Sebastian Sawe breaks iconic sub-two-hour marathon barrier

How special Sawe broke iconic sub-two-hour barrier<div class="ssrcss-1553su4-ErrorMessage eitf6465"><div class="ssrcss-h7lv7m-StyledInnerContainer eitf6464"><div class="ssrcss-nbxsk2-TextContent eitf6461"><h2 type="normal" class="ssrcss-89o2pv-Heading e10rt3ze0">To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.</h2><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">This video can not be played</p></div></div></div>Figure caption, 'Absolutely incredible!' - Sawe breaks sub 2-hour marathon world record in LondonByHarry PooleBBC Sport journalistPublished8 hours ago386 CommentsSabastian Sawe has always had a propensity to surprise.Having never competed on the road, the Kenyan began the 2022 Seville half marathon as a pacemaker, proceeded to drop everybody within the first 10km, and carried on to claim victory in a course record time.Running the second-fastest marathon debut in history in Valencia in 2024, Sawe again hinted at his potential.That time of two hours two minutes five seconds was only 12 seconds slower than the late Kelvin Kiptum's first marathon two years earlier, before Kiptum went on to break the world record in Chicago in 2023.There were signs.But they were far from sufficient to prepare anyone for the momentous occasion which unfolded on a perfect April morning in London on Sunday.Sporting immortality, secured in 1:59:30.Speaking to BBC Sport 24 hours after making history as the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon in a competitive race, Sawe said the time came as a surprise even to him, with his focus primarily on retaining his title."It was not in my mind. I was well prepared for this year's London Marathon, but what comes surprised me because I was not thinking to run a world record."But Sawe, 31, says he can go even faster."It was possible to run faster yesterday," he said. "Even 1:58 is possible."Sawe, born in Kenya's Rift Valley, where his father worked as a maize farmer, declared it "a day to remember" after obliterating Kiptum's world record by 65 seconds.Others searched for the words to pay appropriate tribute to an accomplishment once considered impossible."Nobody thought that a sub-two-hour marathon under World Athletics conditions would be done in their lifetime," London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher told BBC Sport."This is an unbelievable day for sport. It is sport and history in the making."Former women's marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe said: "We've witnessed history being made, but it is more than that."It is an iconic barrier that there has been this discussion over for a long time about whether it is even possible."<div class="ssrcss-1553su4-ErrorMessage eitf6465"><div class="ssrcss-h7lv7m-StyledInnerContainer eitf6464"><div class="ssrcss-nbxsk2-TextContent eitf6461"><h2 type="normal" class="ssrcss-89o2pv-Heading e10rt3ze0">To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.</h2><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">This video can not be played</p></div></div></div>Figure caption, 'I am so happy' - Sawe reacts to winning London marathonSawe had to remain patient for his breakthrough, one which at times appeared might never come.Raised predominantly by his grandmother, he moved to Iten to pursue his running ambitions in 2017, but his time in Kenya's 'home of champions' failed to produce the desired results.It was at a point when his dreams could not have felt further away that he was introduced to the man who has assisted him to greatness - Italian…

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