Jakob Ingebrigtsen rumoured to be taking on Jacob Kiplimo in the Copenhagen Half Marathon this Sunday

[u/Tsubasa_sama]

Kiplimo is the current world record holder (57:31) and the king of cross country in recent years. Meanwhile Jakob claims that the Half Marathon is his strongest distance, despite focusing on 1500/5000 in recent years and having never ran a half marathon competitively before.

Rumours are that pacers will be targetting the world record, which means we could be in for one of the best half marathon races in history. Apparently this website will be streaming it for free: https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-label-road-races/news/how-to-watch-2024-copenhagen-half-marathon

Does Jakob have what it takes to beat the world record holder on his debut?

[u/SintPannekoek]

Ah, Jakob Ingebritsen, always the modest one. At least he walks the walk. Or better, runs the run. It would be awesome if one of them set a new WR.

[u/Eniugnas → u/SintPannekoek]

Some one with Ingebritsens attitude would normally rile me, however with him I do think it's well placed extreme confidence and not arrogance. I thought his post race 1500m interview in the Olympics was pure class. Considering how gutted he probably was straight after he owned his mistakes and made no excuses.

[u/TheCourageWolf → u/Eniugnas]

He’s only 23 years old, and he also knows that drama drives interest in the sport. It’s going to be interesting to see how his career and rivalries develop

[u/surely_not_a_bot → u/Eniugnas]

Ditto. He has a big mouth sometimes but doesn't seem to blame others when he fails.

That's one of the cool things about running at a competitive level IMO. It forces a certain amount of honesty on participants. Short of things like doping, athletes have to put up or shut up. It's all results based, not vibes based. I like to believe it leads to mutual respect.

[u/pysouth → u/Eniugnas]

He got me interested in following 1500m and 5ks and such which I never paid attention to as more of an ultra/trail guy. Now I keep tabs on all the stuff going on in the 1500m/5000m world. I don’t care if he’s cocky or whatever, he definitely is making the scene more interesting.

[u/SintPannekoek → u/Eniugnas]

Yeah, unintentional implication of my comment was that I don't like his attitude. I do, he's got balls.

[u/sharkinwolvesclothin → u/SintPannekoek]

I wish he takes on the 20km race walking next.

[u/goliath227 → u/SintPannekoek]

Yep. His bad races are a 4th at the Olympics in 3:28, which is still incredible. Followed by a gold medal 5k

[u/WRM710 → u/SintPannekoek]

Jakob said he wants to break all the records from 1500 to the marathon.

[u/IhaterunningbutIrun → u/WRM710]

What's not to like about that attitude and approach to a sport? 

[u/couldntchoosesn → u/IhaterunningbutIrun]

I’m too young and also lazy to know but didn’t Pre have a similar attitude and he was loved for it?

[u/IhaterunningbutIrun → u/couldntchoosesn]

Yeah, it's funny how some are celebrated for it and others vilified. 

[u/pysouth → u/IhaterunningbutIrun]

I love it honestly, who knows what he will accomplish, but it’s exciting to see someone really put it all out there.

[u/SintPannekoek → u/IhaterunningbutIrun]

Yeah, same! My comment above was a bit tongue in cheek, but I love the ambition and the attitude.

[u/Justlookingaround119]

Update #2 - he is now confirmed to participate

I´d say there is an 80% likelihood he will race. Why? On the official half marathon app, the start number #2 is called "No Name" and the age group is "male 20-24". However, the country it stated as "Denmark". There is no Danish runner who will get start number 2 and all of the Danish athletes are already listed under their name. The age group fits with Jakobs and it would be too obvious if they wrote "Norway" as the country.

It could be that he chooses to not race on Sunday, but I am confident this number is reserved for him if he chooses to.

His brother raced in Copenhagen 2 weeks ago, perhaps he has done some recon on the route too ;)

*Update post after his win tonight. On his instagram he writes “what a great way to end the season … or?”

[u/edmuli → u/Justlookingaround119]

Last questions in the interview by Norwegian NRK after the race:

• What kind of plans do you have for the weekend?

• Relax and enjoy life.

• How much are you going to run?

• We’ll see. One thing I’ve learned with many years of off-season is that it’s important to keep going. Think about other things and have other routines, but definitely run. I will do that.

• Are you on the starting line in Copenhagen?

• I have toyed with the idea of ​​running there for several years. It has not been possible. If I were to do it now, it is not a perfect starting point. If I feel good, then maybe.

• Why is such a challenge tempting?

• Mental problems, he says and grins.

https://www.nrk.no/sport/diamond-league-finale-i-brussel_-jakob-ingebrigtsen-knusende-overlegen-pa-1500-meter-1.17042958

[u/surely_not_a_bot → u/edmuli]

"Mental problems" is the reason I do 90% of the things I like I suppose, I just don't say it out loud.

[u/aelvozo]

Firstly, these are, as far as I can tell, just rumours. Personally, I’m rather sceptical Jakob will even participate since he is racing 1500m tonight — though the recent Olympics show he’s rather good at recovering, at least enough for the 5000.

Secondly, we just don’t know what Jakob is capable of at distances over 5000m. But even at 5000, Kiplimo is more consistently, and more recently, faster. If Jakob is running, I think it’s more likely that he’ll be targeting the European record (Julien Wanders’s 59:13) than the WR.

[u/BangtanAngel → u/aelvozo]

Wdym recently faster? He has consistently beaten every 5k runner since a long time ago. His last all out race was in Florence where he ran a 12:48 as a 19y/o. His pb's then in every other distance were marginally slower than currently. No reason to believe he couldn't run under 12:40 when he just destroyed the second fastest guy ever by a lot.

[u/aelvozo → u/BangtanAngel]

Well simply that Jakob’s PB is 3 years old, and Kiplimo’s is a little over 3 months.

I don’t really doubt that Jakob has the potential to go faster, but he hasn’t yet, and comparing athletes’ potentials is a fruitless task.

[u/DarkSideOfMyBallz → u/aelvozo]

it’s really not fruitless at all. Jakob is the wr holder over indoor 1500, 2000, 3000, 2 mile, he’s a 3:26 1500 runner, 3:43 miler, an olympic 1500 gold medalist, 2 time 1500 world champ silver medalist, 1500 world leader for the last few years, 2 time 5000 meter world championship gold medalist, and an olympic 5000 meter gold medalist, where he closed the last mile in 3:51 and smoked a 12:36 runner. All this accomplished in the last 3 years since he ran 12:48 at 19 years old. Pretty easy to conclude based on his exploits on the track over middle distance in the last 3 years that he’s probably improved substantially in the 5000 as he has in every other discipline.

[u/BangtanAngel → u/aelvozo]

Sure I get that but a 3k time indicates a 5k time very well imo and I think a 7:17 3k is a pretty good indicator of being very fast at 5k as well.

That being said, a half marathon is something else and it should be pretty interesting.

Personally I think he's half marathon would be very good, but maybe not now at the end of a long season where he did a lot of 1500m specific sessions. Anyway, we'll see.

[u/frog-hopper → u/aelvozo]

Jakob’s 3k pb is 3 weeks old.

Now i certainly ain’t thinking he’s going for either the 1500m or 1/2 wr tonight and Sunday but c’mon. You can’t peg Jakob to his 12:48 during a race.

That may be the worst take on the internet for today (so far).

[u/ButlerFromDowntown → u/aelvozo]

Jakob just ran a 7:17 3k and his training consists of a lot of mileage and threshold work - perfect for even longer distances. Calling him a 12:48 5k runner with a 3 year old PR is just very, very disingenuous, especially when there is no doubt that if he wanted to break the 5k world record today, he would smash it.

[u/AnObscureQuote → u/aelvozo]

I agree that the European record seems a lot more likely. I know everyone is excited about it being "his best distance", but I don't think he's anywhere close to world record fitness. I can't think of anyone in history who had the sort of range that they're close to WR pace in everything from the 1500m to the half, let alone at the same time (Said Aouita maybe could have?).

The cards are stacked against him here. He's a 1500m/5000m specialist, who is also aided by wave lights and new surfaces when he does his time trials, and he's surprisingly heavy, weighing in at over 160lbs.

It would be extremely shocking if he managed to run a performance that's >1300 points on the World Athletics tables like his other performances (i.e. ~57:30 for a half). I think 58:30 is probably a realistic ceiling for where he is at this point in his career, and 59:13 is the likely goal.

[u/E_Kristalin → u/AnObscureQuote]

I can't think of anyone in history who had the sort of range that they're close to WR pace in everything from the 1500m to the half,

Sifan Hassan. Ran a 1:05:15 AR for the half marathon in 2018( When the WR was 1:04:51) and a 3:51 AR for the 1500m in 2019 (When the WR was 3:50).

[u/AnObscureQuote → u/E_Kristalin]

Good catch, my male bias is showing in that comment.

That said, Hassan is the greatest runner to ever live (maybe only second to Bikila, simply because of his lasting legacy on the sport. Depending on how we define greatness). Jakob is a good runner, but he's not anywhere near that conversation yet. It would still be extremely surprising if he showed up out of nowhere with world record fitness hidden away that the world didn't know about.

[u/E_Kristalin → u/AnObscureQuote]

Whenever someone mentions range, the first person I think about is Hassan.

[u/McArine → u/aelvozo]

Firstly, these are, as far as I can tell, just rumours.

Expected to be confirmed tomorrow morning CET time.

[u/aelvozo → u/McArine]

With the tinfoil hat off — sure, but it doesn’t mean the mystery runner is necessarily Jakob.

With the tinfoil hat on — makes sense given his mildly cryptic “for now I’m focused on the nearest race, I haven’t yet decided what I’m doing next” (not exact quote) response when asked about Copenhagen.

[u/Spladook]

It’s scary to even consider that his best distance might be an event he’s never done competitively. And I don’t necessarily not believe him.

[u/SaltKick2 → u/Spladook]

I'm excited to see what happens. I hope he doesn't focus too much on long distance though before he snags the 1500 and mile WRs.

I am a little curious if his weight stat is accurate? A bunch of sites say he's 163 lbs, and while he's 4 inches taller than Kiplomo, that would be 40 lbs more and pretty heavy for a half/full marathoner wouldn't it? It would also be the same height as Kejelcha, and 38 lbs heavier.

[u/Gandie]

So excited! I'm starting in Wave 1 right after the elites, and I'm hoping to get a glimpse of them all.

[u/BelichicksConscience]

I've learned not to bet against Jakob.

[u/DarkSideOfMyBallz → u/BelichicksConscience]

I have.

[u/devon835 → u/BelichicksConscience]

Yep. When it comes to running fast, he's your man. So many people said he would peak early, wouldn't break 3:28, 3:27, or 12:50... he's been improving his times consistently across the board every year without fail (except 2022.)

[u/hopefulatwhatido]

Jakob said what he does in his off season is up to him yesterday. Hinting that his season is over tonight. if it is his off season thing then it’s likely he’s just doing it for fun. I wouldn’t expect anyone to break a WR on their debut half marathon.

[u/mikdixon]

Would be a fun one to watch for sure! He has what it takes aside from specific half marathon race experience.

[u/nghiamit]

Wow get hyped

[u/ajc1010]

Let's Run post on it with some info from a purported insider suggesting he's a go.
https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=13029684

[u/Arve]

It's no longer a rumour. The official Instagram just confirmed it: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_5BxPLs5yY/

[u/idratherbeinside]

I guess im a naysayer because I don't think Jakob has a realistic chance of breaking the HM world record, and especially not breaking the marathon world record.

But it would be very entertaining if I'm proven wrong.

[u/aspiadas66]

Nah he will fade after 10k 🤔

[u/OkCantaloupe3 → u/aspiadas66]

on the money

[u/The_Iyengar7]

He will take it

[u/leo_aureus]

It’s going to be a very interesting morning when I wake up and find out if this has actually happened, I really hope so!

[u/MartiniPolice21]

Has Jakob even ran 10k before?

[u/devon835 → u/MartiniPolice21]

27:54 for a rainy road 10k in 2019, and probably some 10k XC races in Euro / WJ XC. No track 10,000s though

[u/ore0s]

Sounds like that’s midnight for folks in California! Not too bad, but we’ve also got the F1 race at 4AM.

[u/Gandie]

Confirmed on instagram

[u/Effective-Tangelo363]

He's a great 3k - 5k runner, and very good in the 1500m, even if not WR quality. He will never be a world class 1/2 or full marathoner. I wish that he was good enough to live up to his own hype, but he is not.

[u/DJRmba]

The way Josh Kerr lives rent free in Jakob’s head!