Dear Jon, you are a very talented young man and artist. How would you describe what you do?

Thank you! But I'm quite sure it's not correct to label me as an artist. I think it's a reserved title for a different group – but maybe one day I'll qualify! I'm (mostly) a photographer doing mostly commercial work. But within that I try my best to keep my own signature in edits, angles, lighting, crops and selection. I'm also not great with questions of introspection and self-description like this!

Do you mostly find inspiration from others in the same field or from across arts?

I draw most of my inspiration from other fields and across different media. Notably it's been from some photo artists (I can recommend the "Provoke" movement and books like "Solitude of Ravens" by Masahisa Fukase and "Men in Cities" by Robert Lungo), movies from directors like Kubrick, Bergman, Tarantino, music videos of my youth (MTV-era), the chaotic energy of Vine and Youtube in recent years, alongside the epic calmness of mountains and the sea. By the looks of it, my inspiration is a complete mess of solitude, hyperactivity, calmness, ancient, analogue, modern and digital. I hope I'll manage to get my own recognizable footprint somewhere in that mix... However, within my field there's definitely still a lot of people i draw from. To mention some great sources that have been pushing the visual language of sport lately I would say Andres Sanjuan, Mac Scott, Achille Mauri, Rory Griffin, ENT.TV., Axel Pelletanche, Adam Ridgeway and others. Just ask!

What is the most important aspect of portraying running through your lens of artistry?

I aim to shoot something real. Some effects might be exaggerated – like shooting with hard flash in broad daylight or other manipulations, but it needs to highlight some kind of emotion that I can empathize with. Emotions first, products after. In other fields "cool" might be equivalent to "polished", but in running I think it's the opposite.

What do you enjoy the most about Copenhagen?

Logistics, probably! It's a small big city, so you get your expensive matchas, your perfomative fashion, your scandinavian design, your museums and concerts, the best and the worst of a vibrant city, but you also get to the ocean, the forest, gravel paths within just a couple of kilometers no matter where you are, you can even get to the airport in 20 minutes for 5€, and you feel very safe pretty much anywhere at any time.

How does an average weekday in the city look like for you? Where do you spend your time when not at home or work?

Currently I must admit that I simply just work and run a lot, and travel a lot for both work and running... So I don't even know what an average day without work looks like anymore.

What is the best thing about the city you get reminded about whenever you travel to other places?

How easy it is to train in Copenhagen! It's a runners' city with a lot of diversity for training (albeit, no mountains...).

How is Copenhagen as a city to run in? Both from a practical and more holistic perspective?

Practically it's great. As mentioned before, you can get a lot of diversity in your training without too much effort. When I was in Tokyo some months ago, I was invited to join a track session with Track Beats – the track was about 90 minutes away by any way of transporting yourself, and the session started at 9pm in order for everyone to make it off from work. In Copenhagen, office hours are more flexible and you have a great spot for training just 2-3 km away from you no matter where you are. From a holistic perspective, I also think it's great. There's a great number of committed opinion-leaders in the city. NBRO has been pushing the culture for more than a decade, and it seems like every month theres a new run club opening their doors with new ideas and energy. And then we have a strong foundation of athletics clubs in the city that drives more of the traditional, no bullshit culture of running as well (clubs like Sparta, FIF, BAC and so on). You can train in a structured traditional way, you can find a group with strictly social runs, and you can find something in between with heartbreaking workouts and heartbreaking parties.

You train with TTTT, a training group established recently. It seems like a tightknit group of great friends. How would you describe the group, how does it make you thrive as a runner?

We are actually already approaching our one year anniversary – the group was founded in October 2024. Our group name is an acronym for our two weekly sessions: Tempo Tuesday and Technical Thursday. We have a coach for each weekly session helping us with guidance towards better running technique and better getting in better shape as the race-year progresses. It almost felt counter-culture when we founded the group, as the main goal was not to create an open space, but to create a group of people with "elite tendencies", but either with real jobs or without talent. Some are unlucky enough to have both. The group is made from a diverse pool of people; some are medical doctors, we have a police officer, some finance bros, a few models, one has a restaurant, one is a coffee roaster, some are creatives, others doing PhDs. It's a great mix. 50/50 between men and women. How it makes me thrive? It gives me some locker room banter, accountability and some friends that makes the hard sessions a lot of fun. I'm not super social, but the group makes it social in exactly the way I prefer: with a purpose! And I think it makes me a stronger runner as I'm definitely one of the slowest in the group. Makes me feel real good about myself when I (rarely) can join some of the big guys' sessions.

How would you describe the running scene in Copenhagen? From a beginner to amateur to elite perspective?

Copenhagen must be one of the best places in the world for the beginners, amateurs and sub-elite! Easy accessibility to good places to train and a lot of brands push for activations in Copenhagen, making it ever more interesting to follow along and be part of the running scene. However, I think it's also a very underwhelming place for the elites. Something is off. The mass of sub-elites is huge in Denmark, and I'm sure NBRO would beat the crap out of any larger running community world wide in any road race. But the talent mass of the "true" elite is more limited – it looks as if they don't get the sufficient support and attention from brands and media. The brands seem very proactive and creative when it comes to supporting retailers, communities, influencers, yet they seem very slow and reactive when it comes to supporting the elites or emerging elites. For instance, Jacob Simonsen only got a professional contract last year AFTER breaking the national record on the marathon distance (2:07:51). He'd already been national champ on many occasions and multiple distances over the years, yet no one was ready to support him. The same for a guy like Jonas Gertsen. He's been training in Portland for a few years and consistently running sub29 on the 10k – yet it's only been a couple of weeks since he's gotten a professional contract. And now he's back in Copenhagen with realistically only 2-3 people he can train with, since the elite talent pool is so limited here. Elite support is very underwhelming here. But for people on my level, I think the opportunities are so rich!

What should I see visiting CPH for the first time?

You should swim in the canal, no matter the time of the year – if it's in the cold season, just find a sauna and do a session with a cold plunge. If you come during the CPH half, I definitely think you should come and see the ADIBAKERY. A collab space between Skipper Bageri and Adidas Running. Together with Hyld Studio and PLATES, I will be launching a magazine on display in the bakery during the weekend. Go, go, go! See our work and get yourself some buns with butter and cheese like all the locals do.

Which meal or restaurant should I not miss?

Baka d' Busk! My favorite restaurant.

What should I do after the race sunday?

Beer.

Where should I hang out?

I don't know – I'll be working all weekend... See the itiniary for inspiration?

What do you hope to see for cph half next year?

I have some running-political hopes that might get me in trouble with those in power. But the sponsors seem very keen on "protecting" the cph half brand, often threatening smaller actors with law suits whenever they communicate about the race. That applies both to (some) retailers, (some) brands, (some) small running communities. I really hope they will let their guards down, so other organizers don't have to communicate so restricted and artificially about the event with fear of being prosecuted. It's a big communal event connecting so many people across cultures, and from my POV it'll only be more interesting, authentic, shareable if people with ideas don't feel afraid of organizing something to expand on the culture. Culture is one of very few things that doesn't get smaller even if you share it.