Sebastian Sawe, the first man to officially run a marathon in under two hours, returned to his home village in Kenya as a hero. He clocked 1h 59m 30s at the London Marathon last weekend and flew in a Kenyan military plane to western Kenya.

At a small airport perched 2,150 meters above sea level, his wife Lydia Sawe waited anxiously with a huge bouquet of orange roses. The 31-year-old runner locked eyes with her and went straight into her arms. “Congratulations, darling,” she whispered.

Sawe, who broke the world record by 65 seconds, signed a visitor book and hugged friends and locals. He was given a wreath made from the sinendet plant, symbolizing victory among the Kalenjin ethnic group, and fed fermented milk from a gourd by his wife.

“The victory last Sunday was not just my victory, it was a victory for all of us,” he said in Kiswahili. He expressed gratitude for the warm welcome.

In this high-altitude region, running is a way out of poverty. Sawe’s grandmother Vivian Kimaru competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics. President William Ruto, also from Eldoret, called Sawe’s achievement “a defining moment in the story of human endurance.”

Ruto presented Sawe with two cheques totaling 8 million shillings (£46,000) and car number plates showing his record time. Sawe gave the president one of his racing shoes with 1.59.30 written on the sole.

Emmy Biwott, a local school director, said athletes are “our cash crop.” Author Toby Tanser noted that in Sawe’s village, there are no fun runners—everyone runs to escape poverty.

Lydia Sawe, mother of three, said of the future: “I can’t even imagine. It will be so strange. We will be going somewhere. I will be someone.”

Source: www.theguardian.com