You know something special has happened in athletics when the likes of Elon Musk and Garry Kasparov start popping up to sing its praises. They may not understand a whole lot about what it takes to run a mile in three minutes and 42.66 seconds, but they clearly recognise Josh Kerr produced something rare and exceptional in London last Saturday afternoon.Veteran athletics commentator Tim Hutchings also recognised it straight away when describing Kerr’s performance as “the ballsiest world record in the history of middle-distance racing”. That was just moments after Kerr crossed the line to finally eclipse the previous world record mark of 3:43.13 that had stood to Hicham El Guerrouj for the last 27 years – and the “ballsiest” part is no exaggeration either.Because rarely if ever has any world record been broken with such advance notice. Kerr first declared his intentions almost nine months ago, then pinpointed the Diamond League meeting in London, inside the 2012 Olympic stadium in front of 60,000 people, on Saturday, July 18th, as the exact place where he was going to break it.Afterwards Musk took to his own X platform to repost to his 241 million followers a BBC video clip of Kerr sprinting down the home stretch, entirely alone, using just one word: “Wow”.Kasparov, a man of many talents, also reposted a video clip by Ned Ryun, son of former US mile world record holder Jim, under the caption: “Incredible! And not to stir up any more passions after the World Cup, but a Scot is now holding Sir Roger Bannister’s hallowed record!”The Wall Street Journal, not often impressed by any sporting feat, were in on the act too, writing up a detailed report this week under the headline: Inside One Scotsman’s Monastic Quest to Break the Mile World Record.Given the 27-year longevity of El Guerrouj’s previous mark – more than three times longer than any mile world record in the modern era – this was indeed an extraordinary feat of human endeavour. By any sporting standards. Most top sportspeople also know all about the perils of declaring any such great intentions in advance. Even in the professional boxing arena, when it’s expected of them. For better or for worse it often comes back to slap them in the face.Kerr’s unreserved declaration that he was going to break the world mile record also came not long after one of the lowest points in his career. At the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September, he hobbled home in last place in the 1,500m final. The Olympic silver medallist from the year before, and 2023 world champion at the distance, had picked up a calf-muscle injury in his semi-final, his final time of 4:11.23 equating to a 4:31 mile.Josh Kerr ran at an average speed of 16.2 miles per hour, which is beyond the limits of most professional treadmills. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images At that point, 3:42.66 must have felt like a very long way off. Instead, once Kerr got back training in November, he first pitched the idea to his sponsors Brooks and his long-time coach Danny Mackey, and together they came up with Kerr’s self-branded Project 222 – the number of seconds that go into running a 3:42 mile.In March, after winning the 3,000m at the World Indoor Championships, Kerr went public with his record-breaking aspirations, more or less telling anyone willing to listen that he was going to take down the 3:43.13 that El Guerrouj ran in 1999, two years before Kerr was born. But was this simply the limits of human performance?[ The great running rivalry between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh KerrOpens in new window ]“This is my shot, this is my time,” Kerr told Matt Lawton in The Sunday Times on March 28th. “I put my goal slap on the wall and look at it every day. I needed a number and it’s 222. I know that if I’m playing around the 3:43s, I’m in a bit of trouble. If I’m playing in the 3:42s, I’m in the promised land.“And I’m coming out and talking about it because it’s important. It’s important to the sport to show what moments you’re going after. I’m sure it would be easier for some people to not come out and say it, to sneak their way around. It’s just not who I am, and it is not the way that I like to do the sport.”Kerr didn’t stop there: he’d also been rigorously documenting his build-up at his altitude training base in Albuquerque, posting a series of videos on his personal YouTube channel. Kerr simplified the task to running repeat 55-seconds for 400m, not too unlike what Bannister had done 72 years ago, when trying to run repeat 60-seconds, with a final surge at the end to ensure he ran sub-four.Kerr’s splits certainly came close: paced by his Brooks team-mate Brannon Kidder, he ran 55.22 for his first 400m, 55.84 for his second, 55.33 for his third, then a final 409m split of 56.27. He also ran at an average speed of 16.2 miles per hour, which is beyond the limits of most professional treadmills.Josh Kerr poses next to his world record time after winning the men’s one mile event at the Diamond League event in London last weekend. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images With all that Kerr has also changed the speed dial for milers everywhere. Britain’s Archie Davis ran a lifetime best of 3:51.09 and finished 10th and last, a time which would have won him many a big mile race until quite recently.Four-time Irish 1,500m champion Cathal Doyle, chasing a record-equalling fifth title at the National Championships in Santry this weekend, was also watching the race in his girlfriend’s house in Co Clare last Saturday, and initially wasn’t sure what to think.[ Mick ‘The Iron Man’ Murphy: One of the most intriguing champions in all Irish sportOpens in new window ]“And as someone said to me, ‘is that motivating or demoralising?’ Then I thought, ‘oh shit I did run 10 seconds slower than that at Morton Games last week’. So yeah, it’s fairly crazy to be honest. I didn’t think he’d do it until I saw his 1,200m split, and thought ‘ah, he will do it now’. Quite nuts, to be fair.“But then everyone in the race ran fast. It was one of those days, 10 or 12 on the line, and you just hold on. It’s constantly evolving so you just have to keep up, keep the foot down, or you will get left behind.”Which perhaps can be motivating and demoralising in equal measure, no matter what your mile running pace is these days.