He came. He Sawe. He conquered. Not so very long ago, the idea of anyone running an official marathon in under two hours lurked only in the realms of the fantastical and theoretical: part holy grail, part scientific curiosity.
But over the course of one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds of a tumultuous spring day in London, Sabastian Sawe turned it into a brain-spinning reality. Imagine running 100 metres in under 17 seconds – and then keeping that pace up for another 26 and a bit miles. That is what the 31-year-old Kenyan did.
Once jaws had stopped crashing to the floor, the search for comparisons began. Was it up there with Sir Roger Bannister’s sub-four-minute mile in 1954? Or maybe Usain Bolt’s 100m world record of 9.58sec? Neither suggestion felt entirely outlandish. For this was an act of serene beauty and supreme destruction.
Beforehand Sawe’s team had insisted their man was in prime shape, and that he would be helped by the new Adidas Adios Pro 3 supershoes, which at 97 grams are the lightest in history. But no one had expected him to completely blast Kelvin Kiptum’s previous world record time of 2:00.35 out of the water.
“I am feeling good, I am so happy,” said Sawe. “It is a day to remember. I have shown that nothing is not possible.”
Insiders told the Guardian afterwards that the 31-year-old had made more than $1m (£740,000) from his victory and world record, in prize money, appearance fee and bonuses.
Incredibly, two others were also under Kiptum’s old world time: the Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, who was just 11 seconds back in his debut marathon, and Jacob Kiplimo, who ran 2:00:28. London is not even considered that fast a course. Berlin is quicker, Chicago too. But on this day, the capital’s roads became an express highway.
And it was Sawe who led the way. At his training camp in Kapsabet, they call him the silent assassin: a man who talks little, except when it comes to racing. This was a world record that also arrived by stealth.
The leading men went through halfway in 60 minutes and 29 seconds: fast but not exceptionally so. But it turned out that Sawe was merely warming up.
Between 30 and 35 kilometres, Sawe and Kejelcha ran a stunning 13:54 for 5km to see off Kiplimo. Yet, staggeringly, more was to come as the pair covered kilometres 35 to 40 in 13:42. To put this into context, that time is two seconds faster than the 5km parkrun world record, set by the Irish international Nick Griggs.
It was only after a 24th mile, run in 4:12, that Kejelcha wilted. But still Sawe kept going. Astonishingly, he crossed the line having run the second half in just over 59 minutes.
“Before 41 kilometres, I’m enjoying, I’m relaxed,” said Kejelcha, who had won silver over 10,000m at last year’s world championships.
“My body is all great. At exactly 41 kilometres, my body stopped. I tried to push, but my legs were done.”
Sawe, though, powered on to set the fastest official marathon time in history. For good measure, it was also 10 seconds faster than Eliud Kipchoge’s unofficial 26.2 mile best, set in Vienna in 2019.
That attempt did not count under World Athletics rules as Kipchoge had a car acting as a giant windshield, and had 41 elite pacemakers in arrow formation, subbing in and out of the race, to help him draft and go quicker.
Sawe’s story is nearly as remarkable as his world record. He grew up in a remote village in Kenya, in a house with mud walls and no electricity, but always loved running. Yet he was so shy he would often hide in the school kitchen before races.
However one of his early teachers, Julius Kemei, forced him to compete and told him: “Running is not just talent, it’s your fortune, and your future.” It proved to be a stunning act of prophecy,
But it was only in his mid-20s, when he joined the 2Running group led by the Italian coach Claudio Berardelli, that he really began to fly. “Thank God, he didn’t give up,” said Berardelli. “I’m happy that no one noticed him before and eventually, through just a coincidence, he came to me. But trust me, what happened today is 90% of Sabastian.”
Questions of trust will naturally circle around this record too, given the chequered history of Kenyans failing doping tests. However Sawe’s sponsors, Adidas, have paid the Athletics Integrity Unit $50,000 to test him as many times as possible this year – because they want to show he is clean.
Under a similar protocol before the Berlin marathon, Sawe was not only tested 25 times in a few weeks, but his samples were also put through methods designed to detect tiny levels of banned drugs. And, while he was tested less before London, it is understood the AIU is still subjecting him to more urine and blood tests than other marathon runners.
The women’s race turned into a three-way sprint down the Mall, with the Ethiopian Tigst Assefa defending her title after kicking from home in sight of Buckingham Palace to win in a new women’s-only world record of 2:15:41, 12 seconds clear of Hellen Obiri.
But this was a day that was all about Sawe. As he crossed the line, he performed the sign of the cross, before clasping his hands together in prayer. The gesture felt appropriate. For we really had just witnessed a marathon miracle.
