Everybody — athletes, fans, sports brands, organisers — knew it was coming, but absolutely nobody, not even Sabastian Sawe, saw it coming in London last Sunday. It was only in the last 100m, when he could see the clock at the finish line, that Kenya’s Sawe realised he was going to become the first man ever to run an official marathon in under two hours. The 31-year-old set a new standard and world record, finishing the London Marathon in 1 hour 59 minutes 30 seconds. For context, he ran 100m in 16.99 seconds and maintained that blistering pace over 42.195km. Attempt to do it even twice over 200m and you will realise what a superhuman effort this was.
Last weekend’s London Marathon was, arguably, the craziest race ever, as Sawe wasn’t the only one on the day to run under two hours. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, 28, was second, 11 seconds behind Sawe, in his first-ever marathon. The London Marathon — not even the fastest course, Berlin and Chicago are flatter, faster — also witnessed Jacob Kiplimo, 25, run under the previous world record time, only to finish third in 2:00:28. This achievement will have widespread repercussions globally. The immediate impact was seen in Adidas’ climbing share price, as both Sawe and Kejelcha set the new benchmark in a pair of Adidas Adios Pro Evo 3, the 97-gram supershoes that will retail for about ₹50,000. Nike, the inventors of the supershoes, immediately acknowledged the new challenge on its socials: “The clock has been reset. There is no finish line.”
IMPACT ON INDIA & OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION
This will also affect qualification standards for the Olympics and other major events, says Dr Kartik Karkera, the Asian Games-qualified marathoner and orthopaedic surgeon. “All athletes are pushing hard and this will have a bearing on the qualifying times for the Los Angeles Olympics 2028. The cut-off for Paris 2024 Olympics was 2:08 and it is likely to be lower for LA, which will make qualifying harder for Indian runners,” says the 28-year-old winner of this year’s Tata Mumbai Marathon and the New Delhi Marathon.
Sawan Barwal, 28, who broke India’s 48-year-old national marathon record in Rotterdam this March, feels Sawe and Kejelcha’s performance will motivate him and other long-distance runners. “If foreign athletes can clock such times, we must also dream bigger and aim higher. But it has to be one step at a time. India has just broken its 2:12 barrier (Barwal ran 2:11:58); the next step is to get to 2:07–2:08. We can’t think about running a 2:02 marathon before pulling off a 2:06 finish. For now, my focus is on the Asian Games. We will think about the Olympics when the qualification standards are announced,” says the Asian Games-qualified Barwal, who set the national record in his very first full marathon.
Karkera is optimistic. “Indian long-distance runners are improving at a fast pace and will be running 2:05 to 2:06 full marathons in the next four years or so. My current best is 2:13:10 and I know I will improve and go faster.”
MORE THAN JUST THE SUPERSHOES
Sawe and Kejelcha’s sub-2 marathon broke a barrier once considered impossible. It is being hailed as the greatest sporting feat of the 21st century, similar to Roger Bannister in the 1950s breaking the four-minute mile barrier, which changed middle- and long-distance running. But neither Barwal nor Karkera are surprised that the barrier has been breached. “They were inching closer to sub-2 with every race. It was going to happen; it was just a matter of time,” says Barwal. Karkera also knew it was coming, not only because runners are getting better, but also because sports science, nutrition and shoe design have made tremendous progress over the last decade.
Sawe, instead of slowing down, was getting faster in the last 5km of a marathon — typically the phase when runners “hit the wall.” His pre-race breakfast might have been simple bread and honey, but his in-race nutrition was far from basic: he used water-based Maurten carbohydrate gels, which ensure sufficient fuel in the later stages. Modern nutrition, precise hydration and sports science ensure runners do not tire as quickly anymore, says Karkera. Then there are the supershoes, which make already fast runners go even faster.
“Sports science is helping current athletes push much more than was possible for previous generations. Their race hydration and nutrition are designed with precision from data and biomarkers gathered over several training sessions. The sports science team gives them the precise dosage of gels before carb levels drop (which is one of the reasons runners slow down). Runners like Sawe never drop below their threshold levels in a race, so they never quite start tiring. The right sports science team is as crucial as training, strategy and shoes,” says Karkera.
For Indian runners to catch up, they need quicker access to the latest sports science and supershoe developments. Every London Marathon winner — both men and women — was running in prototype shoes that haven’t yet hit the market. Sawe’s Adidas Pro Evo 3 went on general sale after the race. “A few years ago, when I was in Kenya, I held a pair of Nike prototype shoes in my hand. They were light, the foam was different, the entire shoe felt different… nothing like what I had seen before. Those shoes came into the market two years later. Kenyan runners had already been training in them for two years,” recalls Karkera.
THE SPORT IS EVOLVING
All these developments, along with increased interest and prize money in long-distance running, are fundamentally changing the sport. Pre-pandemic, the best and fastest marathon runners tended to be in their mid-30s. Marathon greats including Eliud Kipchoge and Haile Gebrselassie both peaked after 35. Post-pandemic, race winners and world record holders are getting younger. Sawe is 31, Kejelcha 28, Kiplimo 25, and both Barwal and Karkera are 28. The late Kelvin Kiptum was 23 when he set the previous marathon world record of 2:00:35 in Chicago.
“Long-distance runners are peaking earlier, in their early 30s nowadays,” says Karkera. “The previous generation peaked past 35 as the heart reaches its peak state around that age. With modern sports science and training, the heart is being conditioned faster — add to that younger athletes’ physiological advantage. That’s why marathon running is seeing many more younger champions and participants,” he adds. “The sport is changing.”
Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.