Sabastian Sawe runs 1:59:30 marathon
- Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe won the London Marathon on April 26 in 1:59:30, becoming the first runner under two hours in record-eligible race conditions. - Sawe cut 65 seconds off Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:00:35 world record; runner-up Yomif Kejelcha also broke two hours in 1:59:41 on debut. - The race also produced Tigst Assefa’s 2:15:41 women’s-only record in London. (worldathletics.org)
Sabastian Sawe ran the London Marathon in 1:59:30 on Sunday, becoming the first athlete to break two hours in an official, record-eligible marathon. (worldathletics.org) The Kenyan defended his London title from 2025 and took 65 seconds off Kelvin Kiptum’s previous world record of 2:00:35, set in Chicago in October 2023. (worldathletics.org) (espn.com) Sawe did it in a race that was legal for record purposes, unlike Eliud Kipchoge’s 1:59:40 exhibition in Vienna in 2019, which used rotating pacers and other non-record conditions. (worldathletics.org) (espn.com) The pace was aggressive from the start. The lead group hit 5 kilometers in 14:14, 10 kilometers in 28:34, and halfway in 1:00:29 before the race broke open after 30 kilometers. (worldathletics.org) Sawe and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha separated from the field with a 13:54 split from 30K to 35K, then ran 13:42 for the next 5K. Sawe made his decisive move with one mile left. (worldathletics.org) Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41, which World Athletics called the second-fastest marathon ever and the fastest marathon debut in history. Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo was third in 2:00:28. (worldathletics.org) (olympics.com) All three men beat the old official world record. That compressed the top of the race into the fastest podium ever recorded in a marathon under standard competition rules. (espn.com) (worldathletics.org) The women’s race also produced a record. Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa won in 2:15:41, lowering her own women’s-only world record, with Hellen Obiri second in 2:15:53 and Joyciline Jepkosgei third in 2:15:55. (worldathletics.org) (olympics.com) London had already become one of the deepest spring marathon fields, but April 26, 2026 turned it into the site of the first legal sub-two-hour performance. Sawe said after the finish, “It is a day to remember for me.” (worldathletics.org)
