Scottish middle-distance runner Josh Kerr became the fastest man in world history over four laps on Saturday, clocking 3:42.66 to break a world record set 27 years ago by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco.
The historic run at the London Diamond League fulfilled Kerr’s season-long Project 222 quest, so named for the number of seconds required to break 3:43.13, the standard set by El Guerrouj in 1999 at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, the site of his still-standing world record of 3:26.00 in the 1500 meters set a year prior. Prior to this race, Kerr was the sixth-fastest man in world history with a personal best of 3:45.34.
Kerr’s Brooks Beast teammate Brannon Kidder of the United States and Zan Rudolf of Slovenia paced the attempt with splits of 54.75 and 1:50.63. With a lap and a half to go, Rudolf stepped off the track and it was up to Kerr, who led American Yared Nuguse and Germany’s Robert Farken through 1200 meters in 2:46.39 with a quarter-mile split of 55.76. The final result was never in contest as the Brit powered home in a new world record. Nuguse finished a well-beaten second in 3:45.69, a season’s best.
Kerr knew he had a great chance of breaking the record coming into Saturday. “I put the work in,” he told FloTrack after the race. “I thought, on my best day, I could take a chunk out it. On my day today, I found that I could only take a half a second out of it. That’s ok. Beggars can’t choosers.”
The 28-year-old Kerr targeted this race all season as a world record attempt because of the lack of world or Olympic championships in 2026. Under the guidance of Brooks Beasts coach Danny Mackey, Kerr has developed into one of the world’s most consistent athletes in one of the sport’s most competitive events, securing 2023 World Championships gold, 2021 Olympic bronze, and 2024 Olympic silver in the 1500 meters.
Kerr has built a reputation as one of the most confident middle-distance runners in the world. On Saturday, he said he relied on the pacemakers to carry him through.
“The best analogy we worked with today was that my two pacemakers set the tone, the river,” Kerr said to FloTrack. “They set the stream and all I had to do sit in that water for as long as I could, follow it, and not fight it. I said I wasn’t on a chase today. I was flowing with the conditions that were set and I just needed to not slow down.”
Kerr raced sparingly this year, notably winning the world indoor title in the 3,000 meters at the end of March and clocking a personal best of 1:44.60 over 800 meters in May.
He documented select workouts on his YouTube channel, including an impressive 2:42.45 1,200-meter time trial at 5,335 feet of elevation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which he posted the day before his historic race in London. World-record pace for the mile is 2:46.37 for 1200 meters, or 55.45 per quarter-mile. Kerr closed the workout, which was paced by his Brooks Beast teammate and London pacemaker Brannon Kidder, in 51.88.
“What? You think I can’t run a 60 right now? A 60?” he says to the camera after finishing the workout.
Another Brooks Beast teammate and Mackey acolyte Brandon Miller notably won the 800 meters in London with a personal best and near meeting record of 1:42.19.
While the 1500 meters is the more standardized event in track and field, the mile holds unique historic significance with ties to Kerr’s British roots. British amateur runner Roger Bannister notably became the first man to break four minutes in the mile in 1954, and the world record was memorably traded several times over a 10-day span in August 1981 between British Olympic rivals Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett. Between Coe, now the president of World Athletics, running 3:49 in Oslo in July 1979 and Steve Cram clocking 3:46.32 in 1985, Brits owned the world record in the event for 14 years straight.
“It’s one of the most important track and field records of all time right now,” Kerr said to Runner’s World when he announced the record attempt in March. “I’m not trying to do this quietly, because I think it deserves more respect than that. I’m at a point in my career where I have some great medals, I’m able to show up consistently when I need to, and I have amazing coaching staff and people around me that I think we can get pretty damn close if we’re not going to be getting it. It’s time to call my shot and try and create that moment for track and field.”
Johanna Gretschel is a freelance writer and broadcaster living in Austin, Texas, who has covered elite track and field and running in all its forms. She contributes to Runner’s World, ESPN, Austin American-Statesman, FloTrack, MileSplit, Women’s Running and Podium Runner. Yes, she has run a marathon!
