For decades, the idea of a sub-two-hour marathon occupied a near-mythical place in endurance sport. Like Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile, it represented a physiological and psychological frontier that seemed just beyond human reach. That barrier finally fell in an official race at the 2026 London Marathon on April 26th, when Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe ran 1:59:30, followed moments later by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in 1:59:41.