‘I want to follow in Bannister’s footsteps’: Josh Kerr gunning for world mile landmark
It is, says Josh Kerr, a moment that makes the hairs on the back of his neck tingle every time he watches it.We are talking about Roger Bannister, his body taut then spent, falling into a crowd of well-wishers on a cinder track in Oxford in 1954 having become the first person in history to break the four-minute mile barrier.“That’s what I live for,” Kerr says, with the broadest of smiles.And then comes the grand reveal.Because at the London Diamond League in July, Kerr intends to stand on the shoulders of track and field’s giants – such as Bannister, the Australian Herb Elliott, Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett – by breaking the mile world record.
“This record needs to be brought home,” says Kerr.“This is a British record.This is a British distance.And so it would be doing a disservice to the UK to not be doing it at home.It’s why I can’t do it anywhere else.
”Kerr accepts that he is taking on quite the challenge,The world record of 3min 43,13sec was set by Hicham El-Guerrouj in July 1999, while Kerr’s best is a shade over two seconds slower,However, Kerr believes that with focused training, a new shoe, the support of his 16-strong entourage and 60,000 fans at the London Stadium he can break it,“People [say:] ‘The sport needs more rivalries,’” he says.
“I don’t agree.I think the sport needs more moments.We need a reason to watch.And so that’s where this comes from.This is the time to go after these big moments.
I have a big target of what time I want to hit.I think it’s going to be pretty special.”Kerr has impeccable pedigree.He is a world 1500m champion and an Olympic silver and bronze medalist over the same distance.Last weekend he also showed his form by winning the world indoor title over 3,000m for a second time.
And with another four months of hard training, the 28-year-old is convinced the world record is on.“I’ve been in shape to run the record multiple times over the last couple of years,” he says.“And so there’s specific key sessions, we will have KPIs [key performance indicators] going into it.”So how will he get closer? First, by focusing on running somewhere between 55 and 56 seconds pace for four laps.“There’s a lot of muscle memory with stuff, and so we’ll do a lot of training at pace,” says Kerr.
“We’re three or four months in deep into the mental training of it.There’s a lot going on behind the scenes already.The whole season is towards this.”Then there is the equipment side.“My sponsors Brooks are massively on board, it’ll be a new shoe that we’ve been working on for a while,” he says.
Kerr also says that his pacemakers are “signed, sealed and delivered”,But he insists this will be a proper Diamond League race rather than a time trial,Does that mean some of his biggest rivals, such as the Olympic champion, Cole Hocker – who will run the mile in the Prefontaine meeting in Eugene a fortnight before London – might turn up? “There will be some restrictions,” says Kerr, coyly,“I’m not scared to race people,I think certain athletes will have obligations elsewhere.
But it’s not going to be a closed-off race.”The final factor Kerr believes is in his favour is the quality of his 16-strong team.It includes not only his coach, Danny Mackey, Mackey’s assistant Julian Florez, and the athlete’s wife, Larimar Rodriguez, who he says helps across the board, but a number of other experts across all sorts of fields.“Danny’s the mastermind behind everything,” says Kerr.“He’s my head coach and team leader.
Then you’ve got Julian, who’s an assistant coach, and my wife, who helps with everything.”While he says his mother is the head physio, he has a “super-manager and assistant” called Nicole, plus a chiropractor, massage therapist, two strength and conditioning coaches, a performance and mental coach, a nutritionist, a full-time chef, and a videographer and his assistant for social media.There is also his race agent, Ray Flynn, and the management company Forte.All this doesn’t come cheap, Kerr concedes.But he believes it helps him get his body and mind in the best shape possible for attempts at gold medals and, he hopes, a new world mile record.
“I have a lot of respect for this record,” says Kerr.“But I believe that I have the ability and the people around me that will help me get there.“This record is one of the most important we have in track and field.There’s been multiple times that Danny, Julian and I have sat down and had that conversation.‘Are we ready for it yet?’ ‘Not quite yet.
’ ‘When is the time?’ The time is now.It’s time for that record to be renewed.”
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