London Marathon winner decides first purchase after eye-watering bonus for record-breaking run
London marathon winner and world record breaker Sabastian Sawe has revealed what his first purchase will be after bagging a huge amount in prize money and bonuses.
On Sunday, Sawe made history when he became the first person to run 26.2 miles under two hours in a competitive race.
It was only the Kenyan's fifth career marathon, but he sauntered to the finishing line with an outrageous time of 1:59:30. The previous world record time for a marathon was the late Kelvin Kiptum's 2:00:35, while Sawe was only 10 seconds quicker than the unofficial record from Eliud Kipchoge in 2019.
The 31-year-old won the London marathon for the second successive year, but this time his winnings were much higher thanks to his incredible record-breaking exploits.
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With all bonuses factored in related to winning the race, setting a London course record and a world record and being comfortably under 2:02:00, it's estimated that Sawe pocketed £263,000.
The Sun say that he could end up netting $1million when additional sponsorship deals are factored in. An Adidas athlete, Sawe broke the world record wearing their £450 Adios Pro Evo 3 shoes.
Showing his class, Sawe's first thought after netting the life-changing sum was to look after his family in Kenya - paying to build them a house and purchase a car so that no longer have to walk around.
In addition, Sawe is covering the building of a church and future flights abroad for those around him.
His father, Simion, told the BBC with the help of a translator: "The truth is, he promised us that he is going to build us a house. And he said he would buy a car. So we won’t be walking on foot anymore.
“He also promised he would finish building the church here – and that he would help us fly abroad.”
Sawe's family watched his heroics back home in Kenya and his mother Emily said she "jumped around the house" and was "so happy".
The Sawe clan are set to celebrate properly when he heads back to his country as a world record holder.
Sawe, who was a pacemaker at the 2022 Seville half-marathon, paid tribute to the crowds in London for cheering and pushing him on to make history.
"First of all, I want to thank the crowds," Sawe told Gabby Logan in an interview for the BBC after his exploits.
"They help a lot. They helped a lot. You feel so happy and strong and pushing. What comes for me today is not for me alone but all of us in London."
Josh Lawless