Growing up in the village of Radabhanker, situated in the rolling hills of Himachal’s Mandi district, Sawan Barwal didn’t have very lofty ambitions when he started running. It’s not rare to find scores of runners pounding the mountain trails early in the morning in this part of the country. It’s something most young men do in this region in preparation for Army recruitment.

Sawan though wasn’t even thinking of that. “A lot of children from my area run because they want to prepare for Army bharti (recruitment). But when I started running in school, it was just because I enjoyed running. At first, I was just happy to run. Then slowly, as I improved, my goals got bigger. I wanted to win a school medal, then a district medal, then state medal and national medal, then become an international athlete. Every time I won a medal, I kept thinking what I could accomplish next,” Sawan tells Sportstar.

On Sunday morning in Rotterdam, the 28-year-old got his biggest accomplishment yet. Competing in the Rotterdam marathon, Sawan crossed the finish line in a time of 2:11:58. In doing so, he had broken the longest standing record in Indian track and field — Shivnath Singh’s men’s marathon record of 2:12:00 set in 1978.

Sawan’s achievement is all the more remarkable considering he was making his marathon debut, having only switched to the event five months ago. It’s easily the highest mark in the career of Sawan, whose previous biggest claim to fame was a bronze medal in the Asian half marathon championships in 2023.

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While it’s a mark that’s eluded many generations of Indian long-distance runners, Sawan had been confident about setting a new national record in his first race. “Before coming to Rotterdam, I had done some research. I knew the course is very flat. I knew I had a good chance to get the record,” he says.

Growing up though, Sawan wouldn’t have thought he was going to be the one to script history. “I first started running seriously when I was in class 8th in school. I was introduced by my coach. I wasn’t thinking so much of the future. I ran because it focuses your mind and gives you a goal to chase,” he says.

It soon became obvious that Sawan had talent. He started as an 800m runner and soon progressed from the school to the state and eventually, the national level. In 2015, he finished fourth in the men’s 3,000m at the U-18 national championships. Although he hadn’t medalled, he continued running.

Although it hadn’t been the reason he started running in the first case, Sawan was eventually recruited by the Army the following year – he’s currently a havaldar with the Engineering Corps. The shift didn’t immediately transform his fortunes. He’d have to wait another five years to win his first medal – a silver in the 10,000m at the National Open Athletics Championships in 2022.

The following year, he won his first international medal – bronze at the Asian half marathon championships.

While it was clear he had potential to compete at the longest distance in Olympic track and field, Sawan held off the decision. “The first time I thought about running in the marathon was in 2023. But because we had the Asian Games that year and because I had already done well in the 5,000m, I thought I should stick to that distance,” he says.

Sawan continued to do well in the 5,000m and 10,000m, winning gold in the latter with a personal best time at last year’s National Games and then, later at the Federation Cup. But coaches continued to nudge him towards the marathon. “Last year, Scott Simmons (who had previously coached Commonwealth Games medallist Avinash Sable) suggested I try the marathon as well. I thought it might be a good chance to qualify for the Asian Games so I decided to make the move,” he says.

The shift didn’t go smoothly at first. Two months into marathon preparation, Sawan fell in the middle of a run. “I was supposed to make my marathon debut last year but because of the fall, I had to give up that plan,” he says.

This season though, the plan was to take on the Rotterdam marathon. The goal heading in was to break the national record. Sevaral senior runners said that plan was too ambitious but Sawan says he was always confident. “Because the record has stood for so long, a lot of runners think we can’t even train to run that fast. A lot of old runners told me this. But I didn’t think this time was that hard,” he says.

Indeed, in recent years, a number of runners have come close to the record. Sawan’s army teammate Gopi Thonackal ran a time of 2:12:12 at the Valencia marathon last year while Kartik Karkera ran 2:13:10 at the New Delhi marathon earlier this year. While those two had come close, at Rotterdam, Sawan would shatter the mark.

Even with the record, it’s unlikely Sawan would be satisfied. Before the race, Sawan had told Sportstar what his goals were. “I don’t think it’s enough to break the record. I would like to be able to run a sub 2:09:00 race. I also want to win a medal at the Asian Games,” he said.

Published on Apr 12, 2026