F1 Legend Sebastian Vettel Just Ran the London Marathon in a Miraculous Time For Charity

The day’s headline belonged to Kenyan runner Sabastian Sawe, however, after he won the men’s race in 1:59:30, the first official sub-two-hour marathon ever recorded in competition, with Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha also dipping under the mark on his debut at 1:59:41. Two men under two hours on the same day, in normal racing conditions, on a course that thousands of amateurs were running at the same time.

Vettel’s Take at the Finish Line

Speaking to BBC Sport at the finish, a visibly tired but smiling Vettel said the race had felt long and that he hadn’t known what to expect going in, but the crowd support had carried him through. He told reporters: “I always wanted to do a marathon. I obviously always kept fit and did a lot of running, cycling. So I thought it’s about time, and obviously I set myself an ambitions goal which I managed to achieve.

“I wanted to be just below three hours, which I did, so I’m very happy with that. But even more so happy that I finished and having lived the experience I can only recommend for people to sign up and try to do it.”

For a first-time marathoner of any age that time is seriously impressive, and for a 38-year-old retired racing driver it’s the kind of number you don’t hit by accident. Vettel also described running in a group the whole way, and seeing Tower Bridge for the second time and realising he still had a long way to go, but said the crowd was so supportive that it really helped.

His parting advice was that anyone reading this should sign up and try one themselves. Easy for the man who just ran 2:59 to say. Then again, he did spend twenty-odd years getting paid to make difficult things look effortless, so this tracks.

Vettel won four successive drivers‘ titles between 2010 and 2013 and retired from F1 at the end of the 2022 season. Three and a bit years out of the cockpit, he’s picked up a new finisher’s medal, a charity total approaching £9,000, and a marathon time most weekend runners spend a decade chasing. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning in London.