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July 18, 2026 at 04:06 PM
Josh Kerr Breaks 27-Year-Old Mile World Record With 3:42.66 in London
Josh Kerr did exactly what he said he would do.
The 28-year-old Scot ran 3:42.66 in the mile at the Novuna London Athletics Meet on Saturday, July 18, breaking Hicham El Guerrouj's 27-year-old world record of 3:43.13, according to World Athletics. El Guerrouj set that mark in Rome in 1999, back when Kerr was one year old.
No one had ever run a mile under 3:43. Kerr just did, by nearly half a second, in front of a sold-out crowd of 60,000 at London Stadium, according to BBC Sport.
He called it back in March
Kerr didn't sneak up on this record. He announced his intention to break it four months in advance and built his entire season around the attempt, branding it "Project 222" for the 222 seconds it would take to get under 3:43, according to Runner's World.
His coach, Danny Mackey of the Brooks Beasts, confirmed the target had been set since Kerr's calf injury knocked him out of the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, BBC Sport reported. Kerr posted training footage on YouTube throughout the buildup, including a 1,200-meter time trial at 5,335 feet of elevation.
Publicly declaring a world-record attempt months out invites public failure. Kerr ran the risk anyway and backed it up.
How the race played out
Kerr had pacemakers doing the early work: training partner Brannon Kidder of the U.S. and Zan Rudolf of Slovenia. Kidder hit 400 meters in 54.75 seconds, on world-record tempo, then led through 800 meters in 1:50.63
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