Long-distance runner Sawan Barwal has broken India's longest-standing athletics record, clocking 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 58 seconds at the NN Marathon Rotterdam (one of the world's elite road races) in the Netherlands on Sunday. The time edged out the previous national marathon record of 2:12:00, set in 1978 by legendary Indian runner Shivnath Singh. Barwal's achievement ends nearly five decades of stagnation in Indian marathon performance and signals a new benchmark for distance running in the country.