Sebastian Sawe breaks World Marathon record, becomes first man to run under 2 hours
Kenyan marathoner Sabastian Sawe has broken the world record at the London Marathon, becoming the first man to run in under two hours.
Kenyan marathoner Sabastian Sawe has broken the world record at the London Marathon, becoming the first man to run in under two hours.
Sawe, a heavy favourite in the race, finished the race in 1:59:30 to officially smash the marathon world record of 2:00:35, held by the late Kelvin Kiptum at the Chicago Marathon in 2023.
In one of the most extraordinary races in recent times, Ethiopia’s Yofin Kejelcha also completed the marathon in under two hours, clocking 1:59:41, to become the first Ethiopian runner to clock this monumental record.
The race began at a controlled but ambitious tempo, with a leading pack featuring Sawe, Yomif Kejelcha, Jacob Kiplimo, Tamirat Tola, Amos Kipruto, and Deresa Geleta running in close formation through the early stages.
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The group passed 5km in 14:14, 10km in 28:34, and reached halfway in 1:00:29, still tightly bunched as they maintained world-record pace.
By the 30-kilometer mark, there were signs of something special as the pace intensified, with Sawe and Kejeicha pulling away from the rest of the pack. Kiplimo was trailing behind as the race entered its critical phase.
Sawe eventually broke off, and with just over a mile remaining, he broke away from Kejeicha to finish the line alone. His winning time of 1:59:30 shaved 65 seconds off the previous world record of 2:00:35 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.
Impressively, Sawe’s run also surpassed Eliud Kipchoge’s famous 1:59:41 exhibition run, making it the first official sub-two-hour marathon performance in history.
Previously, Sawe was crowned the World Marathon Majors (WMM) series champion for 2025 after winning both London and Berlin in the same calendar year.
On the other hand, his 2:02:05 in Valencia (2024) was the second-fastest debut in history at the time, trailing only Kelvin Kiptum’s 2022 performance.
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