Sabastian Sawe has become the first man to run an under 2 hour Marathon. The new world record was set at the 2026 London Marathon, with three men going under the old world record time.
Kenyan
Sabastian Sawe has won the London Marathon with a new world record time of 1.59.30. This marks the first time a human has ran the marathon in under 2 hours in an official race.
We've come a long way as a species in the last 130 years, as in 1896 at the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens
Spyridon Louis of Greece smashed the marathon world record by over 12 minutes to be the first man to run under 3 hours with a time of 2.58.50.
Sawe was not the only man to go under the magic barrier, as Ethiopia's
Yomif Kejelcha achieved the same fantastic feat with a time of 1.59.42. Even third-placed
Jacob Kiplimo managed to beat the previous world record of 2.00.35 with a time of 2.00.27.
The old world record holder is sadly no longer with us to give his thoughts, as
Kelvin Kiptum perished in a car accident in 2024 at just the age of 24. One would imagine he watched the race with pride from the heavens as his fellow countryman did what once seemed impossible.
This was not the first time a sub 2-hour marathon has been run, as
Elias Kipchoge's time in 2019 was not deemed to have been run in official enough conditions to be a world record.
The Women's London Marathon provided us with history as well, as Ethiopia's
Tigst Assefa also ran a fantastic world record of 2.15.50. The time is a world record where there was no male pacesetter.
