I tried running Sabastian Sawe’s record marathon pace – here’s how long I lasted

Every number associated with Sabastian Sawe’s marathon record is ridiculous.

On Sunday, the Kenyan became the first runner to smash the two-hour barrier during an official marathon, posting 1:59:30 at the London Marathon.

The 31-year-old shaved more than a minute off the previous men’s record, and was even faster than the unofficial time Eliud Kipchoge ran in 2019, when the legend of the long-distance game used lasers and pacemakers as aides for his 1:59:40.

Kipchoge’s own record in an official marathon is 2:01:09, Kelvin Kiptum held the previous record with a 2:00:35, and the prospect of going sub-two in competition conditions was starting to look like mission impossible.

That is until Sawe came along to make history, defending his London title and going almost three minutes faster than his 2025 time.

Sawe’s average pace was 4:33 per mile or 2:50 per kilometre, making for an average speed of 13.16mph, or 21.17kph.

It feels hard to put that pace into perspective. It is the 100m in 17 seconds, but then doing that 420 times, and among the masses marvelling at Sawe’s achievement, I noted on social media that 21kph is just about as fast as most gym treadmills go.

So, to the gym! Inspired by Sawe, and in sheer awe of this pace, how long could I last at that world-record pace?

Heading to the gym on Monday morning, I worried it may be seconds, hoped it would be longer than a minute, and certainly wasn’t expecting to go for much longer – never mind do it for one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.

A little bit about me. I’m 34, greying (grey), with back problems, occasional knee problems, and I twisted my ankle playing five-a-side a couple months ago thinking I was still 24.

So I’m pretty much your average almost-middle-aged guy. I’ve run half marathons before, maybe 20 or so, I ran the New York City marathon – which I must include in conversation once a month – half a lifetime ago in 2009, and I would like to think I generally keep fit and can kind of run. Although I’ve never really focused on pace. Little did I know I was in for a world of trouble.

Beyond the nerves of heading into my gym and sprinting like a man possessed, I worried I was either going to fall or set the treadmill on fire with my supreme pace. Either way, I didn’t want to be That Guy in the gym drawing attention to himself, particularly as I was recording myself, too.

I needn’t have worried, in truth. The spectacle didn’t last long enough to feel like much of a tit, as I ended up running Sawe’s marathon pace quicker than Usain Bolt’s 100m record of 9.58 seconds – so that’s… something?

Eight seconds. For eight seconds I managed to keep up with Sawe, and eight may be generous. I’ve watched the footage back with Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville Monday Night Football levels of analysis, and it certainly isn’t 10 seconds.

The speed threw me. The first attempt I actually only managed five seconds, and I felt as though I was going to topple, so I went again in the hope the treadmill may have been lying.

The second attempt was my eight-second stint, and I couldn’t grab onto the sides quick enough. Even in that short span of time, I tried lengthening my stride, I tried pumping my legs a little quicker, but to no avail.

Now I wasn’t exactly expecting to push Sawe close, but clearly I was naive for even thinking a minute was possible. I went back for one more go, wiser to the pace and determined to run longer than 10 seconds.

Nah… Leave the running before the running leaves you. I couldn’t improve on my time, and I’ve now departed the gym not only with my tail between my legs but with a new-found respect for the sheer speed of these marathon runners.

I’ll firmly stay in my lane. Parkrun is calling Saturday, and in the meantime, maybe a biscuit and a sit down watching the snooker. That’s a pace I can handle.