Kenya's Sabastian Sawe makes history with first sub-two-hour run at London marathon

Sabastian Sawe shattered the marathon world record in London, becoming the first man to run a legal sub-two-hour marathon with a stunning 1:59:30 finish on a historic day.

In Short

• Sabastian Sawe became the first man to run a legal sub-two-hour marathon
• Yomif Kejelcha ran 1:59:41 in the fastest marathon debut ever
• The leaders passed 10km in 28:34 and 15km in 43:10
• Kelvin Kiptum held the previous world record set in 2023.

Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe delivered one of the greatest performances in marathon history at the London Marathon, becoming the first man to break the two-hour barrier in official race conditions with a world-record run of 1:59:30.

Sawe’s remarkable victory rewrote the sport’s history books as he took 65 seconds off the previous world record of 2:00:35, set by fellow Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023. In doing so, he also became the first man to run a legal sub-two-hour marathon, surpassing Eliud Kipchoge’s exhibition mark of 1:59:41 from 2019.

Kejelcha and Kiplimo add to historic race

Sawe was not alone in producing history on the streets of London.

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41, setting an Ethiopian record, recording the second-fastest marathon in history and producing the quickest marathon debut ever.

Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo was third in 2:00:28, also inside the previous world record, as London became the first marathon in history to produce three men under the old global mark in the same race.

The depth of the men’s race underlined just how extraordinary the pace had been, with Amos Kipruto finishing fourth in a personal best of 2:01:39, Olympic champion Tamirat Tola clocking 2:02:59 and Deresa Geleta taking sixth in 2:03:23.

Fast start laid foundation for history

From the opening miles, the lead group made their intentions clear.

Sawe, Kejelcha, Kiplimo, Tola, Kipruto and Geleta moved through 5km in 14:14, a controlled but ambitious pace that immediately hinted at something special. They remained together through 10km in 28:34 and 15km in 43:10 before reaching halfway in 1:00:29.

The lead sextet stayed locked together through much of the next 10 kilometres, but the relentless tempo began to take its toll as the race moved beyond 30km.

Sawe makes decisive late move

The defining move came between 30km and 35km when Sawe and Kejelcha began to edge clear, pulling away from Kiplimo and opening a 21-second gap over the Ugandan.

They accelerated again over the next 5km, covering the stretch in 13:42 as the possibility of a sub-two-hour finish became increasingly real with every stride.

Sawe finally broke Kejelcha’s resistance with a mile remaining, surging clear in the closing stages to finish alone on The Mall and complete one of the finest marathon performances ever produced.

The Kenyan’s second-half split of 59:01 only underlined the scale of the achievement, capping a ruthless and perfectly judged title defence in one of the most extraordinary races the London Marathon has ever seen.

- Ends