England was not successful in bringing the World Cup trophy home, but if all goes to plan on Saturday, Britain could see the men’s world record in the mile broken in London.
Two-time Olympic 1500-meter medalist Josh Kerr is the sixth-fastest man all-time with a personal best of 3:45.44. The Scotland-born runner is seeking to shave two-plus seconds off that time to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:43.13 world record, set in 1999.
It is the latest in a string of high-profile record attempts within the running world, jumpstarted a decade ago with Nike’s moonshot project to break the two-hour marathon barrier (in the end, Adidas beat Nike to it earlier this year). But unlike “Breaking 2” or its sister event last year—an attempt for a woman to break the four-minute mile—Kerr’s shot at the mile world record is taking place at an annual sanctioned race on the elite professional circuit, the London Diamond League meet.
As a result, multiple stakeholders stand to benefit from Kerr’s ambition. His sponsor, Brooks Running, is providing Kerr with custom shoes and apparel, and has a marketing plan in place should the reigning Olympic silver medalist break the tape first, according to Garrett Heath, director of marketing at Brooks. But by staging his attempt within an established pro race, the field is open to his toughest competitors, including the On Running-sponsored American Yared Nuguse, whose personal mile best of 3:43.97 ranks him even faster than Kerr.
