Volodalen Training Camp in the 1960s   As altitude training became increasingly de rigueur in the late 1960s, serious distance runners began to choose the high mountains for their intensive training. Before this change, there were a few popular training camps that were closer to sea level. One of the most celebrated was Percy Cerutty’s Portsea Camp in Australia. Britain developed camps at Timsbury Manor and Merthyr Mawr. Sweden had two: one outside Stockholm called Boson and one further north in Jamtland, Volodalen.

Wes Santee came so close to breaking the four-minute Mile. He had been hoping to be the first to break this tantalizing barrier. Then after Bannister ran 3:59.4 in May of 1954, the gifted Kansan hoped to be the first American to do so. Despite many attempts he was still trying in 1956 when he was banned from competition for life over expense violations.  The ban came in the Olympic year of 1956, when he was just 24. His brilliant running over the three previous years had made him a favorite for the Olympic 1,500 title in Melbourne. He had dominated American miling, winning nearly all his races by large margins and setting records galore, including a 1,500 world record. He was also very successful over 800/880, running the great Mal Whitfield to many close races and getting very close to the world record himself. But the chance of Olympic glory was denied him.