Yesterday, Josh Kerr broke the world record in the mile, running 3:42.66. The former record was held by Hicham El Guerrouj at 3:43.13, set in 1999. It wasn’t considered unbreakable, but was extremely well regarded and has survived attacks from many great runners over the last 27 years.
The Build Up
To begin 2026, Kerr made it known he was specifically targeting this record. He’s been one of the best 1500m runners of the last few years and with a 3:27 1500m PB, it wasn’t that far-fetched.
His sponsor, Brooks, helped with a marketing campaign, declaring it Project 222 (3:42 is 222 seconds), creating a shoe specific for his foot, a custom speed suit, and all the bells and whistles you’d want for an attempt like this.
This was bold. Most runners train and prior to a given meet say they’ll give it a shot. To single out months in advance “this is the race I’m going to break the world record” is pretty ballsy.
The Race
The race was perfectly executed. Splits were spot on due to Wavelight, rabbit’s took Kerr (and Nuguse) to 1000m, and he took it from there. No notes.
A Tough One for the Haters
The main thing haters point out is advancements in technology since 1999. The shoes, Wavelight, bicarb, etc. combine to make this 3:42.66 not as impressive as El G’s 3:43.13. Or “El G would’ve run 3:41 with today’s tech!“. These are legitimate points, and you may recall I wrote a very critical post about the sub-2 hour marathon.
The difference between this and the marathon is the shoes are NOT having the same impact for the middle distances. Marathon times are coming down across the board for everyone in previously unthinkable ways. The 1500 and mile (and even 800m), though seeing general improvements, are not having the record books rewritten every year. To me, this being broken feels more.. noteworthy.
And Kerr deserves all the credit. I’ve always been lukewarm on him but he’s showed up huge in a few really important races and is now clearly in the conversion for best miler of this generation with Jakob.
The 1500m
The obvious next target is the 1500m record. 3:26.00 has long been considered stronger than the mile record and the 1500m is run much more frequently. The only 3:26s since El G have been Kiprop and Jakob despite thousands of tries. The mile is an awesome accomplishment and was done in very impressive fashion, but if you want to be considered truly the greatest, you have to get the 1500m record. Based on this performance, it’s within reach.
El Guerrouj
It’s worth revisiting how insanely dominant he was. Four straight World Champ golds, an Olympic gold and silver, and still owns 6 of the top 10 fastest 1500ms ever run, all done 25+ years ago. Even if Kerr (or anyone else) were to run 3:25.xx, they’d have a ways to go before surpassing him. It’s worth mentioning that he was probably on PEDs, but similar to Bolt, what can you do.
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