“I Can Run Even Faster!” – Kenya’s Super Athlete Sawe Confidently Says
When the great Eliud Kipchoge ran the first sub-two-hour marathon on October 12, 2019, in Vienna, Austria, during the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, he emphatically proclaimed, “No Human Is Limited”.
Kipchoge completed the 42.195-kilometre distance in 1:59:40 but the time was not record-eligible as the run was held under controlled conditions, including rotational pacesetters and a course with just 2.4 metres of incline.
Exactly six years, six months and 14 days later, compatriot Sabastian Sawe not only surpassed the milestone, he broke the barrier in historic style.
Sawe clocked 1:59:30 to become the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours in a competitive race.
He shaved off 62 seconds from the old world record set by the late Kelvin Kiptum of 2:00:35 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon on October 8, 2023.
On Sunday, April 26, under ideal weather conditions, Sawe actualised Kipchoge’s “no limit” motto, only four races into his marathon career.
Astonishingly, despite the odds-defying milestone previously thought unachievable, Sawe said he could have run even faster.
Which is powered by just “two slices of bread, honey and tea”, which he revealed in an earlier interview as what he had for breakfast.
"It's possible to run faster yesterday." 😳👟
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 27, 2026
After becoming the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon in a competitive race, Sabastian Sawe believes he could have gone even quicker than his London Marathon record time. pic.twitter.com/PuL4KKVVKU
“How much faster do you think you could have gone yesterday?” he was asked while speaking to BBC Sport on Monday.
“Even 1:58:59 is possible. I hope in future we will be able to run faster; it was possible to run fastest yesterday.”
Sawe made his debut in distance running in 2022 at the Seville half marathon as a pacemaker after ditching track racing under Italian coach Claudio Berardelli, who recognised his marathon potential.
He surprisingly went on to win the race in a course record time after dropping off the elite athletes he was pacing within the first 10km.
On his marathon debut in 2024 in Valencia, he ran the second-fastest marathon debut in 2:02:05.
He maintained the impressive streak the following year, clocking 2:02:27 in London and 2:02:16 in Berlin in 2025.
Sawe, whose short running record had already placed him among the greatest marathon runners to ever walk the earth, was targeting the world record in the Berlin race, but sweltering heat scuttled the bid.
Running in the now iconic Adidas Adios Pro 3 shoes, which weigh just 97g — 30 per cent lighter than the previous model — Sawe, 31, said he was well prepared for this year’s London Marathon, but the world record came as a surprise.
Welcome to a new era of fast.
— adidas (@adidas) April 27, 2026
The #Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. Now officially the sub-2-shoe. pic.twitter.com/yOCWO9zXRJ
“It was not in my mind… because I was not thinking to run a world record,” he said, describing it as “a day to remember”.
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Sawe broke the two-hour barrier alongside Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who, despite running in his first-ever marathon, crossed the line in 1:59:41.
To demonstrate just how fast the race was, even third-place finisher, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, broke the previous world record by seven seconds, finishing in 2:00:28.
The milestone was celebrated worldwide, with Larry Madowo of CNN remarking that “Kenyans invented running“.
BREAKING VIDEO: Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe becomes the first person ever to win a regular marathon in under two hours, setting a new world record at the London Marathon in 1:59:30!
— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) April 26, 2026
Kenyans invented runningâ„¢ pic.twitter.com/esN8QAwWmm
The London course, considered slower than Berlin and Chicago, had not witnessed a men’s world record since 2002.
Eight of all the world records set since 2003 have been in Berlin, with Kiptum breaking the series two decades later when he set the 2:00:35 time in Chicago in 2023.
“I Can Run Even Faster!” – Kenya’s Super Athlete Sawe Confidently Says
