With the hashtags #fuckthapolice and #thuglife, he's a sure thing for success later in life...if he's not in jail.

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

Ah ... I chalk it up to ESL ... its Norway.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
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2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

It's just a testament to the stupidity of "SEO." Basically, the idea that somehow people will actually use hashtags that are appropriate for categorization as opposed to simply using hashtags to put their photos in front of a maximally large audience is idiotic.

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/thuglife/ - 5,579,215 posts
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/dab/ - 3,425,738 posts

VS

https://www.instagram.com/.../tags/trackandfield/ - 937,085

Basically, it's just the social media "savvy" of a 16yo kid. It's not ESL. It's understanding how to game social media.

This is just one of the many things I hate about social media. But hashtags translate into "results." Well, the sort of bizarre results where followers, "likes," and the sort are considered some bizarre form of currency. Which of course helps to explain the insanity of this: https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:TWTR

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Jakob is living in Norway. It will be wrong to use American culture standards on what is smart to say.
It looks like he has no problem getting running results or to get sponsors so he has to do something right.

Any chance he is the younger brother of Filip Ingebrigsten who was DQ'd from Rio 1500m for throwing some nasty elbows. Could explain the hashtags

I wasn't disputing what is "smart" to say. My point was more that 16yo kids, regardless of nationality, probably have a VERY different sense of how best to "use" social media than most people 25+. And that a Norwegian 16yo and an American 16yo are probably much, much more similar to each other than they are to "adults" of the same nationality.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Maybe the problem is that grownups are talking about #hashtags while a 16 year old is running like a grownup ;-)
Jakob did run 3.42 on 1,500m before the turned 16.
Recently he become the U20 European Champion in cross country for U20, running 6.1k in 17.06.

According to his VDOT of 77, he should have a threshold pace of 4:49. What an underachiever :)

Given that he currently ranks 239th in the world in the 1500, I think he has a ways to go before we talk about him running "like a grown up." Remind me, if you will, the number of U20 European Champions in XC who have gone on to win Olympic medals?

The kid is obviously a great runner. He'd have decimated the US Junior USATF records in the 1500m and 3000m. But what's interesting is that Matt Centrowitz - the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist in the 1500m - didn't run that fast nearly that early. He played a bunch of different sports: http://www.runnersworld.com/...file-matt-centrowitz

While the holder of the Junior World Best in the 1500m was an also ran in elite competition - https://en.wikipedia.org/...h_bests_in_athletics

Likewise the Junior World Best in the 3000m has had a good - but not remarkable - elite career.

Based on precedent, I'd be shocked if this kid got a lot faster.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

While the holder of the Junior World Best in the 1500m was an also ran in elite competition - https://en.wikipedia.org/...h_bests_in_athletics

Likewise the Junior World Best in the 3000m has had a good - but not remarkable - elite career.

Based on precedent, I'd be shocked if this kid got a lot faster.

Jordan,


Some of those kids who are running truly world-class times at 16/17, do go on to greatness, later on, but they are the exception. Most who are this good at this age, don't end up going on past the college level, where it's time to REALLY step it up.

As you mention, they have "peaked" early and there's not much upside after that.

There is a general tendency, particularly in North America in kid/youth sports to specialize too early and push kids too hard, too early. Many are done by the time they reach the end of their teen years.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Interesting use of statistics. You could have used his brothers as an example for progress. They are 3.31 and 3.32 runners on 1,500.

His brother henrik is a douche. He always looks like he is trying to pose so hard at the start of races. Usually finishes well back too

So threshold pace is 5 min/miles. Am I right in interpreting that he could run about a 1:06 half in perfect conditions then, maybe more like 1:08 with a couple hills, corners and wind in the real world?? Pretty fast but still a good chunk of ground to make up if he wants to enter the long distance world class...Just curious on the implications of this metric really.

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How is the speed of his brothers relevant? If you are suggesting that because they were slower at his age that Jakob is therefore likely to be faster when he matures, I think that's a rather odd assertion. Likewise, if both of his brothers run that fast, maybe that means that's as fast as he's ever likely to be. Neither of his brothers' careers serves as a particularly compelling argument that Jakob is going to be a medalist at the Olympics or WC as a senior elite.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

In fairness, Centrowitz was no slouch in high school; he did go 4:04, which didn't exactly threaten Webb's 3:53, but is a damn fast high school time. And it doesn't hurt to be the son of Matt Centrowitz Sr either.

Centrowitz Jr just has one gorgeous stride. That 53 second front running last lap was a thing of beauty to watch.

Last note: with all the late drug testing being done on 2008 and 2012 thanks to good old Russia, what are the odds of Centrowitz 4th place in 2012 coming up a notch?

Letsrun.com will have something on Jakob tomorrow.
In June as 15 (turned 16 in September) he ran 1,500 - 3.42, 3,000 - 8.22 and 800 - 1.51 over three days. Last two without a lot of competition.
He trains very little speed, 5x6 minutes is a typical interval session. 2x(10x200m uphill) is another.

He is not afraid of running shorter races also. This fall he first ran 300mh in 40.7 (he is not a sprinter ;-) and then right after ran the 1,500m steeple in 4.10.

Here you have the u20 crossX race https://www.youtube.com/...ASHGTCPQ&t=1359s

"But what's interesting is that Matt Centrowitz"

the reason matt centrowitz won gold is that his dad is matt centrowitz, early 1970s high school distance god. you should always put your money on an early 1970s high school distance god. him, or anything he touches. or his offspring.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Mom deserves some credit too (maybe most since it is her mitochondrial DNA), internets say she was a 2:08 half-miler with little effort and her last name is even Bannister. Good genes all around.

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And this doesn't answer my question. I don't see how the threshold pace is really that relevant to his 1500m prowess actually? I know plenty of pro cyclists that can cain it up a 3 minute climb but can't do a 40km TT anywhere close to that level...and vice versa.

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That was exactly my point. You want to be good - but not great - as a junior. It's rare that someone who is great as a junior is going to be great as a senior. That's what the trend shows.

Knowing that Jakob has two older brothers who are elite runners makes sense. He probably grew up running with them. In that sense, he's probably older - athletically speaking - than 16. But this sort of early peaking tends to pan out badly. The fact that all three brothers are coached by their father adds another element to the story.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

He was a freakin' American 5K record holder; I think that trumps being a high school legend. But, anyway, I have a Matt Centrowitz Sr late night smoky bar story that you would never in a million years believe to be true. But it is.

To your first point of peaking as a young teen: do you think the best teens plateau because they mentally "burn out"/loose motivation to push further, or do you think that some people just reach their max physical capabilities earlier in life? If the latter - is it necessarily a "bad" thing to reach your max potential early? This all goes to the question of wheather or not the athlete had been better off by "holding back" and not get so damn fast at a young age :)

Second point rearding the father/family: I dont know these people at all (allthough I'm from the same country as them), but from my understanding of things this familly is pretty special in very many regards - It definatley adds another element to the story, but if that element is a good or a bad seems abit uncertain.

Pretty well 95% of the credit goes to the moms mitochondrial DNA. Maybe 5% goes to the dad's fast twitch and perhaps the rest shared between the two on nurture. You want your kids to be fast endurance freaks, then marry and make kids with an endurance freak woman.

I have been eyeing TWTR for a while and can't bring myself to buy it. Given it's "media" reach I felt they should have a way to monetize that reach. I bought a ton of facebook stock (for me) on IPO (and kept buying along the way and its been a good ride). My premise on IPO when I took a hammering was that their engagement base of users was super high and there had to be way to monetize it (thankfully they have monetized in a huge way). TWTR is "fire and forget" meaning you can do stupid things like put a hashtag on thuglife to get large reach, but so what it goes to all these "destinations" that don't care about you/your story. So the path to monetization appears to be more difficult compared to a "media company" like fb where the creator of the media content (you and I) have customized our audience (our friends who have some connection in generatal with us) to consume said media, and be captive and do an interaction while the analytics feed appropriate advertising. And with the HPC like workloads coming to the FB data centers, its just going to get better. I don't think TWTR's engagement model allows for the same level of monetization but I am probably missing something.