Unless you’ve been running with caribou in northern Alaska or cycling with pumas in Tierra del Fuego the past week or so, you probably know the sub-two-hour marathon has finally arrived.
It happened in London by not one but two men.
There’s talk of new supplements, better training plans and flat courses with perfect weather conditions.
But as they used to say in the old Michael Jordan TV commercials, “It’s gotta be the shoes!”
In the case of the London Marathon, shoes might have been the biggest factor.
The winner, Sabastian Sawe, wore a pair of Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3s, which weigh less than four ounces. Plus they’re equipped with the best carbon plate insole money can buy and, at $500 a pair, that’s saying something.
Sawe finished the 26.2-mile course in one hour, 59 seconds and 30 seconds. Another Adidas client, Yomif Kejelcha, finished just 11 seconds back.
Did we mention this was Kejelcha’s first marathon?
One interested observer back here in Bucks County is Tony Pereira, a Newtown resident who’s about to run his eighth Abbott World Marathon Major event, this one in Capetown, South Africa later this month.
Pereira wears a comparable shoe, the Nike Vaporfly, so he knows a thing or three about the recent advances in shoe technology.
“I just think it makes you run better,” Pereira said. “I felt the difference right away. These carbon plate shoes really help you improve your overall time. If you’re concerned about improving your time, it will definitely help you.”
People are already comparing this moment to the one back in 1954 when Roger Bannister was the first to break the four-minute mile.
Scientific tests show the carbon-plate shoes can improve times up to four percent.
“The Alphaflys have really helped my overall time,” Pereira said. “These go for about $300.”
Pereira believes there are even faster times on the horizon.
“I can see sub-1:59,” Pereira said. “It’s just a matter of time. I have no doubt. It’s only another 30 seconds, that isn’t much. Anything’s possible.
>Baglieri completes challenge
Speaking of London, that’s where Christen Baglieri recently took home her Abbott World Marathon Major six-star medal.
Previously she had run New York, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo and Berlin.
The 46-year-old Yardley resident ran a PR 3:30, taking more than three minutes off her personal best.
“Definitely higher mileage,” she said of her training. “Also slowed down my runs so they weren’t as stressful.”
Baglieri had some 12 family members on hand for the historic occasion.
About an hour and a half before she hit the finish line, Sawe and Kejelcha had battled it out.
Baglieri said she found out when she was standing in line for her treasured Abbott medal.
“That was crazy,” she said with a laugh. “I was waiting in line and the gentleman in front of me told me. That was incredible. Unbelievable. They had great conditions. It was a little cooler for them.”
While she’s proud of what she’s accomplished, she hasn’t ruled out Australia or Capetown, which would also give her eight.
“I would love to continue on,” she said. “I would love to do Sydney, Capetown and (when finalized) Shanghai in the future once they get the nine-star medal in the works. That will be amazing.”
Baglieri serves as a counselor at an elementary school in Manalapan, N.J. and a co-running coach with Megan Brogan at Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School.
She and her husband, Brian, have four children: Tyler, 20, a junior at Penn State; Cameron, 17, a senior at Pennsbury High School; Evan, 14, an eighth grader at Pennwood Middle School and Leila, a second grader at Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School.
The Abbott medal completes a lengthy challenge of races around the world for Christen.
It started five years ago with hiring a coach, Chris Strait and his company “Straitspeed.”
“He’s been amazing,” Baglieri said, “in coaching me and supporting me. Giving me the belief I could do it. Part of the journey is definitely mental, believing in yourself.
“Honestly, it was something I never thought I would be able to really accomplish because of the travel, the responsibilities. But somehow it all came together in an amazing way.”
She ran for the charity “Whizzkidz,” an organization which raises money for mobility equipment such as wheelchairs for kids.
What does earning the six-star medal mean to her? From a logistical standpoint, it’s a challenge just setting up planes, cars, hotels, meals, etc.
“It’s actually unbelievable that it all came together,” Baglieri said. “But it’s definitely a moment of pride, accomplishment and just honestly awe.”
>Izewski breaks Broad Street record
Doylestown native Josh Izewski won the 2025 Broad Street 10-Miler but he wasn’t completely happy.
He ran that event in 46 minutes, 13 seconds, good but not what he was shooting for. That was the course record, which was 45:12.
So this year he upped his training and it paid off last Sunday. He complete the course in 45:08. Oh, and he won going away.
Mission accomplished.
The 36-year-old suffered a leg cramp around Mile 8 or he might have broken the 45-minute mark.
This victory goes right up with his eighth-place finish in the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, where he finished eighth.
“The training’s been going well,” he said in a telephone conversation from North Carolina where his training is based. “Had a feeling that the race would go well. But you never know until you’re out there running.”
Any changes in the training?
For one thing, he had been running for Zapp Endurance for the better part of a decade but that project folded.
He moved over to Durham, N.C. and hooked up with some new people.
Good health has also played a part. He has – knock on wood – been injury-free this calendar year, which is a refreshing change from previous years where it was one thing after another.
“I had an injury coming off pacing (the Chicago Marathon),” he said. “But since January I’ve been healthy. To have 15 weeks of good health kind of surprised me.”
He’s planning to run the Philadelphia Distance Run in the fall. Looking ahead, he wants to take part in his second Olympic Trials and there will be extra incentive because the Games are on U.S. soil in Los Angeles.
As for Broad Street, he knew what pace he needed to set the record.
“I was running about 4:30, 4:31 pace,” he said. “I got a cramp at eight miles, so I had to work that out for about a mile. And that cost me the sub-45. I was confident at nine miles I would get in under the course record.”
Where does he have it ranked in his personal accomplishments?
“This is definitely the best race I’ve ever done,” he said. “It’s an American best, fastest time ever run by an American for 10 miles. And I believe it’s the 10th-fastest time in history.
“So it’s definitely one of the prouder runs I’ve had.”
>Race calendar
Saturday
Great Peace Valley 5-Miler/5K, 8 a.m., Chalfont. Contact www.runsignup.com
Sunday, May 17
26th annual Kiwanis-Herald Sesame Place Classic 5K, 1-mile, Sesame Sprint, 7 a.m., Middletown. Contact www.sesameplaceclassic5k.com
Be the first to comment