Sabastian Sawe crossing the finish line (Picture: Reuters) Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe became the first athlete to run a sub two-hour marathon in a competitive race as he made history at the London Marathon. Sawe, 30, finished the iconic 26.2 mile course in a time of one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds, more than a minute faster than the previous record holder. Runner-up Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopian also broke the sub two-hour mark, finishing in 1:59:41, but had to settle for second place against a brilliant and history-making Sawe. Sawe held a world-record pace at the halfway mark and remarkably sped up over the second-half of the run to beat Kelvin Kiptum’s previous record of 2:00:35, set in 2023. Kenya superstar Eliud Kipchoge ran a marathon in under two hours back in 2019 but his effort was not record-eligible as it was achieved using a team of rotating pacemakers. ‘First of all I want to thank the crowds,’ an ecstatic Sawe said. ‘They helped a lot. You feel so happy and strong and pushing. ‘What comes for me today is not for me alone but all of us in London. I saw the time and was so excited.’ Kenya’s Sawe during his record-breaking run (Picture: Getty) Asked whether he believed he was capable of running a sub two-hour marathon, Sawe added: ‘Yes. We started the race well. ‘Approaching finishing the race, I was feeling strong. I remember my fellow champion lead was so competitive. I think he was the one who helped a lot. ‘Finally reaching the finish line, I saw the time, and I was so excited. I think today shows me a lot the first for everyone, and I am so happy for today. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sabastian Sawe becomes first person to run a marathon in under 2 hours","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/04\/26\/8274954514094862886\/480x270_MP4_8274954514094862886.mp4","description":"Kenya's Sabastian Sawe became the first athlete to run a sub two-hour marathon in a competitive race as he made history at the London Marathon.\n\nSawe, 30, finished the iconic 26.2 mile course in a time of one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds, more than a minute faster than the previous record holder.","duration":"T54S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/04\/26\/12\/108171025-0-image-a-5_1777201814300.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-04-26T12:08:07+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); ‘Coming to London for the second time was so important to me and that’s why I prepared well for it. What I had done for four months came today to be a good result.’ Meanwhile, BBC commentator Steve Cram said: ‘This is history in the making. Nobody has ever done this. They said it couldn’t be done. ‘A historic performance. Just Incredible. I have never seen anything like that. That you would say is unbelievable, but we have just seen it. I’m lost for words, genuinely. Sawe, far right, at the start of the run (Picture: Getty) ‘There are things that happen in sport where you want to be there to see it. ‘Roger Bannister the first ever four-minute mile. Those who were there on that day still tell that story today. We did say it was a day for records. The world will never be the same again. ‘Remember that Sabastian Sawe was injured in the autumn and only started training properly in January they said and realised in February he was going to be fit enough to come back to London and perform well. A moment we thought we would never see 🤯Sabastian Sawe has become the first person to run a marathon in under two hours in race conditions. pic.twitter.com/mSYj4P1BLG— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 26, 2026 ‘The question marks were still here and he had a great field against him. It’s absolutely incredible, I’ve never seen anything like that. ‘What a finish. You would say that is unbelievable but we’ve just seen it.’ Paula Radcliffe, Britain’s former women’s marathon world record holder, added: ‘This will reverberate around the world. Sabastian Sawe splits per 5km at London Marathon 5km: 02:51 10km: 02:53 15km: 02:55 20km: 02:51 Half: 02:52 25km: 02:53 30km: 02:53 35km: 02:47 40km: 02:45 42km: 02:40 https://www.instagram.com/p/DXl5D85DB1r/?hl=en ‘The goalposts have literally just moved for marathon running and where you benchmark yourself as being world class. I did think that mark could be beaten but not today. ‘It is a lesson to everybody out there. We say don’t go out too fast and they went out smartly and paced it really well. Smart racing brought it to the line.’ In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa broke her own world record for a women-only field as she retained her London Marathon title in a time of two hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds. Marcel Hug stormed to a record-equalling eighth London Marathon victory in the men’s wheelchair race, while the women’s event was won by fellow Swiss Catherine Debrunner. For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.