Just when you thought the human body had peaked, Kenya's Sabastian Sawe decided to rewrite the rulebook. Again. This past Sunday in London, Sawe didn't just win the marathon; he became the first person ever to run a sub-two-hour marathon and actually win the thing, clocking in at a mind-bending 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds. That's 65 seconds faster than the previous men's world record. Let that satisfying number sink in.
Because apparently, one history-maker wasn't enough, Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha also broke the two-hour barrier in his first ever marathon, finishing just behind Sawe at 1:59:41. Not to be outdone, Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo crossed the line in 2:00:28, which, for context, was still seven seconds faster than the world record set by Kelvin Kiptum in 2023. It was a good day for speed, to say the least.
The Unthinkable Becomes Reality
Sawe, who is 29 and clearly enjoys winning London Marathons (this is his second consecutive title), was quick to share the glory. "What comes today is not for me alone, but for all of us today in London," he noted, probably while still trying to process his own absurd pace. He ran the second half of the race in a frankly ludicrous 59 minutes and 1 second. He and Kejelcha stuck together until the 30-kilometer mark, then Sawe decided it was time to deploy the turbo boosters, sprinting the final two kilometers down The Mall to carve his name into the history books.
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Start Your News DetoxAnd because marathon records apparently come in bulk now, the women's race also saw Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa defend her title with a blistering 2:15:41. That's the fastest time ever in a women's-only marathon, even if it was 16 seconds shy of Paula Radcliffe's 2003 course record (which, crucially, was set in a mixed race). Not to be forgotten, Swiss athletes swept both wheelchair races, with Marcel Hug snagging his sixth consecutive men's title (and eighth overall) and Catherine Debrunner narrowly beating Tatyana McFadden in a nail-biter. So, if you needed a reminder that humans are still finding new ways to push the limits, London delivered quite the package.
