On Sunday in London, Sabastian Sawe crossed the finish line in one hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds. He became the first athlete ever to run a competitive marathon in under two hours. Not in some special controlled event. Under full race conditions, with 800,000 people watching on the streets of London.
This is massive. Eliud Kipchoge ran under two hours back in 2019, but that was in the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, which didn't count as an official record because it wasn't a real competitive race with other runners trying to beat him. Sawe did it the proper way. His time was even faster than Kipchoge's famous run, and 65 seconds quicker than the previous world record.
Who is this guy? Sawe is 31 years old from a small village called Barsombe in Kenya's Rift Valley. He grew up in a mud-walled house with no electricity, raised by his grandmother. He went to St Patrick's High School in Iten, Kenya's running powerhouse, but didn't even run his first marathon until 2024. Two years later, he's a world record holder.
Here's where it gets crazier. Sawe was injured in January and only started serious training in February. That's roughly two months to prepare for the biggest race of his life. Most elite marathoners train for half a year or more. He did it in eight weeks.
The race itself was wild. By halfway, the pace was 1:00:29. Between 30km and 35km, Sawe and Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha broke away from everyone else. Then with just one mile left, Sawe made his move and ran away from Kejelcha alone to the finish. His second half time was 59:01, faster than his first half. That's called a negative split, and it's insane because your legs should be dying by mile 20.
After crossing the line, Sawe said: "I feel good, I'm so happy. It is a day to remember for me." He talked about how important it was to come back to London for a second attempt. "What I had done for four months, it has come today to be a good result," he said, even though he'd really only trained for two months seriously.
When did he realise he'd broken the record? "I realised when finishing the race because I had been so focused on competing with my friend Yomif. Finally, he dropped and at the finish line I saw I was there in 1:59. And that's when I realised."
The legend Eliud Kipchoge himself congratulated Sawe straight after. "Breaking the sub-two-hour barrier in the marathon has long been a dream for runners everywhere, and today you've made that dream come true," Kipchoge said. Former women's world record holder Paula Radcliffe added: "We've witnessed history being made."
Back home in Kenya, Sawe got a presidential award and a car with the number plate "1:59:30". The question now is whether anyone will ever run faster, or whether this time will stand for a generation like Kipchoge's records did.
