Marathon world can’t keep calm about Sawe as he sinks the two-hour barrier

The athletics world can’t keep calm over Sabastian Sawe, the intrepid Kenyan who became the first man in history to run a marathon with a sub-two timing at the London Marathon on Sunday, 26 April, finishing at 1:59:30, aided by a flat course, at the culimination of an extremely high-quality race and high powered technology which saw even the silver medallist finishing below the two-hour mark — Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha ending up just 11 seconds behind Sawe.

If two 1:59 finishes were extraordinary by any stretch of the imagination, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo also ran under the old world record (2:00:35 by Kelvin Kiptum in 2023) to become the fastest third-placer ever by nearly three minutes. And a quarter-of-an-hour before all this, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa lowered her women’s only marathon world record (2:15:41) as both retained the London crowns.

It’s common wisdom that a depth of field helps the timing in athletics as well as swimming. This was amplified by the fact that Kejelcha and Kiplimo are the two fastest half-marathoners ever — ensuring packs can be maintained for longer at faster speeds. “We had a strong team, the pacers did their jobs well,” Sawe said after the race. “I was ready because the pace was so fast, I knew something good would come.”

This was his fourth marathon major win from as many races, with Sawe running 2:02 in all of the previous three. A group of six men went through halfway on target pace (60:30) and, once the pacemakers dropped out, it became about working together. Kiplimo did not go with the breakaway by Kejelcha and Sawe on 18 miles: “It was a little bit too fast for me, because I knew that the guys that are ahead are pushing too fast,” he said. “I’m happy to be part of breaking the world’s record.”

The excellence apart, the mild weather conditions in London on Sunday morning played their part. Temperatures hovered around 13ºC at race start — the elite women went off first at 9:05 and the elite men 30 minutes later with the temperature clocking 16ºC by the finish. These were mild conditions for the East Africans, who have historically ruled the roost in marathons.

Speaking to The Athletic ahead of the race, Spencer Barden, head of elite athletes at the London Marathon, said he makes significant efforts to get the previous year’s champion back. He succeeded with Assefa and Sawe, who retained their titles from 2025 — the first man and woman to do so since Eliud Kipchoge in 2019 and Brigid Kosgei in 2020, respectively.

The other argument behind such stupendous timings this year is that it marks a decade of the super shoes era, chunky, maximalist shoes embedded with a carbon plate.  Assefa and Sawe produced the 10th and 11th marathon world records since 2017, almost as many as there were from 2000 to 2016 (12).

While it was Nike who broke the market with their Vaporfly, other brands have brought up and Adidas dominate the podiums currently. This London Marathon was no different: champions Assefa and Sawe, plus sub-two man Kejelcha, are all Adidas athletes.

They were wearing Adidas’ newly-released Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3s, an upgrade on the models which were worn for six marathon major wins and six more podium places in 2025. This design has brought in some of the pre-super shoe thinking: that weight matters most.

All these elements came together for the greatest day in marathon history. On their own, each part might account for tens of seconds. Added together, the impact is record-breaking. “It’s something not to be forgotten, it will remain in my mind forever,” Sawe said.

Men’s marathon world records: A timeline

2:04:55 sec: Paul Tergat (Kenya) Berlin - 28 September, 2003

2:04:26 sec: Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) Berlin - 30 September, 2007

2:03:59 sec: Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) Berlin - 28 September, 2008

2:03:38 sec: Patrick Makau (Kenya) Berlin - 25 September, 2011

2:03:23 sec: Wilson Kipsang (Kenya) Berlin - 29 September, 2013

2:02:57 sec: Dennis Kimetto (Kenya) Berlin - 28 September, 2014

2:01:39 sec: Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) Berlin - 16 September, 2018

2:01:09 sec: Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) Berlin - 25 September, 2022

2:00:35 sec: Kelvin Kiptum (Kenya) Chicago - 8 October, 2023

1:59:30 sec: Sabastian Sawe (Kenya) London - 26 April, 2026