How Josh Kerr Trains (and How He Finally Broke the Mile World Record)
Josh Kerr ran 3:42.66 on 18 July 2026 and ended a 27-year-old mile world record. The training and pacing behind Project 222.
Hicham El Guerrouj ran 3:43.13 in 1999 and the mile world record sat there for 27 years. On 18 July 2026, at the London Diamond League, Josh Kerr ran 3:42.66. He had called the target Project 222 for a year, after the number of seconds a 3:42 mile takes. The same night he broke the British 1500m record with a 3:27.62 split.
Project 222, and why the mile is a pacing problem
A 3:42.66 mile is four laps at about 55.7 seconds each, with no lap you can afford to lose. The event is long enough that the aerobic engine decides it and short enough that one panicked lap ends the attempt. Project 222 was a pacing project as much as a fitness one: an even, ruthless rhythm instead of racing the early laps on adrenaline.
That scales down. Whether you chase a five-minute mile or a sub-20 5k, the usual mistake is going out too hard and dying. Records and PBs are evenly paced.
One engine, seen across the table
Kerr is not a pure miler. His range runs from a 1:44 800m through a 3:42 mile to a 13:23 5000m, plus world and Olympic 1500m medals and two world indoor 3000m titles. The mile, the 1500 and the 5000 are one aerobic engine expressed at different speeds.
VDOT shows exactly that. Feed in one race result and it derives a single fitness number, then projects your equivalent times and training paces across every distance:
VDOT
49.8
Daniels 러닝 피트니스 점수
| 존 | 범위 | 무엇을 단련하는가 |
|---|---|---|
| E | 쉬움 / 롱런 4:54–5:53 /km | 유산소 기초, 모세혈관, 지방 대사; 주간 볼륨의 대부분. RPE 3–4, 대화 가능. |
| M | 마라톤 4:26–4:51 /km | 마라톤 특화 지구력과 경제성. RPE 5–6, 꾸준함. |
| T | 역치 4:16–4:28 /km | 젖산 역치; 편안하게 힘든 템포와 크루즈 인터벌. RPE 7, 약 1시간 레이스 강도. |
| I | 인터벌 3:51–4:01 /km | VO₂max; 3–5분 강한 반복. RPE 9, 힘듦. |
| R | 리피티션 3:19–3:42 /km | 스피드, 경제성, 러닝 파워; 충분한 회복과 함께하는 짧고 빠른 반복. RPE 9–10, 빠르고 통제됨. |
E · 쉬움 / 롱런. 유산소 기초, 모세혈관, 지방 대사; 주간 볼륨의 대부분. RPE 3–4, 대화 가능.
M · 마라톤. 마라톤 특화 지구력과 경제성. RPE 5–6, 꾸준함.
T · 역치. 젖산 역치; 편안하게 힘든 템포와 크루즈 인터벌. RPE 7, 약 1시간 레이스 강도.
I · 인터벌. VO₂max; 3–5분 강한 반복. RPE 9, 힘듦.
R · 리피티션. 스피드, 경제성, 러닝 파워; 충분한 회복과 함께하는 짧고 빠른 반복. RPE 9–10, 빠르고 통제됨.
- 당신의 VDOT 49.8은 현재 러닝 체력을 담아낸 단일 수치입니다(러닝 경제성을 반영해 조정한 'VO₂max'). 모든 훈련 페이스가 여기서 도출됩니다.
- VDOT는 최근의 강도 높은 레이스나 타임 트라이얼 하나에서 나옵니다. 전력을 다해 레이스한 결과를 사용하세요. 이상적으로는 5 km 이상이며, 하프 마라톤이나 10 km가 가장 안정적인 추정치를 줍니다.
- 단위 토글을 전환하면 마일당 페이스로 볼 수 있습니다. 체력이 향상되면 다시 레이스하세요. VDOT와 모든 페이스가 갱신됩니다.
- 이것은 다니얼스의 개별 훈련 페이스(E, M, T, I, R)이며 연속된 존이 아닙니다. 각 페이스를 특정 목적에 맞춰 달립니다. 더 힘든 페이스(T, I, R) 사이의 간격은 오류가 아니라 의도된 것입니다.
당신의 개인 맞춤 결과가 담긴 PDF와, 언제든 다시 열 수 있는 QR 코드.
Kerr is the top of that table. At your level the idea is identical: one result sets training paces at every distance.
His indoor mile sits just ahead of Cole Hocker's American record, and his career-long duel is with Jakob Ingebrigtsen, whom he beat at the 2023 World Championships and in the "Mile of the Century" at Eugene. Three training systems, one shared requirement: a huge aerobic base under a sharp finish.
The training behind it
Kerr is coached by Danny Mackey with the Brooks Beasts Track Club, splitting time between Seattle and altitude in Albuquerque. The shape is standard for middle distance that works: a large base of easy mileage, a smaller amount of very fast race-specific work, and altitude blocks to lift the aerobic ceiling. The record came from years of that base plus an evenly paced attempt on a fast night with pacemakers doing their job.
He was not a teenage phenomenon. He built through a World title in 2023, Olympic silver in 2024, world indoor golds and a calf injury at the 2025 World Championships, and broke the record at 28.
What you can steal from it
- Pace even. A mile or a 5k is won by holding a sustainable pace to the line, not by banking time early.
- Treat your distances as one engine. Use VDOT to turn one result into training paces across the board.
- Build the base, sharpen the end. A finish like Kerr's sits on a big aerobic engine, most of it built by easy mileage.
- Play the long game. He broke a 27-year record at 28, after years of championship racing.
More in this series: Cole Hocker, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Eliud Kipchoge and Courtney Dauwalter.
Sources
Cover photo by Andrewnward, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
