Running News Daily

12-year-old Norwegian kid runs fast 10K, is this Norwegian kid the next Jakob Ingebrigtsen?

Last weekend at the Hytteplanmila 10K in Hole, Norway, (yes, that’s the name of the town), Per August Halle Haugen ran the second-fastest time ever for a 12-year-old male, clocking a new personal best of 33:18 (3:20/km).

This is the first time Halle Haugen has gone under 34 minutes. His previous best was 34:04 from earlier this year. He has been competing at road races, since there is no age-category prizing or championships for kids his age in Norway.

In Norway, kids aren’t allowed to compete until age 13, so for Halle Haugen to compete, he must do so in public road races like the Hytteplanmila 10K.

The current world record for 12-year-old boys is held by Australian Kobe Stewart with a time of 33:08. Stewart, continues to run similar times today, at age 15, as he did when he set the record in 2020.

Past studies on genetics found that both the scientific and sporting communities recognize that genetic factors undoubtedly contribute to athletic performance. Halle Haugen has serious distance-running genes: his grandfather, Per Halle Haugen, competed for Norway 40 years ago, running 13:27 over 5,000m. His mother and coach, Gunhild Halle Haugen, has PBs of 15:09 for 5,000m and 31:47 for 10K, and his older brother, Simen, born in 1999, ran 13:37 for 5,000m last year.

Sure, Halle Haugen has many years ahead of him, but on his current trajectory, he is following in the footsteps of the greatest Norwegian distance runner in history, Jakob Ingebrigtsen. 

In a feature by World Athletics in 2018, Ingebrigtsen said he’d been training like a professional runner since he was eight. He surprised everyone at age 14 when he set the age-group world record for 1,500m (3:50.57). 

Ingebrigtsen was tagged as a prodigy when he took his first steps in the sport. At 14, he clocked 3:48.37 for 1,500m, at 15 he ran 3:42.44, and at the 2017 Pre Classic in Eugene, Ore., he became the youngest athlete to run a sub-four-minute mile, clocking 3:58.07 at the age of 16. Since then, Ingebrigtsen has become the Olympic 1,500m champion and world champion over 5,000m.

We are bound to hear Halle Haugen’s name again when he begins to tear up the track in Norway when he turns 13 in 2023.

Meanwhile in Canada, 10-year-old running phenom Sawyer Nicholson made headlines after winning the Niagara Falls 5K last weekend in 18:55. Nicholson’s result is only 53 seconds back of the world record for age 10 (18:02). In an interview with Nicholson earlier this year, she spoke about her aspirations and her love for running and soccer.