He Emsley Carr Milla, one of the most historic mile racing series of all time, returns to the London Diamond League on July 18, 2026. Josh Kerr The two-time world indoor 3,000m champion, world outdoor 1,500m champion, and Olympic silver and bronze medalist in the 1,500m, is making a big push to beat the mile WR, set in 1999. It’s an effort, titled Project 222, by sponsor Josh Kerr, Brooks running.
I went into our archives and found this piece by Stuart Weir on the Emsley Carr Mile, which should help you appreciate the importance of the mile race.
The truth is, Ian Stewart who won Emsley Carr Milla (1970) and was sub-4 with his brother, Peter, also a Emsley Carr Mile Champion (1971, 1972), It’s a big part of why the event still exists. Ian began including the mile in the Crystal Palace Meets and continued to do so when he moved the meet to Birmingham. Gabe Jennings of the USA won it in 2006. For me, the most important point of the mile is the Emsley Carr Book. This book contains the names of all competitors and the signatures of all winners. It’s a history of the Men’s Mile since 1953!
Ian Stewart and David Bedford are two of the main reasons I started attending British events almost two decades ago. They were both at the top of their game in terms of organizing track meets and marathons. I wanted to see for myself what the British were doing right. I also respect them and their generation of British runners as the true keepers of the sport’s flame.
This article, by Stuart Weir, keeps you informed about this excellent career. Breaking four minutes in the mile still means you’re world class. The endurance, speed and dedication of running four laps around a 400-meter track in under 60 seconds per lap remains impressive, even with 521 American men who have run under 4 minutes (approximately 1,500 worldwide). At the 2018 Emsley Carr Mile, thirteen men from nine countries broke four minutes in the mile.
The Emsley Carr Mile is an annual men’s one-mile invitational athletics event held in the United Kingdom. The race has been part of the London Grand Prix since 2008. The race was inaugurated in 1953 by Sir William Carr in memory of his father, Sir Emsley Carr, a journalist.
One of the original goals of the race was to give athletes the opportunity to break the 4-minute mile. Ironically, a year later, Roger Bannister ran the first mile in under 4 minutes, but it was not until 1956 when Derek Ibbotson won the race, running 3:59.4, that the feat was achieved. As part of the current tradition, the winner of the race signs a book bound in red Moroccan leather.
A look at the list of winners is like the history of middle distance running:
Gordon Pirie, GB 1953
Kip Keino, Kenya, 1966
Jim Ryan, United States 1967
Filbert Bayi, Tanzania 1975
Sebastian Coe, GB 1977
Steve Ovett, GB 1979 and 1983
John Walker, New Zealand, 1987
Said Aouita, Morocco, 1989
Haile Gebrselassie. Ethiopia, 1999
Hitcham El Guerrouj, Morocco 2000, 2001, 2002
Bernard Lagat, United States 2009
Asbel Kiprop, Kenya 2014, 2015
This year’s field of 17 included 9 nationalities. There had never been an Australian winner in the history of the event. It wasn’t until this year, when two Australians battled it out for the win, with Stewart McSweyn running a record time of 3:54.60 to beat Ryan Gregson in 3:55.10. Paul Chelimo (USA) was third (3:55.96). McSweyn said afterward: “It’s only the second mile I’ve officially run. I’ve never run here before, so it was going to be a good experience no matter what. But to perform well and get a PR, I’m pretty happy with that. The track was incredibly good, I like it because the crowd sounds so close. When you run in lane one, it sounds like they’re in lane three or four, right above you. I definitely want to do it again if I can.”
The 4-minute mile is now commonplace: 13 runners finished under that mark in the 2018 race.
