What recreational runners can learn from Sebastian Sawe's record-breaking marathon nutrition
- Rebecca
- May 13
- 6 min read
Where were you when the first person ran an official sub-2 hour marathon? I was snuggled up on my sofa, under a duvet, dealing with a nasty bout of flu. I'm glad about that, because it meant I got to watch history in the making. Sawe's speed over the final 5km — well, the whole race — was something else. He looked strong, and I believe him when he says there's more to come.
A lot has been made about the shoes. They no doubt played a huge part. But as a sports nutritionist, what I found most fascinating was his fuelling plan — and how much of it translates directly to recreational runners preparing for their own events.
I work with runners and triathletes of all levels. Looking at what elite athletes do and finding the lessons that apply to everyone is something I genuinely love. So here's what Sawe's nutrition strategy can teach the rest of us.
First, a quick reminder about how your body fuels itself
Your body uses a combination of fat and carbohydrates for energy. The harder you're working, the more it relies on carbohydrates. The problem is that carbohydrate stores are limited — which is why fuelling during long efforts is critical if you don't want to hit the wall. If your race or long run is going to last longer than about 75 minutes, you need a fuelling plan.
Lesson 1: you need a plan — your plan
Sawe spent 12 months working with scientists from Maurten, testing to understand his energy expenditure, how much carbohydrate he could absorb, and logging his food intake to design both his race strategy and his training diet. He had a plan built entirely around him.
Most of us can't access 12 months of scientific testing — if only. But the principle is the same. Your smartwatch will give you a broad idea of how much energy you're burning in training. There are apps that help you to track what you eat and break down your macros. The fundamentals — matching your intake to your expenditure, fuelling your training consistently, not just your races — are available to all of us.
In my experience, this is one of the most overlooked areas of endurance nutrition. Eating enough to support your training load — not just race-day fuelling — is where many athletes fall short. It makes a huge difference to how you feel across a training block, how well you adapt, and how you arrive at the start line.
"Matching your intake to your expenditure is one of the most overlooked areas of endurance nutrition. It makes a massive difference to how athletes feel when they're training for a big race."
Lesson 2: how much fuel do you need during a race?
For anything lasting longer than 75 minutes, you need to fuel during the effort — not just before it. And you need to know going in how much you're going to take on, what you're going to use, and when.
Not that long ago, 60g of carbohydrate per hour was considered the gold standard. Scientific advances have shown the body can absorb significantly more than that — provided it's a blend of glucose and fructose — and elite athletes are now routinely taking on well above 100g per hour. Sawe averaged 115g per hour across the entire race.
There's still a performance advantage at higher carbohydrate intakes, but there's also risk: the more you take in, the higher the risk of stomach problems. Which brings us to the most important lesson of all.
TOP TIP: How to approach your own race-day carbohydrate intake |
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Lesson 3: race week nutrition is more than a pasta dinner
Carb loading gets misunderstood constantly. It's not eating a big bowl of pasta the night before your race. It's several days of eating very high amounts of carbohydrate to maximise what your muscles can store — giving you extra fuel when you need it most.
Sawe used Maurten's Drink Mix 320 during his carb loading phase — drinks are excellent for getting extra carbohydrate in without feeling overfull, and that particular product contains 80g of carbohydrate per 500ml. You don't need to use the same product, but the principle — systematically increasing your carbohydrate intake in the two to three days before a race — applies to everyone racing for longer than 90 minutes.
Race morning
A lot was made of Sawe's light breakfast of toast, honey and tea. It's a brilliant choice — plain, carbohydrate-rich, familiar. But it wasn't his whole race-morning strategy. He was back on the Drink Mix 320 on the way to the start, and took a gel just before the race began. The goal of race morning eating is to top up glycogen stores and account for any energy you'll use before you even cross the start line.
This principle applies whether you're running a 3:30 marathon or an ultra: eat something familiar on race morning — something you've eaten before every long training run. Gels and sports drinks are useful here precisely because they contain nothing your gut doesn't need: no fibre, no fat, nothing that tends to cause problems when you're working hard.
RACE WEEK TIPS |
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Lesson 4: train your gut
Sawe fuelled every 5km — a marker he used to stay consistent even with the pressure of race day. He averaged 115g of carbohydrate per hour. Most recreational runners manage around 30g, and some take nothing at all.
He could do this because he'd practised. For months. That's the lesson.
Very few people can stomach high carbohydrate intake while running without preparation. The jostling makes GI issues almost inevitable if you haven't built up to it. You get bored of the taste and stop fuelling consistently. You feel nauseous and back off. Sawe's team spent 32 days in Kenya specifically working on his gut tolerance alongside his training.
You don't need to go to Kenya. But you do need to treat your gut like something that needs training — because it does. Use every long run as a practice run for your race-day fuelling strategy. Start with whatever you can comfortably manage, even if that's just 20g per hour, and build up gradually from there.
"Start small — anything is better than nothing. If all you can tolerate is 30g per hour, that's better than trying to consume 90g and spending valuable time in the portaloos."
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR GUT: Step by step |
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The bottom line
Sawe ran a sub-2 marathon. You're probably not going to do that. But the principles behind his nutrition approach — a personalised plan, consistent training diet, structured race week eating, and systematic gut training — are the same principles that will make your next marathon, ultra or triathlon feel significantly better than your last one.
The gap between what the elites do and what recreational runners do isn't really about access to technology or support. It's mostly about attention to detail and consistency. And both of those are entirely within reach.
If you're building towards an event and want to work on your nutrition in the same structured way — whether that's a one-off consultation, or a full training block package — I'd love to help. Book a free 15-minute call to talk through what would work best for you.
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