Josh Kerr breaks 27-year-old world record for the fastest mile

July 18, 2026, 04:41 PM

Pipe Smoker

“Great Britain's Josh Kerr shattered the 27-year-old world record for the fastest mile with a spectacular performance at the London Stadium on Saturday.

The 28-year-old, roared on by a 60,000-strong crowd at the London Diamond League meeting, ran a time of three minutes 42.66 seconds (222.66 seconds) to break Hicham El Guerrouj's long-standing mark by nearly half a second.

He had targeted a 222-second race, and he pulled it off to become the fastest British athlete in history to hold the record for the distance.

El Guerrouj set his world record of three minutes 43.13 seconds in 1999 when British record holder Kerr was only a year old.

Kerr, the 2023 world 1500m champion, announced in March that his intention was to break the Moroccan's record on home soil, and he framed a training regime which included 222-second-long recovery ice baths to help make it a reality. …”

https://mol.im/a/15987351

July 18, 2026, 05:07 PM

6guns

Having been a track and cross-country runner in high school, I'm always fascinated by hearing of records broken.

Actually, it still brings back a bit of racing anxiety as I was never very good, but always tried to be competitive.

July 18, 2026, 05:14 PM

trapper189

quote:
...the fastest British athlete in history to hold the record...

Did AI write this?

July 18, 2026, 05:59 PM

Pipe Smoker

^^^^^
No. If AI had written it the composition would’ve been better.
The Daily Mail writers aren’t as adept as AI.

July 18, 2026, 08:23 PM

P250UA5

My average, my last few runs, is 5 min/mile slower. Can't fathom running that hard.

July 18, 2026, 08:39 PM

92fstech

Yeah, that's. Crazy fast. And also incredible that the record he broke has been in place since 1999!

July 18, 2026, 08:45 PM

tatortodd

It's been an amazing 83-days for distance running AND engineering.

April 2026 (AI summary so no link):

quote:
The historic collaboration between Adidas and elite distance runners culminated in an unprecedented engineering feat designed specifically to break the fabled two-hour marathon barrier. Ahead of the race, Adidas worked closely with top-tier athletes through rigorous lab-backed experimentation and feedback loops to optimize running economy by roughly 1.6%. This partnership yielded the ultra-lightweight Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, a $500 "super shoe" weighing under 100 grams that utilizes minimal rubber traction, specialized energy rods, and advanced high-responsiveness foam to maximize kinetic efficiency.

The resulting breakthrough occurred at the 2026 London Marathon on April 26, where the technology helped crown the first men to officially complete a sanctioned 26.2-mile race in under two hours. Kenya's Sabastian Sawe shattered the world record by winning the men's race in an astonishing 1:59:30. He was closely followed by Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha, who took second place in 1:59:41 during his debut marathon, while fellow Ethiopian Tigst Assefa completed the dominant Adidas sweep by breaking the women's world record with a time of 2:15:41.

Today, Josh Kerr's world record for the fastest mile was a partnership with Brooks running. Similar to Adidas with the marathon runners, Brooks crafted custom shoes for Kerr and even engineered a "speed suit" for him to wear. It looks like one major difference is Brooks didn't create a commercial shoe from it, but will use as advertising campaign.

July 19, 2026, 12:02 AM

iron chef

quote:
Originally posted by P250UA5:
My average, my last few runs, is 5 min/mile slower. Can't fathom running that hard.

I'm more impressed by Sabastian Sawe's 1:59:30 marathon record set earlier this year. That averages out to 4:33 per mile over 26.2 miles. Most people couldn't keep that pace - even among people who consider themselves runners - for more than 1/4 mile.

July 19, 2026, 07:03 AM

ElToro

16+ MPH is wild. The sub 2 hour marathon is also painful to think about. Incredible specimens of humans.

I took a pe class in college. If you could do 1.5 miles in 12 minutes you got extra credit. I was able to do it by end of semester. 6 laps around the track in less than 2 minutes a lap doesn’t seem that hard. Especially when you see guys doing it in less than 1 minute. Till you try.