most unusual, and coolest, artifacts of the Empire Games. But whether it held a real bullet or, more likely, a blank, nobody seemed to know. “At that time the starting guns were basically real pistols,” said Hall of Fame’s Jason Beck. “You can imagine, 35,000 people were in the stadium that day “¦ (if it’s real and) he aims it straight up and the bullet comes down, someone’s going to get hit.”
Cookie Ryan served with the Vancouver Police from 1938 until 1972 and was an athlete in his younger years including running and basketball.
Ryan was good friends with Jack Harrison, a top sprinter and fellow policeman, nicknamed “the flying cop.” Harrison recruited policemen to volunteer at the Games, but had a hard time convincing Ryan.
“Finally, my dad said “˜OK, I’ll do it, but only if I get to choose the races’. Jack was elated because his buddy was going to do it, but then my dad picked the mile.”
“Everybody knew leading up to it that this was a big race. Jack was pretty funny (discussing it years later), “˜Aw, son of a bitch!'”
Michael Ryan was only six when his dad died, and wasn’t around when the Miracle Mile was run. But a few years ago, somebody gave him a CBC documentary of the race.
“The crazy thing was you can totally see him, because of the way he stands.”
Information sourced from the online post of jmackie@postmedia.com
Miracle Mile photo credits – Bill Dennett/Vancouver Sun
Photos with Mike Ryan – Nick Procaylo/PNG
Vancouver Police photos of Cookie Ryan