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British runner Josh Kerr breaks world record for mile which stood for 27 years

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Re: British runner Josh Kerr breaks world record for mile which stood for 27 years

#41

Post by lynx__ »

fidotron wrote: post #17
ad_hockey wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, they have that as well. You can see it in the photo here: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jul/18/josh-kerr-make...

Aha, thanks! Do you have any insight into what algorithm it uses? Like a ghost runner of the record pace or something?

The directors and organizers of the race control what the lights do. Typically they work with a specific athlete or group of athletes to hit a World Record, National Record, or Meet Record pace.

They are almost always even splits, with a consistent pace through the entire race, though this can be adjusted if the runners request it; that is rare though.

They typically have green lights, which is the target pace, and then a set of blue lights ahead of them, which gives a visual indicator of how far ahead a runner is from the green lights.

Re: British runner Josh Kerr breaks world record for mile which stood for 27 years

#42

Post by lynx__ »

jackmott42 wrote: post #6
__turbobrew__ wrote: post #3

He had a special singlet designed and undoubtedly carbon shoes. Makes you wonder how much raw human potential has progressed vs just having better equipment and track surfaces?

The mile record has dropped due to equipment (tracks and shoes) and pacing innovation since the very first. And I repeat this all the time but nobody listens: modern shoes are fast because of the special foam and light weight, the carbon plates have very little to do with it, experiments have cut those plates in half and running economy remains unchanged. they likely provide important structural support for the thick…

Was the study you saw about carbon plates even for marathon distances?

Re: British runner Josh Kerr breaks world record for mile which stood for 27 years

#44

Post by lynx__ »

davidw wrote: post #31

What are the rules around pacers for this kind of thing? Are there separate records for with/without pacers?

No, there is no official record with and without pacers. And arguably, that's why the Olympics is a bit rarer for middle- and long-distance world records (because you aren't allowed official pacers). You could probably track it down though.

Re: British runner Josh Kerr breaks world record for mile which stood for 27 years

#45

Post by casey2 »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #39
davidw wrote: post #31

What are the rules around pacers for this kind of thing? Are there separate records for with/without pacers?

I don't know, but define a pacer ?! Someone with better ability to pace than yourself? Someone of lesser endurance willing to run a half race at a pace they can't sustain, but you can? What's the difference between having a pacer and another world class competitor trying to beat you that brings out your best ? What about slip streaming? Should we regard records differently where the winner stayed with the pack until…

Obviously. These are 2 different sports. There's a reason the front of a plane or boat looks different to the sides. They carefully paint these lines on the ground then ignore them.

It's annoying watching the guy in first just stop running after 2 minutes.

Re: British runner Josh Kerr breaks world record for mile which stood for 27 years

#46

Post by lynx__ »

dyauspitr wrote: post #2

Is this because most East Africans don’t really try to beat the mile (instead doing the 1500m) since there’s no money in it?

No. The 1500m (which is run frequently) and mile world records were held by the same person prior to this, and while the Mile record was considered slightly "worse", maybe one or two people since it was set(Bernard Lagat, Asbel Kiprop) could have beaten it if they focused more on running it, but not really a guarantee.

Jakob Ingebretsen was the other who likely could have beaten it, but he's also been hit by a fair number of Achilles issues, including undergoing surgery this past year.

Kerr's performance was very impressive, and, as he continually reiterates, the team he assembled is what led to it aside from his potential and dedication. He set a PR of 2.68 seconds (two years ago) and before that his closest time was 6.61 seconds away. Granted the mile isn't run frequently, but his 1500m times last year weren't very indicative of hitting the WR either - but also goes to show middle distance and up is often run to win as opposed to set your fastest time similar to shorter distances.

Re: British runner Josh Kerr breaks world record for mile which stood for 27 years

#47

Post by haunter »

js2 wrote: post #28

Watch him do it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYi2f4ONEDg&t=180 What an incredible performance. I've seen a sub-4 mile in person. These guys are absolutely flying. All of them. And he beats the pants off that field. Splits (400m): 400m: 55.3 800m: 1:51.1 (56.8 second lap) 1200m: 2:46.5 (55.4 second lap) 1600m: 3:41.4 (54.9 third lap) Mile: 3:42.66 Splits (100m): 100m: 13.8 200m: 27.5 (13.7) 300m: 41.0 (13.5)…

fyi that video is region locked to the US only https://polsy.org.uk/stuff/ytrestrict.cgi?agreed=on&ytid=htt...

Other source: https://www.reddit.com/r/trackandfield/comments/1uzxv0m/josh...

Re: British runner Josh Kerr breaks world record for mile which stood for 27 years

#49

Post by bo1024 »

davidw wrote: post #31

What are the rules around pacers for this kind of thing? Are there separate records for with/without pacers?

The pacers have to obey the same rules as every other runner. They start at the starting line, they can't run inside the lines, etc.

One of the reasons that Eliud Kipchoge's "Breaking 2" marathon wasn't a legal world record was that teams of pacers would rotate in, take a break, then rotate in again. This way he could have pacers with him almost the entire way. But in a real world record attempt, the winner is always running by themselves in the last part of the race because all of the pacers have been left behind or dropped out -- by definition of a world record, they can't keep up to the end.

Re: British runner Josh Kerr breaks world record for mile which stood for 27 years

#50

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

casey2 wrote: post #45
HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, but define a pacer ?! Someone with better ability to pace than yourself? Someone of lesser endurance willing to run a half race at a pace they can't sustain, but you can? What's the difference between having a pacer and another world class competitor trying to beat you that brings out your best ? What about slip streaming? Should we regard records differently where the winner stayed with the pack until…

Obviously. These are 2 different sports. There's a reason the front of a plane or boat looks different to the sides. They carefully paint these lines on the ground then ignore them. It's annoying watching the guy in first just stop running after 2 minutes.

> It's annoying watching the guy in first just stop running after 2 minutes.

Perhaps, but in terms of the runner following the pacer there is no advantage vs them following someone in same class as themselves that can sustain that pace to the end of the race.

It's certainly interesting to question how much modern gear has advanced records in some sports, but there are so many other variables too, some that change over time such as nutrition and training methods, and then factors such as individual genetics or even country/altitude of origin that mean records can never be exactly compared.

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