Matthew Melloch

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

What in the world did we just see!

The 2 hour marathon barrier has been broken. Three guys went under the old world record...

Sabastian Sawe just ran 1:59:30 with crazy negative splits, closing the last half in 59:01....faster than the American Record in the half.

One of the most mind blowing performances we've seen. How did we get here?

Every breakthrough is a mixture of belief and progress.

It takes folks daring to see what's possible, surrounding themselves with a quality team and doing the work to give themselves a shot.

You've got to bet on yourself in a big way.

When asked whether he believed he could run a sub-2-hour marathon before the race, Sawe answered with one word:

"Yes."

Let's get the obvious out of the way. Performance enhancing drugs are the legitimate question mark to every breakthrough.

So Sawe did as much as he could about taking that off the table.

He and his team asked to be tested all the time. His sponsor put up 50K to the Athlete Integrity Unit. The tests are run independently, no advance notice. Over a 2 month stretch, he went through 25 drug tests.

There's always a doubt. There has to be given what we know. Hopefully there's transparency in the results. But hats off to Sawe for addressing it:

"I want to prove that I am clean when I set foot at the start line."

But how'd we actually get here where two guys went sub 2 in the same race?

1. Shoe tech

We've had a revolution in shoe technology that boosts running economy.

For years shoe companies said their shoe would make you faster and was mostly marketing. Until 2016, when it actually did.

Initial research showed a 3-4% saving in economy, while subsequent work has shown it's highly variable.

Now, it's a matching game. Find the perfect shoe for your form and you can get a big boost.

Normally, it takes years of lots of miles and strength training to boost economy.

But now we get that instant boost that not only helps boost performance but often leaves us feeling less beat up in the later stages of the marathon.

So we get a little bit less hitting of the wall...

2. The fuel

For a long time, fueling was limited by biology. You can only take in and process so much.

Then in the 2000s, researchers found if we mixed sugars, we can boost intake because they're processed differently.

Then recently, Maurten found if you use a hydrxogel, you boost utilization without GI distress anymore.

We've gone from pushing 60g/hr to 120g/hr in a few decades.

Again...less bonking.

3. Depth

A few decades ago, you spent your career racing on the track and then once your speed started to fade a bit you went to the marathon.

Now, many skip right to the marathon. That's where the money is.

And with the economy boost from the shoes, you can make that jump quickly.

More depth of talent means more competitors in their prime pushing barriers.

4. Belief

Even with the shoes and tech, a few years ago sub 2 hours seemed a long way off, until Kipchoge pushed that barrier in a series of time trials.

Yes, they weren't official races and had contrived pacing. But it absolutely shifted everyone's thinking on what is possible.

A generation of runners saw Kipchoge go for it.

Our prediction of what is possible changed.

It's mind blowing how far we've come in such a short time.

What once seemed decades away, just got smashed twice in the same race.

Hats off to Sawe, especially for addressing the scourge of doping and showing folks what is possible with a lot of hard work, some crazy belief, and some fortuitous advances.

[Chris Chavez @ChrisChavez]

OMG.

🇰🇪 Sabastian Sawe becomes the first man ever to break 2 hours in a marathon (legal conditions) in 1:59:30 at the London Marathon!

Yomif Kejelcha 🇪🇹 runs 1:59:41 in his DEBUT.

Jacob Kiplimo 🇺🇬 takes third in 2:00:28

All under the previous WR.

[Purdue Men's Basketball @BoilerBall]

ELITE!!!!

Survive and advance.

[Ryan Hammer🔨 @ryanhammer09]

That marks SEVEN Sweet 16s in the last NINE tournaments for Purdue & 3rd in a row.

People hear Purdue in March & think of FDU, St Peters, North Texas losses but Boilers have been to Sweet 16s more than most teams win games at all in the tournament.

2 games from Indy...🚂

[cobra. @cobrastats]

Purdue has now been a 4-seed or better in the last 9 NCAA Tournaments

[Purdue Men's Basketball @BoilerBall]

🏆 CHAMPIONS OF THE MIDWEST 🏆

[NCAA March Madness @MarchMadnessMBB]

BRADEN SMITH GOT THAT DAWG IN HIM 😤 @BoilerBall

(via @CBBonFOX)

[Matthew Melloch @boilerboy11]

@daily_msu @Rhymetime05 Ah, I did not know that. In that case, I totally agree it’s in play for Fears then.

Would be crazy for Braden to break it only for it to be broken immediately by Fears. Two studs!

[Matthew Melloch @boilerboy11]

@daily_msu @Rhymetime05 Does he? Genuinely asking. Without digging too deep, Braden averaged more assists when comparing frosh and soph years, and the biggest differentiator being that Braden played his entire fresh season. Seems like those gaps would be really hard to overcome for Fears

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

A 16 year old high schooler just ran 1:42.27.

I have no words.

This is the most impressive athletic feat in history.

There are no superlatives.

His performance makes high school Lebron look like nobody.

Cooper Lutkenhaus take a bow.

[cobra. @cobrastats]

If Smith maintains his career avg. of 6.5 APG through the next 2 years (including 5 postseason games), he'll finish top-10 all-time in the NCAA.

8 APG? he moves into the top-3.

Maintain this year's 9.5 APG? All-time leader.

(even with only 3 BTT+NCAA games each year)

#rstats

[Rapheal Davis @RaphealDavis3]

And all this time I thought Purdue was only good because of Zach Edey and the refs. 🙄

[Purdue Men's Basketball @BoilerBall]

Mackey Arena.

Nuff’ said.

[Purdue Men's Basketball @BoilerBall]

💥💥💥💥💥

WE'RE PLAYING FOR A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON MONDAY NIGHT!

[Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein]

One year ago, Purdue suffered the biggest upset in the history of the NCAA Tournament when it lost to Fairleigh Dickinson.

On Monday, it will play for a national title.

Anarchy?

Nope. Just College Basketball.

[NCAA March Madness @MarchMadnessMBB]

THE BOILERMAKERS ARE BACK IN THE FINAL FOUR FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 44 YEARS 😱

#MarchMadness @BoilerBall

[Matthew Melloch @boilerboy11]

I didn’t know I needed this in my life!

[ᗩᑎT ᗯᖇIGᕼT @itsAntWright]

Winning basketball

[Braden Smith @3bradensmith]

@FletcherLoyer 😂😂

[zach @zach_edey]

RUN IT BACK🔄