World record holder for the men’s marathon Sabastian Sawe remains coy on whether he will be aiming to run faster at this year’s Berlin Marathon on September 27.
The 31-year-old’s answer to queries on whether he will be going for another world record was short and sweet.
“We’ll see what happens on race day,” Sawe said.
The man of the moment, Sawe will be returning to an event in which he first came close to breaking the world record before fizzling out in the latter of the 42km race.
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Sawe clocked 2:02:16 to win the race, falling short of the previous world record of 2:00:35, set by Kevin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.
However, that miss mattered little as Sawe wrote his name in history books as the first man to officially run 42km under two hours, clocking 1:59:30 at last month’s London Marathon.
He expressed his excitement at running in the German capital once again, saying his feat at London has whetted his appetite for road races.
“After my victory in London and my sub-two-hour performance, I can only say that I will – as always – prepare as well as possible, come to Berlin to honour this great event and the organisation that invited me, and aim to run as well and as fast as I can,” Sawe said.
Considering its flat course, Sawe’s participation in Berlin and his newfound zeal for doing the impossible are reasons enough for athletics enthusiasts to mark their calendars.
The World Marathon Majors event has gained a reputation as a ‘home of world records’, having produced the globe’s quickest man on nine occasions.
Among them are six Kenyans including Paul Tergat (2:04:55 in 2003), Patrick Makau (2:03:38 in 2011), Wilson Kipsang (2:03:23 in 2013), Dennis Kimetto (2:02:57 in 2014), Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:39 in 2018) and (2:01:09 in 2022).