With humidity hovering around 80 per cent, the sun slowly coming out from behind the clouds, it was a Budapest morning that Avinash Sable was looking forward to but in the end, Heat 1 for the Indian steeplechaser became a run through hell on Saturday.

Initially, Sable held his own, hovering between fifth and seventh spot as the others including Getnet Wale from Ethiopia set the pace. At the 1,300m mark, Sable was languishing at ninth. At the 2,300m mark, Sable shot into the lead. One did believe he would hold his own now with the top three, getting into the top five spots that qualify for the final.