Sawe’s and Yomif Kejelcha’s amazing results in London could act as a catalyst for more sub-2hr performances

When Roger Bannister ran the world’s first sub-four-minute mile in 1954 he predicted: “Après moi, le déluge”, which translates to “after me, the flood”.

He was right. Just 46 days after his historic 3:59.4 in Oxford, John Landy broke four minutes in Finland. Within a few years the sub-four-minute mile became relatively commonplace, too.

The sub-two-hour marathon has been described as “impossible” over the years by esteemed scientists and top-class ex-athletes. They said the same about the sub-four-minute mile.

Some leading experts suggested they would not see a sub-two-hour marathon in their life time. It was, they insisted, the stuff of science fiction. Others predicted it will “never be done”, although “never” is of course a very long time. Even Mo Farah described the necessary pace as "mind-blowing".

In the 1970 Michael Winner movie The Games, a runner called Harry Hayes played by Michael Crawford is urged to go for the ‘two-hour marathon” at the Olympics by his coach, played by Sir Stanley Baker. It is all played out in tongue-in-cheek fashion in the make-believe world of cinema, but here we are, just over half a century later, with it happening for real.

Eliud Kipchoge gave us a glimpse of what was possible when clocked 2:00:25 in a time trial in Monza in 2017. Just over two years later he ran 1:59:41 in a stage-managed time trial with multiple pacemakers on a course in Vienna that had been carefully selected due to its climate and runner-friendly nature of the tree-lined Hauptallee area of the city. Ironically, London was ruled out as a possible venue due to its unpredictable weather.

I was in Vienna to watch his attempt. Such was the attention to detail, organisers created small banked bends around the roundabouts to minimise the centrifugal forces.

When asked if other runners would follow him into sub-two-hour territory, Kipchoge said: “For sure, I believe so.”

Crucially, it had to happen in a bona fide marathon race, though, rather than a manufactured time trial.

The late Kelvin Kiptum got relatively close to two hours with 2:00:35 in Chicago in 2023. But with a scintillating display of endurance running, Sabastian Sawe smashed the two-hour barrier with 1:59:30 in London on Sunday.

What’s more, runner-up Yomif Kejelcha clocked 1:59:41 with third-placed Jacob Kiplimo also inside Kiptum’s world record with 2:00:28.

Did Sawe expect to break two hours? “Yes I was ready because the race was so fast and I knew something good would come and finally it comes,” he said. “Approaching the finishing line always there is a lot of fatigue and it’s a matter of my mind being ready.”

While Kipchoge had a manicured course, a phalanx of pacemakers and a lead car operating at precisely two-hour pace, Sawe benefited from the London Marathon’s world-famous crowds, brilliant weather with a slight tailwind in the latter stages and red-hot competition from Kejelcha, the Ethiopian still in contention until the last kilometre.

Sawe also had super-shoes were are undoubtedly an improved version of the early Nike Vaporfly models that Kipchoge and others were using in 2019. The Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 is reputed to be as a light as a new-born kitten with a foam midsole and carbon plates that propelled him into the history books.

This kind of shoe technology is only likely to keep improving, too, although old school runners will be pleased to hear that Sawe had nothing fancier for breakfast than two slices of bread with honey and tea.

READ MORE: Sawe's road to success

“We had a strong team” said Sawe, "and also the weather was so favourable and it helped us do so well today.”

Does Sawe think his run will act as a catalyst to open the floodgates to more sub-two-hour performances?

“Yes I knew my fellow competitors were not far from me in London. If I ran sub-two, I knew they would also run close to sub-two.

“I proved anything is possible.”