In September 2025, 30-year-old Sebastian Sawe was already confident that he would run the marathon in Berlin under two hours. Sawe was in top form, the German capital has also regularly been the scene of world records. The heat made his dream impossible. The Kenyan did win, in a time of 2:02:16.
More than six months later, the Kenyan still succeeded. He wrote history in London on Sunday by finishing in a time of 1.59.30. The number two, the Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, also stayed under two hours: 1.59.41. Afterwards, Sawe spoke to the BBC about “a day never to be forgotten.”
It is also such a day for athlete manager Jos Hermens (76), who guided, among others, two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge. “I’m still a bit confused shake,” he says by telephone NRC. Hermens was near the finish line on Sunday when Sawe crossed the line. “Everyone here realized: this is a historic moment. It was special that I was able to experience this.”
In 2014, Hermens launched the ambitious Sub2 project with sports scientist Yannis Pitsiladis. The idea: to have top athletes run a marathon under the best conditions in a time of 1:59:59 or faster. They were soon surpassed by the more financially powerful Nike, but important developments gained momentum, partly thanks to Hermens.
‘Old clogs’
Hermens mentions the two essential developments: better footwear and sports drinks richer in carbohydrates. According to him, athletes used to run “in old clogs”. His project and that of Nike developed shoes with midsoles (foam) and a carbon plate. “Your foot sinks with the foam, and then bounces back with the carbon plate.” According to Hermens, it provides a bouncing and therefore accelerating effect and better recovery. “Haile Gebrselassie (the best long-distance runner at the turn of the century, ed.) could hardly walk for a week, he suffered so much damage.”
A normal sports drink contains 7 to 8 percent carbohydrates, Hermens also explains. If a producer used to put in a higher percentage, the athlete would get stomach problems. Hermens: “Then you will puke. But the new sports drinks contain 16 percent carbohydrates. They are encapsulated and pass through your stomach. They only break down in the intestines and then go to the muscles. So you can absorb twice as many carbohydrates. That is a huge amount.”
According to Frank Futselaar (34), professional athlete who has won National Championships at several distances, measured training and the professionalization of personal training schedules also play a role. “Certainly in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, the balance between hard training and science-based training is becoming more and more balanced.” According to Futselaar, the runners get more rest days and more medical tests take place.
According to Futselaar, who is also an anthropologist, the achievements of Sawe, Kejelcha and other Kenyan, Ethiopian and Ugandan runners are also related to culture in addition to talent and specialized training. According to him, runners from the three African countries feel increasing pressure to perform, partly because there is more money in the sport. “They therefore have a life that is all about running. When I am in Kenya, I see them running until they puke.”
‘Doping is cancer’
This pressure also has a downside: large-scale doping use, especially in Kenya. Sawe himself regularly faces doubts and suspicions, but tries to remove them as much as possible. By speaking out about it – “doping is like cancer,” he said last year The Guardian – but also by constantly getting tested – he even paid the global doping authority AUI for this. Hermens has no doubt that Sawe achieved his time fairly. “Today I had a conversation with the AIU. They said: Sawe is checked so often, there can be nothing wrong with him.”
For Hermens, due to all the developments, the question was not if, but when a marathon runner would run under two hours. He says it could have even happened much earlier. „[Kelvin] Kiptum already almost had a world record. If he hadn’t had an accident, he would have already set the world record.”
Hermens emphasizes that the running world is far from fully developed: he still sees plenty of improvements in the field of training. And developments with the encapsulation of bicarbonate, which prevents acidification, are in full swing, according to him. “That will help. There is also the mental issue. Runners will now think: if he can do it, run under two hours, I can do it too. I expect that people will run even faster in the coming years.”
According to Futselaar, the women will not be left behind for long. “There will be a very broad group of women who will run under 2.15 hours. That will take some time, but that is what will happen.”
