1:59—Finally

This closes the historical chapter of the sub-two-hour marathon—at least until a future woman approaches the same challenge.

Dr. Phil Maffetone

At approximately 12:01 PM local London time on 26 April 2026, 1:59:30 was official. That’s about 29 years after my article titled “The 1:59 marathon” was first published. This would become a series of articles describing how breaking the elusive two-hour marathon could be accomplished metabolically and biomechanically. Few accepted it. Some even were angered by it. Soon afterwards, Alberto Salazar commented on 1:59 saying “not in my lifetime.” He is still alive today at age 67.

My thought this morning was why it took so long.

What would one say to Kenyan Sabastian Sawe in the finish area after running the first official sub-two-hour marathon? In the English tradition perhaps, “Good job ol’ chap!” or “Well done!” Announcer Norris McWhirter teased the crowd at Roger Bannister’s great 1956 race in Oxford: “Time…three minutes, fifty-nine point four seconds...As I recall, that is a new record!” 

Just like the marathon, breaking a sub-four-minute mile was considered physiologically impossible for a long time.

Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha finished second in the marathon, also under the two-hour barrier with a time of 1:59:41.

Earlier this month, a humanoid robot developed by a Chinese company set a new record by finishing a half-marathon in 50:26. This time beat the human world record by about seven minutes, marking a massive leap in robotics endurance. The robot was unshod, not wearing running shoes unlike the other robots. This was an important point made in my original article, that an unshod runner can make running 1:59 much easier. Is this what took so long? Despite Sawe wearing shoes, the idea of a great barefoot marathon had already been established: Abebe Bikila ran a world record marathon barefoot to win an Olympic gold medal—the first for Ethiopia—at the 1960 Games in Rome, Italy.

Why Shoes Do Not Make the Runner

Anthropologist Dr. Hannah Borenstein says, “East African runners wearing super shoes have outpaced global marathon records. But the shoe fervor—alongside older stereotypes about African runners’ ‘natural’ abilities—means athletes’ hard work often gets sidelined.” 

In addition, big running shoe companies have long enlisted East Africans and others by giving expensive running shoes when these young runners and their families have difficulty affording healthy food and education. But this also occurs after these would-be elite runners already developed their great gaits by growing up walking and running barefoot. This properly develops the feet, in particular the natural arch elastic energy storage/return system—an amazing mechanism we all possess but may not develop in young children who wear shoes. 

Natural Energy

In short, the intrinsic muscles and tendons in the feet contribute to this elastic energy storage and return system to improve movement economy, including running speed. It literally converts most gravitational impact forces—the pounding of each step into the ground—for additional useful running energy. The mechanism generates up to half the energy needed for the feet to keep going (the other half is derived from glucose and fat). This natural recoil energy is enough to separate the lead pack from those trailing behind, the age-group winners from the rest, or for someone to run a sub-two-hour marathon.

Modern, thicker running shoes can impair this natural energy system. And they do not contribute energy. The label ‘energy return’ was conceived as a business brand and marketing tool, not a scientific term. It’s now such a common name in the media and industry and solidified in the brains of consumers ripe for more marketing. Moreover, thicker-soled shoes can disturb our natural foot mechanics by encouraging an abnormal rearfoot or heel strike pattern. This can adversely affect the gait and increase impact stress on muscles and joints throughout the body slowing the pace and risking damage and injury. 

Shoe Harms

The real cost of shoes is a serious public health issue: overall harm just from wearing poorly-fitting footwear affects 72% of the population with pain as a common symptom.

Some also claim using high tech running shoes during competition is unfair. It’s been called techno-doping or shoe doping—no doubt part of the hidden agenda of shoe companies. The fact is, runners have longed sought to sacrifice their health for more fitness, including doping—and buying high-end shoes that retail for $500.

As a result of these problems many athletes who wear bad shoes develop muscle imbalances in the feet, legs, and areas above. From the beginning of my clinical career I have used barefoot walking and running as an effective rehabilitation to counter these imbalances. Once muscle imbalance improves, wearing flatter well-fitting shoes do not cause problems. In addition, barefoot therapy can help restore our natural elastic energy storage/return system and improve running economy.

Like Bannister’s feat, the sub-two-hour marathon will soon be commonplace among the few elites as the psycho-social reality of the sub-two-hour time sets in. Another great feature of Sawe’s time of 1:59:30 is that it bested what I called the fake sub-two-hour project from a few years ago that resulted in a time of 1:59:40. Perhaps the new undisputed marathon record can help restore road running’s natural tradition.

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