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What: “The Barrier Breakers”

Where: ESPN Classic, Thursday, 5 p.m.

On the 50th anniversary of Roger Bannister’s running the first sub-four-minute mile, producer Bud Greenspan profiles the English runner as well as two other individuals who broke barriers many believed to be unachievable.

The other two are Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, and Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Mt. Everest.

The show combines Greenspan’s storytelling abilities with flawless narration from Will Lyman and classic vintage footage.

The first segment deals with Ederle’s remarkable achievement in 1926. It includes seldom-seen footage of her swim and the ticker-tape parade that greeted her upon her return to the U.S. Two million people attended the parade in Manhattan, more than would attend Charles Lindbergh’s parade one year later.

Ederle, 97, was interviewed for this show shortly before she died in November.

Hillary, 83, and expedition member George Lowe are among those who recount their 1953 endeavor.

And Bannister is among those who were interviewed about what he accomplished on May 6, 1954.

-- Larry Stewart