The Secrets of the World’s Fastest Man: The Diet of the First Man in History to Run a Marathon in Under Two Hours. All Romanians have his pre-race menu at home

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By becoming the first man to break the legendary two-hour mark at the London Marathon on Sunday, Sabastian Sawe made athletics history. Since then, everyone wants to know his training and nutrition secrets. The secrets that the Kenyan and his sponsors were quick to reveal immediately after the race was over.

On Sunday, Sabastian Sawe made athletics history in London by becoming the first man to finish a marathon under the mythical two-hour mark, in a race where three athletes ran faster than the former world record. The 31-year-old Kenyan crossed the finish line in 1h59’30, ahead of Yomif Kejelcha in 1h59’41 and Jacob Kiplimo in 2h00’28.

Already a winner last year and undefeated in his four races over the distance of 42.195 kilometers, Sabastian Sawe has overcome the limits that fans of the discipline have long considered insurmountable. But then, what are its secrets? If the technological revolution contributed greatly to the setting of athletics records (the first two wore Adidas ultra-performance shoes under 100g), as well as the 200-240 kilometers run weekly, nutrition played a key role in managing this historic race.

115 grams of carbohydrates per hour

However, according to Sabastian Sawe, his pre-race snack was pretty sketchy. “I had two slices of bread, honey and tea,” he revealed. Enough to jeopardize the strategy of thousands of marathon runners who wake up three hours before the race to swallow a portion of pasta with olive oil.

In fact, this breakfast is part of a complete nutritional program established by its sponsor, sports nutritionist Maurten. According to the specialized site Citius Mag, the brand’s researchers accompanied the athlete to Kenya for 32 days during the year to develop the perfect nutritional protocol for race day.

Sabastian Sawe started consuming carbohydrate-rich energy drinks since Friday. Breakfast was taken at 6am on Sunday, which was 3 and a half hours before the start of the race. At 6:45 a.m., he ingested sodium bicarbonate to reduce the build-up of lactic acid during exertion. Five minutes before the start of the test, the Kenyan took one last gel. During the race, he drank 160ml of energy drink every five kilometers and took a caffeinated gel at kilometer 20, five kilometers before his attack.

In total, Sabastian Sawe consumed 115 grams of carbohydrates per hour. This should not give ideas to all running enthusiasts, at the risk of having very unpleasant surprises during their runs. Because not everyone is able to ingest so many carbohydrates during such intense efforts. On average, runners are recommended to consume 50-60 grams of carbohydrates per hour, with some reaching up to 90 grams.

According to Maurten, Sabastian Sawe would have missed one of the fuel stations on Sunday. What would his performance then have been if his strategy had been perfect? One will never know. But the records could continue to fall in the coming months

“Sabastian hasn’t reached his full potential yet,” his coach Claudio Berardelli told the Guardian. “It was only his fourth marathon and if we consider long-term adaptations, a process that takes time, I think Sabastian is not there yet.”

According to Claudio Berardelli, Sabastian Sawe could run under 1h59 in a more “fluid” marathon like Berlin or Chicago.