Jake naturally didn't care, he looked around and didn't see any of the athletes who were first placed in this marathon in the past and it became more peaceful if good athletes ran in the same group as him and could keep pace Jake would have to break his record in order to win.
Jake felt that he was not in his best physical condition to run this marathon, even though he had almost a full day after the plane trip to rest he still hadn't fully recovered.
This was something that had never happened to Jake, luckily he decided to come two days before the marathon, so he can rest a little longer before the marathon, so if several athletes ran with him it would be good for Jake to save energy.
Even so, the first 10 km were easy for him and for the other athletes running with him, even though his pace was fast, it was not so fast that the other athletes could not follow the first km of the marathon.
My condolences to the family and Kobe Bryant fans, he will always be a basketball legend.