Runner Smashes Previously Unbreakable 2-Hour Marathon Record 6 Years After Eliud Kipchoge’s Unofficial Race

Sabastian Sawe at the London Marathon on April 26, 2026
Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage

NEED TO KNOW

• Kenyan distance runner Sabastian Sawe broke the long-unattainable two-hour barrier at the London Marathon with a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds on Sunday, April 26
• Sawe finished 65 seconds ahead of the previous world record
• Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia and Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda came in second and third place, also ahead of the prior world record set by Kelvin Kiptum in 2023

At long last, a runner has finally cracked the two-hour marathon barrier.

On a sunny day in England, Sabastian Sawe of Kenya finished the London Marathon in 1:59:30 seconds on Sunday, April 26, coming in 65 seconds ahead of the previous world record and breaking the two-hour mark for the first time, according to the Associated Press.

Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia finished in under two hours as well, coming in second place just 11 seconds behind Sawe, 31. Finishing in third was Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, with a time of 2:00:28 seconds. All three runners broke the prior world record of 2:00:35, set by the late Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya in Oct. 2023.

Jacob Kiplimo of Team Uganda at the 2026 London Marathon
Credit: Alex Davidson/Getty

In 2019, Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge was the first to break two hours in a marathon, completing the distance in 1:59:40, but his time did not count as an official record because it did not follow World Athletics racing regulations.