About this episode

This episode explores the psychological tricks that may have helped Sebastian Sawe break the 2-hour marathon record.

On April 26th, 2026, Sebastian Sawe did what many thought was impossible.  Running the marathon in under two hours. Today on Nudge, I explain the psychological tricks Sawe may have used to break the record.  --- Become an FSB member: https://get.fsb.org.uk/nudge/ Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Join 12,199 readers of the Nudge Newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/  Buy Alex’s book Endure: https://amzn.to/3TdJv7P  ---  Today’s sources:  Blanchfield, A. W., Hardy, J., & Marcora, S. M. (2014). Non-conscious visual cues related to affect and action alter perception of effort and endurance performance. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, Article 967. Carter, J. M., Jeukendrup, A. E., & Jones, D. A. (2004). The effect of carbohydrate mouth rinse on 1-h cycle time trial performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 36(12), 2107–2111. Damisch, L., Stoberock, B., & Mussweiler, T. (2010). Keep your fingers crossed! How superstition improves performance. Psychological Science, 21(7), 1014–1020. de Morree, H. M., & Marcora, S. M. (2010). The face of…

People in this episode

Host: Phill Agnew

Topics covered

• psychology
• marathon running
• performance
• mental tricks
• endurance
• superstition

Keywords

• marathon
• psychological tricks
• Sebastian Sawe
• performance
• endurance
• superstition
• effort

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nudge, FSB, Nudge Newsletter, Nudge Vaults, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Psychological Science, Biological Psychology, Social Psychological and Personality Science

Books & works: Endure

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