Sabastian Sawe lit the world record on fire at the 2026 London Marathon as he became the first person to officially break two hours , clocking 1:59:30 .

Watching the limits of human performance shift was incredible and inspiring. It made me want to head out the door and test my own capabilities. But in addition to thinking about how insane it is to average a 4:33 pace for 26.2 miles, my mind also went to the fact that I’d never have a team of coaches and specialists helping me every step of the way to break my own PR.

I then asked myself: If I’ll never have all that, what can I actually take away from this performance to use in my own running—beyond maybe getting my hands on a pair of his $500 super shoes ?

Fair question, I think. Runners like you and me will likely never reach the two-hour barrier in the marathon (although if anyone reading this does go for it, we believe in you).…