Kenyan Sebastian Sawe won the London Marathon today but, more importantly, also became the first human ever to break the two-hour barrier in a marathon: right in front of Buckingham Palace, he stopped the clock at 1:59:30 after 42.2 kilometers.
Even before the start of the marathon, there was speculation that a sub-2 hour finish might be possible, but about halfway through the race, that pace seemed almost unattainable when Sawe passed the midpoint in 1:00:29. Ten kilometers later, Sawe was still running about half a minute too slow to break the sub2 barrier, but then followed a series of dizzying accelerations, eventually resulting in a finish of 1:59:30. This means he ran the last half marathon in 59 minutes.
In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge already ran under two hours, but that was during a choreographed event where ideal conditions were simulated, and therefore the time was not officially recognized. At the time, Kipchoge had a group of dozens of pacemakers who could constantly rotate, a car projecting the pace onto the ground with a laser, an ideal course, and even ideal weather conditions. Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 back then, so Sawe has now broken even that time.
In London, the runner-up also finished under two hours: Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha took the silver in a time of 1:59:41. Jacob Kiplimo from Uganda, who was also seen as a favorite beforehand, finished third in 2:00:28.
The world record was also broken in the women’s race. The Ethiopian Tigst Assefa recorded 2:15:41 after a lightning-fast race.
