The Mile of the Century is won by Josh Kerr in an Honest battle over 4 wonderful laps.
When this race was announced several months ago, as the NIKE Pre Classic does, this writer wanted to believe it would happen.
In track and field, the issue is that when the top athletes are all healthy at one time, you are gobsmacked.
We had heard that Jakob Ingebrigtsen was having Achilles challenges and had to take a break for some time this past Winter.
At the press conference on Friday, the tension that seemed to be between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr had disappeared.
Josh Kerr would have none of it. That is not what he was here for. Josh Kerr and his coach, Danny Mackey, have been working on their master plan for some time now, having worked together since 2018.
Josh Kerr is quietly confident. He has a wonderful support group, and his club, Brooks Beasts TC, encourages each other.
Yared Nuguse, the American record holder in the mile, took the silver medal at the World Indoors this last winter, at 3,000 meters, behind Josh Kerr. Kerr has an Olympic bronze medal at the 1,500m from Tokyo (2021), gold at Budapest (2023), and gold at the 3,000m in Glasgow.
Abe Alvarado leads the Mile of the Century, photo by Brian Eder for RunBlogRun.Â
Yared is coached by Dathan Ritzenhein, of OAC. Yared trains with Joe Klecker, Geordie Beamish (world Indoor gold, 1,500m), and Ollie Hoare (Commonwealth Games 2022 gold, 1,500m), among others. The On Athletic Club encourages each other, and the culture and focus seem to build confidence.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen was trained by his father for many years. Now, he gets some advice from his brothers but is mostly self-coached.
Ingebrigtsen spent much of the winter doing cross-training to allow his Achilles tendons to heal. Jakob knew his fitness was pretty good but not where he needed to be to challenge Kerr and Nuguse.
At the presser, Jakob was magnanimous. He spoke about how the sport needed these rivalries, but he played down the smack talk that had happened during the winter.
Fifteen men lined up to race, with Abe Alvarado, a fine 800m runner, handling the pace-making chores.
Josh Kerr pushes the pace in the Bowerman Mile, photo by Brian Eder for RunBlogRun.
Alvarado took the lead, and the pack hit the 400m in 55.91, with Ingebrigtsen, Nuguse, and Wightman, followed by Cole Hocker, Geordie Beamish, Neil Gourley, and Hobbs Kessler. Josh Kerr had been as far back as seventh, just before the 800 meters.
Alvarado won the 800m in 1:52.74, bringing the…
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