Jakob Dybdal Abrahamsen | Brand ambassador DOXA

He was born into the running sport and started out in the orienteering. A successful stay in the USA brought him both friends of life and took his running to a whole new level. Meet our ambassador Jakob Dybdal Abrahamsen.

- Jakob Dybdal Abrahamsen
- IT and private coaching
- Aarhus, Denmark
- IG handle @jakobdybdal

When did you start running for the first time and how was your experience?

"I have been running my entire life and have always loved running. I was born into an orienteering family so I have been racing since I was able to run. Our family vacations were often trips to Scotland, Sweden and Norway for orienteering competitions. I however didn't start running track until 2012. My first track race was a 1500M indoor race in the old Marselisborg Hall now known as the running academy located in Aarhus. If you've been there, then you'd know there is no 200M indoor track there - only approx 120M straightways. So they set cones around the rectangular area and ran around there. I won with six seconds and I was hooked on the sport right there. After that, I quickly realized I had a talent for steeplechase. Some of my best performances from when I was a junior were from the Nordic championships where I was the three-time Nordic champion. I also finished 6th and 3rd at the European- youth championships and club XC, respectively. These performances are what got me recruited to a University in the USA, where I was able to take my running career to a whole new level. I mainly focused on the steeplechase while also enjoying the 1500M and 5000M on the track and 10K cross country."

How does running affect your life?

"Wow! Where to start? Running is a huge part of my life and identity. A lot of what I do revolves around training and races in other countries. It's brought me endless opportunities. As I mentioned before, it took me to the USA, where I was for four years studying, making friends for life, traveling to different states, and where I met my girlfriend of many years. At the moment, I am training and trying to qualify for the European Championships in Paris and the World Championships in Oregon. It helps give me focus and direction in my life because I can set a goal and go for it. I love the fact that staying in shape and running faster is one of my jobs besides working in IT, private coaching and youth coach in Aarhus 1900 for young runners."

What is your favorite running pass?

"My favorite workout is a ladder workout I often did in the States:
400-600-800-1000-800-600-400M with 60 seconds rest. It starts out easy enough and ends out suffering, so you really feel it afterwards. The pace depends on where I am in the season at the moment. This kind of workout can be done all year to keep the body sharp. When I am in peak performance the 400M splits would be around 62 seconds and the 1000M around 2:40 minutes."

Which person on Instagram inspires you?

"There are many runners on Instagram who inspire me- To name a few: Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Cole Hocker, Evan Jager and Cooper Teare. They are all very inspiring because they are all completely regular people running extremely fast times that I can compare my self to.
But I mainly just follow Running hubs like: @therunnercentral, @paceproduction, @heepsgoodrunners and World Athletics. Because they bring me the latest news and exiting insides while also providing me with tips and tricks for my own career. But to be honest I follow so many that I can't name them all."

Do you prefer to run alone or do social runs and why?

"9 out of 10 times I would want to do social runs. It motivates me to get out there knowing I'm meeting with someone else and I love some good banter with my training partners on our runs. We can talk endlessly about random things. We very often discuss equipment and what is the best, smartes and most functional on the market. But sometimes it is also nice to run alone and get in the zone. After a long day at work or after a bad nights sleep, a solo run with a good finance podcast is nice."

Do you listen to music while running? And if you do, can you recommend a favorite track?

"I'm the guy that brings the Bluetooth speaker to the group runs so we can all jam out while getting a good run in. I mostly listen to rap and hip/hop when I listen to music on my solo runs - House music is also a go to. A$AP Rocky, Offset, Drake and Future are my most played artists lately. I also like Danish artists like Tobias Rahim and Sivas. I like the music because the beats motivate me to keep pushing. The only reason I upgraded my GPS watch was for the music feature. My Garmin is linked to my Spotify and is connected with my earpods through Bluetooth so I don't have to bring my phone with me."

If you could go for a morning run with anyone in the world, who would it be?

"I would love to go jogging with Elon Musk. The guy is an absolutely genius with crazy ideas and an incredible mindset. It would be interesting to be able to have a conversation with him and see what he is like. Another guy I would love to go for a run with would be Kipchoge - he's so motivating and inspiring to listen to and watch. He must have a mindset like no other to be able to achieve what he has."