The road to success

Euan Crumley hears the tale of how a coach from Scotland helped set Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe on a path towards the top of the marathon world

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t's the kind of moment that makes it all worthwhile and can keep a coach motivated for months. Colin Thomas was stood on the roadside behind a barrier, roughly 6km from the finish line of the London Marathon, and on the lookout for some familiar faces.

He was there to support some of the athletes he mentors, as well as friends who were taking to the streets to raise money for charity. But one particular participant that the Scot has worked with was putting together the run of his life.

As he peered down the road for signs of the on-coming elite field, Thomas was frustratingly short of information. He had seen Sabastian Sawe positioned within the lead group at the halfway mark but, with the tracking app not working as quickly as he would like, he was completely unaware of the bold and decisive move the Kenyan had made at 30km.

As the other members of the group had reached for their water bottles, Sawe opted to downshift and hit the accelerator, rapidly establishing a size-able lead as his illustrious rivals struggled to react.