EXCLUSIVE: The flying Scot tells how 'Project 222' - the number of seconds required to break the world mile record that had stood for 27 years - meant every aspect of his life was tailored to a specific day12:47, 25 Jul 2026Updated 12:48, 25 Jul 2026Josh Kerr celebrates Olympic silver medal with first drink since ChristmasThe term 'Man on a Mission' could have been coined for the all-conquering King of the Track Josh Kerr. The 28-year-old Scot set his goal to break the world mile record eight months in advance. "Project 222" - the number of seconds required to break a record that had stood for 27 years - meant every aspect of his life was tailored to the specific day and event when he would line up to run faster over the distance than any man in history. That he smashed the record with almost half a second to spare, running three minutes and 42.66 seconds, is testament to his superhuman dedication and determination.‌‌His place in history inevitably led to comparisons with the late Sir Roger Bannister, the distinguished British medic who became the first man to run the mile in under four minutes in 1954. In many ways the two men could not be more different.‌Bannister had completed a shift as a junior doctor at a London hospital before getting a train, having lunch with Chris Chataway and pacemaker Chris Brasher before taking to the track.He freely admitted that he would have given up athletics altogether if he had won an Olympic Gold medal at the Helsinki 1952 games. He was criticised for training 'away from the spotlight' because he was so nervous in competition. What the two men shared was a steely determination to push themselves to the absolute limits of human endurance. Kerr's preparations included taking ice baths lasting exactly three minutes and 42 seconds, matching his new mile time.He would go to bed at 8:30 p.m. in an oxygen-boosting altitude chamber at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.‌Albuquerque is around 5,250 ft above sea level. Kerr's altitude chamber gives him another 3,000 ft. The former 1500m world champion and double Olympic medallist ate spinach with almost every meal.He fasted for 16 to 18 hours, starting around 6:30pm on a Tuesday until around 12:30pm the next day. And some of his methods were just bizarre. He would also take sodium bicarbonate, otherwise known as baking soda, before every race, which experts say delays muscle fatigue. Now he has turned his attention to the Commonwealth Games and the same mile event in his home country on Saturday. Few would bet against him. Kerr said that the "darkest" aspects of his life came not in training, but in the time away from his loved ones due to the sacrifices he makes.‌He is married to Larimar Rodriguez, whom he met on his first day at university and who now works as a dermatologist at a hospital in Albuquerque. He was just 17. They have a 'relaxed' home life, but Kerr admits his dedication comes at a cost.“Most of the dark places don't happen on the track for me," he said as he prepared for the Games which opened on Thursday in Glasgow. "Those are the most fun times that I have. "You know, the hard sessions are kind of where I live. I take pride that I can push and manipulate my body to get ready to go. It's mostly the time off the track, the other 23 hours of the day, living that boring lifestyle, that are the hardest. But they allow me to turn up and do my job as well as I can during that one or two hours that I'm specifically training. "So those are the quiet moments where you've got to convince yourself that you're doing it for the right reasons. And then you're spending time away from the people you love for the right reasons and the result will come.” Asked why he had set himself his world record goal so publicly, he joked: "Bold, brave or stupid, one of those works pretty well. If you want to have a moment in sport, you have to tell people about it.‌"I'm a businessman at the end of the day. I want to big up my product and I believe in myself. I knew that the people around me knew how to peak my performance just at the right time. "I just needed to turn up to train every day ready and be willing to go to the deep depths of some dark places to get myself in the right position at the right time. The best plans come together like that. You need a little bit of luck on your side as well, and the British weather was on our side." He celebrated his mile record with a beer and a steak but admitted he was 'still coming down from my floating space' this week. "But yes I had a good day," he said. "It's starting to settle in for sure. Events like that come at you from all angles."It's going to take a while for me to come back to Earth." Kerr is about to land back in Scotland, where his athletics journey began as a teenager on the track where he is going for gold on Saturday August 1.In July 2011, almost 15 years to the day that he will run the Commonwealth Mile, the record books show Edinburgh-born Kerr ran 4m 30.91 as a 13-year-old. He also threw the shot 7m 34cm and achieved 1m 55cm in the high jump.‌He recalled: “I grew up in youth academies for future Commonwealth Games hopefuls, and that experience will never leave me. I still have the T-shirt that says, "Scottish Commonwealth Games hopeful." It was a bit of a rough T-shirt back then but there’s definitely a lot of memories held in it."So, to be able to go out there and represent my country, in my country, in front of a home crowd, in the Commonwealth Games, that's all I want for my career.”Bullied at school, sport was an escape for the young Bannister; he would climb over fences at night to find somewhere to run, once injuring himself when he ran into an obstacle after dark.‌He also spoke of his determination and sacrifice and admitted the last few seconds of his record-breaking run seemed "never-ending." Afterwards he "felt like an exploded flashlight, no will to live".He held his world record for only 46 days before the Australian John Landy broke it. The two men were due to face one another at the Empire Games at Vancouver in August, and both knew that this battle would mean more to Bannister than the four-minute mile and more to Landy than the world record.‌The clash turned into a huge media fanfare, and 40 million people watched it on television while 100m listened on radio. It became one of the most exciting duels of all time as Bannister overtook Landy on the last lap.In looking around, Landy had lost a valuable fraction of a second - and Bannister grabbed his chance and overtook him at 3 minutes 58.8 seconds.Bannister went on to win the European Championships before disappearing from the athletics scene at 25 to become a distinguished medic and a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford.‌Kerr is unlikely to disappear from the limelight any time soon.* Fans are encouraged not to miss out and get their hands on their tickets today, available at glasgow2026.com/tickets.Tale of the tape:Josh Kerr: One mile world record holder, 3:42:66, July 18, 2026, London.‌1500m Gold World Championships 20231500m Gold World Indoor Championships 20241500m Silver Olympics Paris 2024‌1500m bronze Olympics Tokyo 2021Sir Roger Bannister: One mile world record holder 3:59:4, May 6, 1954.British Empire Games Gold 'magic mile' against John Landy 3:58:8.Article continues below1500m Gold European Championships 1950800m Bronze European Championships 1950.