Sabastian Sawe recently made history at the 2026 London Marathon. With his 1:59:30 finish he joins the ranks of running pioneers such as Roger Bannister, the first person to ever run a mile in under 4 minutes.
In addition to his dedication to training and the lightest, fastest marathon shoe ever, Sawe and Swedish brand Maurten teamed up to plan and implement the perfect fueling strategy to rewrite history. And it really paid dividends.
RTTF readers should know how important fueling is for distance runners. With dozens of articles available on the topic, you may have stumbled upon at least one before, like marathon fueling strategy. And if you’re a podcast listener, during the April 24, 2026 episode of the Tread Lightly podcast, coaches Amanda and Laura covered the topic of fueling from race distances ranging from 5K to the marathon.
Sebastian Sawe’s triumphant performance is another example of just how important fueling is.
But it didn’t just start on race day. For many months leading up to Sawe’s recent achievement, fueling was at the pinnacle of importance for the Kenyan stalwart.
12 Months of Gut Training
Over the last twelve months, Maurten made six trips to Kenya to work with Sawe and help design and implement the ideal fueling strategy to make history in London. They performed extensive tests involving Sawe’s exogenous carbohydrate uptake, energy expenditure, running economy, VO2 Max and blood lactate levels.
Sawe kept detailed food journals to keep track of what he was eating, and compared against his training logs to ensure maximum energy availability.
As a result of the extensive testing, Maurten nutritionists came up with a detailed and personalized race-day fueling plan. The aim was to train Sawe’s gut to take in a high amount of carbohydrate every hour, with the end result being the optimal ability to utilize carbohydrates for fuel on race day.
During training he routinely took a Maurten Gel before long workouts with Maurten Drink Mix 320 at set intervals during training runs.
It was reported that Sawe took in 105 carbs per hour during his attempt at the 2025 Berlin Marathon. The hope here was to increase his carbohydrate intake from 105 grams per hour to 115.
Two days prior to race day Sawe consumed Maurten’s Drink Mix 320 in the morning and evening. Each Drink Mix 320 contains 80 mg of carbs per 500 ml serving, and once it hits the stomach acid the liquid turns into Maurten’s Hydrogel to keep from feeling like you have liquid shifting around in your gut.
On race day he consumed Maurten’s Bicarb system early in the morning, this is intended to delay muscular fatigue by reducing acid buildup in muscles.
On the way to the starting line Sawe consumed another serving of Drink Mix 320, with a Gel 100 five minutes before the starting gun. He consumed small amounts of Drink Mix 320 at 5-kilometer intervals throughout the race, adding in a caffeinated gel to his drink mix at the 20 kilometer mark.
The detailed graphic below lays out Sawe’s fueling strategy for his historic London Marathon performance.
Maurten’s products are a mainstay amongst marathoners, ranging from Elites to your average everyday runners. The hydrogel technology does help with GI distress. The mild flavor is a nice bonus, and offers an alternative to other gels where complex flavors often leave us trying to wash them down with 3 or 4 cups of water as we shuffle through a crowded aid station.
To learn more about fueling for your best performance, check out some of the links to fueling articles. If you’re more of a podcast person, there’s a link above for that too!
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