Josh Kerr: I pick my races and I’m not a robot

World mile record holder Josh Kerr says he “loves racing” and he aims to sign off a spectacular season with victory at the Ultimate Championship this weekend — but he shrugged off claims from his old foe Jakob Ingebrigtsen that he avoids head-to-heads. Kerr smashed the 27-year-old mile mark with a 3min 42. 66sec clocking in London in July, bettering the time set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999. The US-based Scotsman followed that up with an assured victory in the mile at the Commonwealth Games in front of an admiring Glasgow crowd. As a result, Kerr did not take part in the European Championships two weeks later, sparking an outburst from Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian who has won Olympic golds at 1 500 metres and 5 000m.

Ingebrigtsen, who did run in Birmingham and win after returning from an 11-month injury layoff, said he was “very disappointed” that Kerr was not at those championships, suggesting it was “ruining the sport” if athletes avoided each other. Kerr refused to directly address the Norwegian’s criticism, but speaking to reporters from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he said: “I’m not trying to avoid racing. I think that’s maybe where the misconception is. “I love racing. I just don’t love racing when I’m not ready to go and when that risk (of injury) is high. The reason I can race so well is because I pick my races,” he added. “I’m a human being at the end of the day… I’m not a robot. “When you boil it down, I’m very happy that (Ingebrigtsen) is back running and racing. I think it’s great for our distance. He’s one of the best 1,500 metre runners, 5K runners of all time,” he said. “And I’m excited to go out and race him. I’m not going to lose but I’m excited to go out there and race. ” ‘Individual sport’ Kerr explained that his season had been carefully built…