# Sawe breaks the 2 hour barrier in the marathon at London **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** olympic-sports-track\ **Created:** [April 26, 2026, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568 "2026-04-26T13:30:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/21 "2026-04-27T02:04:03Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > Never mind 42+ km - what percentage of humans could run 100 meters in under 17 seconds? I think most people under 40 that are at least somewhat active could do 100m in 17s. Now, that pace is a 4:35 mile. That’s reasonable for D1 athletes in soccer and probably other non-track sports. I’m not and never was very athletic, but when I was in high school and playing varsity soccer I think I could have kept up that pace for maybe like 200m; doing it for 2 hours straight is at least as incomprehensible as powerlifters doing 1000lb deadlifts or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/22 "2026-04-27T02:40:30Z")
My best is an 11 minute walking mile. Which is pretty good for walking, but my running mile wouldn’t be much better. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/23 "2026-04-27T04:19:20Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Yomif Kejelcha runs his debut marathon in 1:59:42 and places second. Is it likely that Kejelcha had a good run, because Sawe did? In the sense that a pacer can help with times? Or likely that they both had good times partly because they were pushing each other? Or is it more likely it was just a good day; good weather? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/24 "2026-04-27T05:33:38Z")
All those things – good weather, pushing each other, and advances in shoe technology. You don’t get a world record because one thing goes right; you get it when everything goes right. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/25 "2026-04-27T05:51:44Z")
This is a pace that absolutely boggles my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2026, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/26 "2026-04-28T00:44:51Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > I think most people under 40 that are at least somewhat active could do 100m in 17s. I was doing 14 seconds or so in 7th grade. And I wasn’t even close to being fast. Heck, my almost 50-year-old ass might be able to pull a sub-17 sec 100 meter if I pushed it. But I probably couldn’t do it for much beyond 100 meters. Like you said, doing that pace for a marathon is fairly incomprehensible. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/27 "2026-04-30T15:04:28Z")
Here’s a good article on super shoes and the reasons the record has dropped so much lately. In a nutshell: 1. shoes 2. fueling technology 3. longer and more intense training that’s possible as a result of the first 2 4. better mindset as a result of the first 3 It says Sawe was regularly running 120 miles/week and topped out at 150 miles. That blows my mind. A typical marathon training plan for a strong amateur might top out at 50 or 55 miles. > **[How super shoes — and Sabastian Sawe — redefined the limits of the marathon](https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/article/how-super-shoes--and-sabastian-sawe--redefined-the-limits-of-the-marathon-145653101.html)** > > Yes, shoes helped Sabastian Sawe break the marathon world record — but it's not just the shoes. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/28 "2026-04-30T15:12:52Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > In a nutshell: > > 1. shoes > 2. fueling technology I think it’s mostly these two. Marathoners in the 70’s were known to do 140 or more a week. Derek Clayton especially was known for hammering his training runs. The super shoes allow faster training without the stress of the accumulation of impact forces which in turn allows more total aerobic and threshold work. Fueling tech not only allows faster overall training (and racing) pace but also better recovery. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/29 "2026-04-30T17:45:49Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > is at least as incomprehensible as powerlifters doing 1000lb deadlifts or whatever. Howard Prechtel (an acquaintance and my wife’s lifting coach), at age 57, set an endurance lifting record by lifting 1,111 pounds 5,460 times in 3 hours and nine minutes. That’s a lift every 3 1/2 seconds for 3 hours.He had that bar with the weights still on it displayed in his gym. Fucking amazing. As a senior lifter in her 40’s, my wife (120lbs) set a word record for the hip lift at over 800 lbs. Her older sister then broke that record. > **[Hall of Fame Biography – Howard Prechtel class of 1993 – USAWA](https://www.usawa.com/the-life-of-howard-prechtel/)** Here is Howard with Noi, my wife’s sister. [![](https://www.usawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/HowardNoi.jpg) ](https://www.usawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/HowardNoi.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/30 "2026-04-30T19:55:42Z")
What the hell is a back lift? Looks like an esoteric lift where it’s been documented people can lift over 5,000 lbs? Range of motion is like \<1"? Looks like what strongmen would do in a circus in cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/31 "2026-04-30T21:07:52Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > What the hell is a back lift? Basically, it’s lifting a bar by getting under nearly upright and standing up just enough to lift it off the supports. Paul Anderson claimed to have lifted 6,270 lbs in 1957, but the record has been removed from Guinness due to lack of documentation. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/32 "2026-04-30T21:12:00Z")
Yeah, I looked up some videos, never would have guessed multiple thousands of lbs was possible, regardless of the contraints. People backlifting bulls or bands; wild stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568/33 "2026-04-30T21:48:59Z")
I suspect that lifts of that sort are limited more by bone strength than by muscle-- You can get a ridiculous amount of mechanical advantage from knees that are almost straight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawe-breaks-the-2-hour-barrier-in-the-marathon-at-london/1029568.md?page=1)