THE OTHER DAY lekte Team Ingebrigtsen with the idea of sending the youngest running boy Jakob to World Cup in half marathon. The championship will take place in Polish Gdyna next weekend, but the Norwegian participation was stopped.
The virus pandemic makes it uncertain how many street races Jakob will get this winter. But gradually there are more and more competitions on asphalt if the body can withstand the surface well enough. Only 20 years old, he is in any case managed sensibly in relation to load over time.
Had the money been decided, however, there would have been no doubt about where it pays to join a young distance runner:
- The economy of the international street races is exploding.
This is a market that athletics has never experienced, and that with the running favorite Jakob Ingebrigtsen at the very beginning of a hopefully really long career that is intended to end in a marathon.
Baptism scandal around Jakob
PREMIUM MONEY in the street running is not yet up to the sky-high level in golf and tennis, but it’s starting to get common with pretty fat bonuses on the tarmac as well.
I 2018 served the Japanese home favorite Yuta Shitara NOK 10 million to set a national record of 2.06.11 in the Tokyo Marathon. Last winter, compatriot Osaku Suguru received almost 9 million to press this the record down to 2.05.29. So great is the interest in long-distance running in Japan.
These results are obviously within the reach of Jacob. The Norwegian record for a marathon 2.05,48 was set by Sondre Nordstad Moen three years ago.
This great race was at the same time a European record which was later broken by Mo Farah (2.05,11). But there is probably at least one Farah level the experts are talking about when it comes to Ingebrigtsen’s development over longer distances after Jakob this season deleted Britain’s European record of 1500 meters.
And then it is natural to talk about all kinds of street racing.
Ended up on dubious list
IN INTERNATIONAL athletics, the longer distances are about to change from track to asphalt. That change is connected with a TV market where time-consuming track races have not been particularly popular, and a generally too great East African dominance.
The most important factor, however, is the wide popularity of street racing as a mass sport. Thousands upon thousands of runners in the cities around the world fit the big sponsors perfectly, and lay the foundation for an ever stronger economy related to running.
I LONDON MARATON last weekend, the prize money was halved precisely because the breadth was lacking due to the virus pandemic. But in exercise races, the corona is probably just an interlude:
- More than 300,000 Japanese have signed up for the next Tokyo Marathon.
Of these, around 35,000 will eventually get a place on the starting line; about it then becomes some race in March next year.
Reveals Jacob’s rivals
THE ECONOMY in the street races is huge anyway. A new analysis from the Japanese Kansai University has calculated a socio-economic loss of over 60 billion about all 460 national street races and marathons until the spring of 2021 is canceled.
Both the Kobe and Osaka marathons have already been canceled, as have 130 races that should have been arranged during the coming winter season. A new cancellation of the Tokyo Marathon alone will result in an estimated loss of between 2.5 and 3 billion kroner.
The growing street racing industry has thus become an important part of the Japanese economy both regionally and nationally.
Two shock times for Jakob
THE is where Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s development comes in. He is the one who now gives the best Africans even match at 1500, 3000 and 5000 meters inside the course. There is a background that is interesting for the really big sponsors.
Just over two years ago, Jakob signed a long-term agreement with the equipment giant Nike. At that time he had just set a new pressure of 3000 meters. The record was half a minute weaker than what he achieved this autumn, but then he was also only 17 years old.
Since then, he has become self-described in the test battle with the fastest Africans in any field on longer track races.
ALSO on the asphalt, the East African races have been by far the best. In Dubai, which has traditionally had the largest prize pool in marathons, was last winter 9 of the top 10 from Ethiopia. The last was the Kenyan Olika Adugna Bikila who lost the sprint against Eric Kiprono Kiptanui.
Again, the time was a little over 2.06; that is, a seemingly affordable speed for Jakob in a slightly older and even more robust version.
Being let down every day
THE the opportunity he has seen for a long time. Already during last year’s WC da Dagbladet talked to him if a marathon effort required a completely different workout and body composition, he was quite calm:
– No, I think it’s very similar. I will hardly change my body if I am to bet on a marathon later in my career. We see that those who have walked from 1500 meters and marathons before, look about exactly the same now as then, emphasized Jakob.
It is a good prerequisite for joining the shift from track to asphalt, and it comes at a perfect time.
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FOR now hunts the big sponsors all who cheat for the money. The other day, the equipment giants Adidas, ASICS and Nike contributed millions to the new control system for street racing.
In a scheme run by the independent Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the world’s 40 best street runners are divided into 20 women and 20 men. close monitoring adapted the training to the competitions they participate in. In addition, another 265 international street runners are followed up to ensure that their blood passes are in order.
In international long-distance running, it is unfortunately a crucial task. The running record lists must revised, and in the middle of this revision, a young and increasingly strong Norwegian runner comes with a support system that has a personal interest in ensuring the boy’s health.
It sounds like a good business model for Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
– Weight is a crucial factor
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