At the finish line, Sawe held up sponsor Adidas’ latest ‘supershoe’ and wrote down his time next to it, acknowledging the technology that helped him along the way.
Available for £450, the Adidas Adios Pro 3 shoe weighs just 99g, making it 30% lighter than its predecessor.
The company claims 11% greater forefoot energy return and a 1.6% improvement in running economy compared to its predecessor. Tigst Assefa also wore these shoes to break the women’s record on Sunday.
But to take advantage of these statistics, Sawe runs about 200km a week at altitude (an average of almost 30km each day), and cites the increase in volume as one of the main factors in his progress.
Advances in fueling have also aided the progress of endurance events. Sawe reportedly consumed 115 grams of carbohydrates per hour during the race after eating a breakfast of two slices of bread, honey and tea.
All of this combined allowed him to cover 26.2 miles at an average pace of 2 minutes 50 seconds/km or 4 minutes 33 seconds/mile, including a 13:42 5K split from 35 to 40 kilometers as he sped toward the finish.
But with high-profile doping cases involving Kenyan athletes, including women’s marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich, he also recognized the need to instill confidence in these events.
Adidas, determined to prove it was competing cleanly, gave the sport’s anti-doping agency, the Athletics Integrity Unit, $50,000 (£36,900) to test Sawe frequently over a 12-month period.
This started with a reported 25 non-competitive tests ahead of Berlin in September and continued at a similar pace as in the run-up to London.
Sawe said on Monday: “It is very important for me because it removes any doubts about my athletics career and yesterday’s performance.
“It shows that Sabastian Sawe is clean. It’s good to run clean, and it shows that we can run clean and run faster.
“There is no doubt about Sabastian Sawe and he maintains the perception that he is a clean athlete.”
Wherever Sawe goes next, the world will be watching as the coach backs up his claims that there is more to come.
