*Please also refer to the nutrition timing chart (below PDF) mentioned in the press release.
>Sabastian Sawe_London Marathon 2026_Fuel Plan
London, UK — 26 April 2026
Today, Sabastian Sawe made history — becoming the first person to break the two-hour barrier in an official marathon. With a world-record time of 1:59:30 over the fabled distance, Sawe has redefined the limits of athletic performance.
“When I go home, they always ask about my training and preparation,” says Sawe. “I haven’t shared with them my ambition to run a world record, because in our culture we don’t talk about such things in advance — only when they happen.”
While Sawe’s exceptional natural ability has been obvious to anybody who has seen him run and shared miles with him on the red dirt of Kapsabet, he is also leading a new generation of East African runners who take their fueling seriously. In this aspect, Maurten was embedded with Sawe’s team in Kenya as he prepared for London.
“It’s been an honor to work so closely with Sabastian as he prepared for this incredible achievement. The trust he and his coach Claudio put in us to get Sabastian’s fueling right is not something we take lightly,” says Joshua Rowe, Head of Sports Tech at Maurten. “Anyone who’s seen Sabastian run knows he’s an extraordinary athlete — once-in-a-generation, really. What is perhaps not as well-known is that he’s also one of the best fuelers the marathon has ever seen.”
In the twelve months from his victory in London 2025 to his line-in-the-sand London finish today, Sawe continuously tested and refined his fueling protocol — developing a strategy tailored to his body and his goal. Between April 2025 and April 2026, Maurten made six dedicated trips to Kenya — spending 32 days with Sawe.
“We left no stone unturned, really. We carried out extensive testing and analysis to guide the nutrition and training strategy,” says Rowe. “These tests included stable isotope ¹³C labeling to measure exogenous carbohydrate uptake; doubly labeled water to assess energy expenditure; running economy and VO2 max; lactate testing and blood sampling; body-composition assessments, including bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), to monitor training adaptations; ongoing training-load monitoring; thermoregulation data collection; and analysis of detailed food-intake logs to ensure sufficient energy availability. We went deep.”
Alongside the testing, the teams developed a personalized gut-training plan and a race-day fueling protocol to enhance Sawe’s gastrointestinal (GI) tolerance for the high carbohydrate intake required on race day. He took a Maurten gel before long sessions and Maurten Drink Mix at set intervals during training runs — mimicking his exact race-day schedule. This was aimed at progressively conditioning his gut — reducing the risk of GI distress while maximizing his ability to oxidize exogenous carbohydrate during competition. After months of adaptation and tweaking, a race-day fueling plan was ready.
“We wanted Sabastian to have sufficient glycogen stores on race day, so he carb-loaded with Drink Mix 320 in the two days before the start,” explained Rowe. “On the morning of the race, he ate a light breakfast, followed by the Maurten Bicarb System at 6:45, and he sipped Drink Mix 320 on the bus to the start line, then a Gel 100 five minutes before the gun. During the race, he drank 160 milliliters of Drink Mix 320 at 5 km, 10 km, and 15 km. At 20 km, he had one Gel 100 Caf 100 and 130 ml of Drink Mix 160. Then at 25 km, 30 km, 35 km, and 40 km, he drank 130 ml of Drink Mix 320. From start to finish line, he averaged 115 grams of carbs per hour.”
The result? A place in history.
Sabastian Sawe completed the 42.2km London Marathon course in 1:59:30. His pace was 2:50 per kilometer.
The data has been recorded.
During training, there are moments that give us insight into potential.
Run. Capture data. Analyze. Seek confirmation that we are on the right track.
Sometimes, the trajectory of progress is clear.
Here, you can see how the Maurten nutrition team compared Sabastian's condition during a 30‑kilometre training run—a classic marathon workout and a benchmark for measuring progress.
The success in London was no accident.
View the in‑depth training analysis (official Maurten link) >> Berlin 2025 VS London 2026
Postscript:
South China Morning Post exclusive interview
Maurten Director of Sports Technology, Josh Rowe, personally deconstructs the fueling strategy behind Sabastian Sawe's 1:59:30 world record at the London Marathon—consuming 115g of carbohydrates per hour, boosting performance by 6–8%, an effect on par with cutting‑edge running shoe technology!
Read the full article: https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/3355462/doors-have-been-opened-marathon-running-says-nutrition-guru-behind-sawes-record-run
About Maurten
Since its founding in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2015, Maurten has always put athletes first—its patented Hydrogel Technology fundamentally changes the way athletes fuel. Maurten gels and drinks use a hydrogel to encapsulate carbohydrates, delivering them through the stomach so they can be absorbed and used as fuel. The Maurten Bicarb System uses the same technology, upending decades of dogma about sodium bicarbonate. Trust your gut.