Was running CHM the right call for Jakob?

You need the miles. A 1:25 half is not going to convert to a 3:00 at your mileage. VDOT conversions only really work if you run enough for aerobic capacity rather than muscular endurance to be the limiting factor. In my experience that point seems to be about 2-3x race distance per week, meaning you're in shape to lay down a representative half but not a marathon. Also I guarantee upping your miles and doing a marathon block will cut time off your half.

Yes, if he got a huge appearance fee.

Nothing to lose

I think it was a good idea if he could make money from it, but other than that it was a bad idea.

So far he's run fast times up to and including 2 miles, ran an olympic qualifier 5000 but not near the WR, and ran some 10k road and cross races but never a fast track 10000. He should have started running some fast 5000s, aiming for the WR, get that and get some more experience running all out 5000s, and then go for 10000 WR/fast time, and once he has had a real attempt at the 10000, have a go at the HM.

Yes absolutely the right thing to do. I am sure he was paid handsomely. It bought eye balls to the CHM and him self.
It gave him a chance to see what it feels like to race on the roads. It eliminates some of the unknowns.
As a learning experience, his camp can look at home things went.

People didn’t really expect him to win did they?

MJF

You guys are never in the shape of your life and decide to test yourself way off-distance? I support him doing it if he wanted to do it; he doesn't need any other reason. There's something so pure to me about "I bet I could race a pretty good half marathon" and then signing up for one on a whim.

Recently I've heard more people talking about the unrealistic/insanely high expectations we have for Jakob every single time he races (and there's some truth to it based on how many people thought he could get the WR today), but I think races like these take some of the pressure off. Even if people think he'll do well, he can get crushed and it's not a big deal because he's a miler running a half marathon after a long season.

Would’ve been cool to see him run an 800m or 1000m first but obv he was just collecting an appearance fee and throwing his hat into the ring for fun.

I agree. I think based on what I’ve seen being quoted for his earnings this season I really don’t think he needed the appearance fee money. Then again, some of the money likely goes to his team as well so I can’t really say if it was the right call for him financially or not but I’d venture to say it wasn’t a good idea for him to compete. Although this may be an overreaction, I could see today’s result hurting him in terms of his image (albeit only short term perhaps?) and will likely be brought up by people should he ever attempt a HM again. His career is running and his image, so I can’t imagine him walking and looking beat in today’s race is good PR. I mean it’s reasonable to say some people spectating were there only because they wanted to see him perform. I’m not saying we shouldn’t encourage top athletes to do fun stuff like we saw today and challenging themselves which gets the community excited. He races a lot which is awesome.

No harm, no foul, and today’s race has nothing to do with what he can accomplish at 1500-5000m, but it is a strong indication that he will never be a medal threat in the 10000m.

Personally I respect the decision but I think it was the wrong call for him to have stuck with that pace for as long as he did, and by extension compete altogether. It just further solidifies the idea he isn’t invulnerable and contradicts the narrative he has pushed about this being his best distance although you can argue he meant physiologically, given he trained for the event as opposed to in real world practice like today. But that almost seems like talking just to talk if that’s the case. Although he may have competed just for fun and it gave us fans something to get excited for with theorizing just how fast he could go, there is more to it. He is not just a nobody and this is more than just you or I showing up and running a different distance than normal out of curiosity. Someone who has put their life into the sport more or less probably doesn’t want to be remembered as the guy who started walking at 10k, although that is obviously not at all what people will remember him by. But it will definitely be brought up in conversation even throughout next season as a dig at him. This may seem like I’m being overly critical but I’d say it is necessary. Past races in no way define a runners current or future ability but they do define a runners legacy and how they are viewed. I don’t know Jakob but I’d imagine this is important to him given what we’ve seen.

This is an extremely defensive (and boring) way to look at the world!

Life is about learning, pushing yourself, new experiences and creating memories.

It will be a good story when he in 8-12 yrs time stop professional running to say "remember the time I went to Copenhagen 36 hrs after the DL final and completely blowed up after the first 10k!". And he for sure learned a lot from this that he can use when he goes all-in on the HM in the future!

I think it was okay as long as he didn’t get injured. I give him credit for trying. At least he’s willing to race frequently and try different things and create interest .

He got a nice appearance fee while on the second day of his vacation.

I have become a huge fan of Jakob precisely because he loves to compete and mixes it up over many distances. This race will not tarnish his image, as one person stated, nor does it mean he won't ever medal in the 10000. He ran this with no HM specific training after a long track season and went out too fast for his HM conditioning. An admirable performance considering the circumstances. He is amazing.

What's bad about this? Consider it the first day of his off season vacation.

He got a nice fee.

He had fun with his brother

He and his wife can enjoy Copenhagen for a couple days.

He ran 13.1 miles toward his next training block.

He got some experience in road racing at a fast 10k pace.

As a good sport he finished the race.

Running CHM for Jakob seems like a solid choice. It aligns well with his strengths and current needs, offering both challenge and growth opportunities.

It's always a good idea to try something as a runner and run unfamiliar distances. You can expect a 3000m world record holder to complete a HM, especially since it's the end of the season. But it might not be the best idea if you talk beforehand about the HM being the best distance for you. Then expectations are naturally high.

I think it was a good choice for him to see what the HM is all about. In retrospect if he had gone out at 28+ minutes for the first 10K, he may have had a more fluid run and finished in around 61 minutes. That first 10K was just too fast, too ambitious.

You're calling a year when he wins an Olympic gold medal a rocky season? Okay. Whether running this race was or wasn't the fight call for him is his own business. He had nothing to lose. It wasn't a race at one of his" distances. He got a national record. I wouldn't be surprised if there's clause in his contract that pays a bonus for that sort of thing. But even if not he'd have gotten money from the race for being there.