Josh Kerr at the 2023 World Athletics Championship – credit, Erik van Leeuwen
Scottish runner Josh Kerr just put in the fastest mile time in human history, breaking a record that had stood for 27 years after clocking 3:42.66.
Set at the recent London Diamond League athletics meet, Kerr finished a half-second faster than the legendary Moroccan runner Hicham El Guerrouj, who ran a mile in 3:43.13 back in 1999, in Rome, when Kerr was just a toddler.
Unapologetically bold, Kerr widely publicized his intention to break the Men’s fastest mile record at the start of the year, and spent much of it in intense training.
Kerr already had the pedigree to challenge El Guerrouj. He is an Olympic silver medalist, and held the world record for fastest 1,500 meters.
On race day, he was helped to the 500 and 1,000 meter marks by pacemakers, who eventually departed and allowed the Scot to complete the final stretch alone, during which time he left American runner Yared Nuguse, himself holder of the 4th (now 5th) fastest mile time, behind with about 250 meters to go.
He flew past 1,500 meters and set a new personal best over that distance. According to World Athletics’ report from that night, Kerr crossed every checkpoint with a better time than El Guerrouj.
After crossing the line, the 28-year-old became the seventh British athlete to claim the mile record, and first since Steve Cram in 1985. His training, documented on a YouTube account, saw him among the hills and elevation of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He dubbed the camp “Project 222,” referring to two-hundred and twenty-two seconds, equating to 3 minutes and 42 seconds—the aimed-for time of his heat at the Diamond League.
While he didn’t branch out into such uncharted territory, he was overjoyed in victory, having broken one of the longest-standing records in track and field.
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“It’s very overwhelming with the amount of hype [I created]. It’s silly to call [the attempt] that early because there’s a lot of things which can go wrong, but I am surrounded by amazing people and was able to stay consistent and put the work in,” Kerr told BBC Sport with the sweat still on his brow.
“If I am to leave my mark on this sport as a British legend, following in the footsteps of the legends behind me, I have to put in those performances.”
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“Those performances take every single part of you, every single part of your team. The amount of work behind the scenes is incredible. Today it was a performance I was able to bring out—I just hoped it would be a little bit faster!”
Kerr is an inspiration, and that’s not editorializing—the blistering pace he set seemed very much to pull everyone along with him, and Marathon Handbook reported that 6 other runners set personal bests, and one runner, Germany’s Robert Farken, ran a national record of 3:46.82, finishing 4th.
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