Marathon Madness: The First Official Sub-Two-Hour Marathon

Sunday, April 26, 2026, will go down as one of the most historic days in marathon history. In a single race, three men and one woman ran faster than the previous world records, the only event to have both male and female records broken simultaneously.

First Official Sub-Two-Hour Marathon

A marathon is a 26.2-mile endurance race. For many, completing it once is a monumental achievement. While the global average finishing time is roughly four and a half hours for men and women combined, or about an average pace of 10 minutes and 18 seconds per mile, the new marathon world record maintains a 4-minute 33-second pace across the 26.2 miles. This is an average pace of 13.16 mph, a speed many runners can’t hold for a single mile.

Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe set a new men’s world record for the marathon in a time of 1:59:30, making him the first person in history to run an official sub-two-hour marathon. Just 11 seconds later, Yomif Kejelcha finished in 1:59:41, making him the second fastest marathoner and the second athlete to go sub-two hours in the marathon. Even so, in third place, Jacob Kiplimo finished in 2:00:28, which put him seven seconds ahead of Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record.

Sawe bettered the previous record by more than a minute.

A Podium Unlike Any Other

For second-place finisher Kejelcha, this year’s edition of the London Marathon was the first marathon he has run in his entire career. In an interview before the race, the 31-year-old marathon debutant was jokingly asked if he was going to run a time of 1:59. Kejelcha responded with, “I don’t think so… [In my] first marathon [it] is not possible.”

Kejelcha was the previous half-marathon world record holder until that record fell in March to Kiplimo.

Jacob Kiplimo, the man who finished third, was proud of his competitors: “We are always brothers, so we always need to be happy; when someone does something, you have to congratulate them.”

When asked if he himself could be the next to go sub-two hours, he said, “I think everything is possible because now no human is limited.”

For Sawe, his record is something not to be forgotten… [and] will remain in my mind forever.” The day after the race, in an interview with ITV News, Sabastian Sawe believes a time of 1:59:00 is possible, mentioning that his body wasn’t sore the next day. He also mentioned his breakfast the morning of the race was two pieces of toast, honey and tea. As nutrition becomes an increasingly more popular part of the sport of running, this more traditional diet intrigues many.

Marathon History

Since 2011, the men’s marathon world record has been dominated by Kenyan athletes who’ve reset the record six different times, taking the record from 2:03:59 down to Sawe’s 1:59:30.

During the same event, the women’s world record was also broken. Twenty-nine-year-old Tigst Assefa shaved nine seconds off her previous record to finish in 2:15:41. This is for the women-only record. Translated from Amharic, the Ethiopian backs herself, “When I think about the competition, there’s no secret to my success. I’ve trained hard, and because of all the hard work I’ve put in, I’ve achieved this level of success.”

Through all the chaos, some attribute the records to the new Adidas shoe, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, a $500 pair of previously unreleased shoes weighing only 97.27 grams, which is lighter than a deck of cards. This new shoe debuted at the London Marathon, where Sawe, Kejelcha and Assefa all sported the footwear.

With a new top three fastest times in men’s marathon history, along with the new women’s-only world record, no one knows what will happen next in the world of distance running, or how far these records can be pushed.