Ingebrigtsen skips the 1500m, no Kerr rematch this year
Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the World Ultimate 5000m in 12:59.24, then pulled out of the 1500m to protect his Achilles recovery, so the Josh Kerr rematch waits until 2027. Also: Kazimierska, Werro and Kebinatshipi take titles in Budapest, and reviewers say the Altra Vanish Carbon 3 is Altra's best racer but not a top super shoe.
The big stuff
Ingebrigtsen skips World Ultimate 1500m, Kerr rematch waits until 2027
Jakob Ingebrigtsen will not run the 1500m at the World Ultimate Championships, one day after winning the 5000m in 12:59.24. He says he cannot go back-to-back races while still recovering from Achilles surgery, partly the same reason he did not double in Birmingham. He is still entered in the 5K at the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen next weekend. Cole Hocker, second in the 5000m, runs Sunday's 1500m final and says he is better at that distance right now anyway.
coming from a very difficult last two years with injury problems and Achilles surgery, I'm forced to be more sensible than I would like to be.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen doubled at 9 straight major championships from 2022-25. But, just as at Euros, he will only run one race at World Ultimates.
I’m better at the 1500m right now than I am in the 5K. Obviously I have a race in my legs now, but it’s nothing I haven’t done before.
Races and performances
Kazimierska and Werro win World Ultimate titles, Hiltz third, Kebinatshipi runs 43.39
Klaudia Kazimierska won the World Ultimate 1500m in Budapest in 3:57.55, holding off Georgia Hunter Bell (3:57.72) as both closed their last 400m in 57 seconds, with Nikki Hiltz third in 3:58.16 and the top nine all under 4:00. Audrey Werro won the 800m gun to tape in 1:55.88 over Keely Hodgkinson (1:56.26) and Femke Broeders-Bol (1:56.74) to finish her outdoor season undefeated. Collen Kebinatshipi took the men's 400m in 43.39, fifth on the all-time list, and Marileidy Paulino came from dead last at 200m to win the women's 400m in 49.08. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won the 100m in 10.62 and Kenny Bednarek beat Oblique Seville 9.85 in the men's race (LetsRun's Day 2 roundup).
Hodgkinson closed well to overtake Broeders-Bol on the homestretch and take second in 1:56.26, but she couldn’t catch Werro who completes her undefeated outdoor season with another flawlessly-executed race.
Before 2026, record for most sub-44s in one year was 4 (1992 Wattts, 1995 MJ). Kebinatshipi had 6 in '26. And his fastest was his very last one.
Shoes, gels and gear
Vanish Carbon 3 is Altra's best racer yet, still short of top super shoes
The Run Testers put 70 km on the Altra Vanish Carbon 3 ($240, 238 g in a UK 8.5, 40 mm heel stack, 4 mm drop, full-length carbon plate) and call it the most they have enjoyed an Altra, but say it feels ponderous at fast paces and lands short of median racers like the New Balance SC Elite V6 and Brooks Hyperion Elite 6, more a trainer-racer than a race-day shoe. kofuzi reviewed the ASICS Sonicblast 2 ($190, 230 g, 46 mm heel with an 8 mm drop, a trampoline pod (a pocket in the forefoot built for bounce) under FF Turbo Squared foam) and says it is much improved over the original and bouncy for threshold sessions, but the $200 New Balance SC Rebel does the same job at a higher level and is worth the extra $10. Separately, one r/RunningShoeGeeks poster with 50 km in the Asics GT-2000 15 (38/30 mm stack) calls it a very good mild-stability daily trainer with a narrow toe box.
This is Altra's best racing shoe yet
60 to 100 grams heavier than most of the racing shoes in my size.
executing it on a higher level
Quick hits
Broadcast gave unbeaten Paulino a 37% win chance, Gault says scrap the graphics
The World Ultimate broadcast's win probability graphic gave Marileidy Paulino, who has not lost all year, a 37% chance to win the 400m, and David Melly, Jonathan Gault and Chris Chavez all posted the number in disbelief. Gault said the graphics need to be scrapped if that is what they churn out, in his post, and LetsRun followed with a second graphic it called 100% inaccurate.
Magness says super shoes and drug testing explain the US 5000m surge
After the five Americans in the World Ultimate 5000m final went 2-3-5-6-7 within 0.35 seconds of each other, per Gault, Steve Magness posted five reasons the US is now the best 5K country in the world, in his words. He credits better coaching from high school up, super shoes shrinking the running economy edge he says East African lower-leg structure gives, improved drug testing he says has hit Kenya hard, top talent leaving the track for road money early, and a belief shift, in his thread.
Dalilah Muhammad, 36, makes the 400m hurdles final in her expected last race
Dalilah Muhammad ran 53.79 for fourth in her semifinal to reach the World Ultimate 400m hurdles final at 36, in what CITIUS MAG says is expected to be the final race of the 2016 Olympic champion's career. Jasmine Jones led all qualifiers in 52.77 and Anna Cockrell took second in her heat in 53.31, so three Americans line up in the final.