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News & Current Events Apr 26, 2026 at 2:36 PM

Kenya's Sabastian Sawe is first person to run sub-2-hour marathon to win in London

Posted by untamedlazyeye



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Tuesday_Night_Club 1 day ago +84
Yomif Kejelcha also ran it under 2! Came in 11 seconds after Sawe. Pretty phenomenal day.
84
noscreamsnoshouts 1 day ago +18
Did the specific day help? I know nothing about marathon running, to be clear. But it seems pretty fenomenal that not one but two people broke this record in one day. So I'm wondering what made (or helped make) this happen? Did weather conditions play a role? Have there been recent developments in gear or nutrition?
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INTERESTandAMBITIONS 1 day ago +79
A third male also broke the world record, just not under 2 hours. A woman broke the world record also. Weather for the day was good, but London isn’t known for being the fastest course out there. All 3 of the men and the top woman finisher were all wearing Adidas’ new Evo Pro 3 so make of that what you will. Crazy day though.
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Commercial-Co 1 day ago +21
That new shoe has some wild technology behind it. Plus super light
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INTERESTandAMBITIONS 1 day ago +4
Yeah seems like it could be the biggest jump in tech we’ve seen since the original vapor fly almost 7 years ago
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muunshine9 1 day ago +16
I read comments in another thread saying that the weather was beautiful, plus the London Marathon ends slightly downhill of where it starts (although still within an allowable margin for setting the record).
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House_of_Gucci 1 day ago +27
You’ll see it broken a lot more often now that it’s been done. Sports psychology
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noscreamsnoshouts 1 day ago +9
Wait how does this work? Does the body, in a way, "need permission"? Needs to know that it's possible?
9
tabidots 1 day ago +22
Sort of. “Endure” by Alex Hutchinson explores this topic (along with other mental elements of endurance). Bannister’s 4-minute mile is the most famous early example of this phenomenon. No one thought it was possible, he did it, then a bunch of people started doing it. Zooming out a bit, the brain will generally nope out at some point as a “safety valve” of sorts because it thinks you might be about to hurt yourself, even when you could actually push it a bit further without getting hurt.
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FlutterbyTG 1 day ago +2
The eighteen foot pole vault mark also.
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DreadWolf3 8 hr ago +1
It is also simply technology advancing - new shoes allow for much more efficient running.
1
MadRoboticist 1 day ago +10
I've read in a couple places that weather was perfect and there was a pretty good tailwind for at least the last quarter of the race. But really this has been inevitable since Kipchoge did the sub-2 in Berlin.
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UnfortunatelySimple 1 day ago +1
I read it's net downhill as well.
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tabrizzi 1 day ago +267
1st place - Sabastian Sawe of Kenya 1:59:30 2nd place - Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia 1:59:41 3rd place - Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda 2:00:28 All 3 times broke the previous London marathon record. Something in the shoes.
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SonofJersey 1 day ago +116
All 3 broke the previous world record.
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idonteven93 11 hr ago +2
Well… actually only one broke the previous world record.
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CanWeTalkEth 1 day ago +107
Literally. New carbon material in soles returning an extra 1% of strike energy back to the runner means more efficient strides.
107
tepkel 1 day ago +43
I'm thinking of getting metal legs. It's a risky operation, but I think it'll be worth it.
43
donedamndoing 1 day ago +12
I want to get you a black cobra just to go around the neck...
12
AssRobots 20 hr ago +2
It was a gift from my roommates.
2
CanWeTalkEth 1 day ago +2
Rickety Cricket way ahead of you
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Compactsun 1 day ago +1
Bladerunner reading this: am i a joke to you. *this comment is not an endorsement of his character*
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tabrizzi 20 hr ago +1
Spring-loaded metal legs.
1
ThatGuy8754 1 day ago +21
Imagine breaking the record and coming *third*
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krunchytacos 1 day ago +10
Old soles
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Flying-Fox 1 day ago +4
You’re on the right track!
4
funtimes-forall 1 day ago +170
Wow, two runners beat the 2hr mark! I can run 10 mph for 3 minutes and it feels like my bones are coming apart.
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PurpleSailor 1 day ago +41
They did just over 13 miles per hour over the entire run, crazy! I could never beat the sub four minute mile myself.
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MultiMillionMiler 1 day ago +48
That's a sub 5 min mile for 26 continuous miles, can't even imagine. My top sprint speed is 15 mph and the longest I can hold that is like 5 seconds lol
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Drunkgummybear1 1 day ago +4
Run 100m in 17 seconds. Then do that 420 more times. Insane.
4
murmurtoad 1 day ago +47
10 mph for 3 minutes is much better than the average person already. These marathon guys are just wild.
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_goblinette_ 1 day ago +76
What a kick in the teeth that must be. Dude did something that no one else has ever done before but just so happened to do it on the same day that the other guy did it 11 seconds faster. 
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cinderubella 1 day ago +24
Maybe neither of them get it without the other one to compete with on the day. 
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crazyaznrobot 1 day ago +8
It's like Michael phelps and that other guy on his team
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UnfortunatelySimple 1 day ago +6
And 3rd place would beat the WR, other than the fact two guys beat it in the minute before.
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doegred 1 day ago +4
On the plus side though, it was his first marathon (really, though with many other races at other distances), so, y'know, not too shabby.
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One-Professor-1886 1 day ago +2
Being paced is a real thing. 
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nebrivor1 1 day ago +3
I've done a 1:43 half marathon and a 6 minute mile and that was 10 years ago and 35lbs lighter. I'd snap in half if I tried that today.
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Senna_65 1 day ago +42
At what point will humans reach the absolute physical limits? It seems every other year some superhuman-unbeatable record is broken
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XADEBRAVO 1 day ago +43
Till a year later and we find out they mainlining horse blood.
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Molly-Millions 1 day ago +29
One of the things I found really interesting about this record is the amount of extra PED testing he's undergone. I think ADIDAS spent something in the neighborhood of $50k in the last year on extra/more stringent testing for him. Not sure they tested for horse blood tho 😂
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Nadamir 1 day ago +27
I honestly think it’s just what my elite runner friend calls “freaky Kenyan genetics”. When your culture involves running long distances at high elevation, you evolve god-tier distance running ability. Add in that once a few of your people get famous for it, you’ll have lots of sports scouts looking at your people, so opportunities abound that other don’t have. And yes, my idiot elite runner friend did try and ask an elite runner if she would like to make a “half-Kenyan running machine baby” with him only to be told in the most withering tone imaginable that she was Ethiopian.
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sawyouoverthere 1 day ago +10
your idiot friend has provided you with an amazing anecdote, but I suspect it's neither the first nor the last.
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Nadamir 1 day ago +5
Why else do think he’s still my friend when he’s that stupid?
5
KDR_11k 1 day ago +4
The explanation I've seen was that running is the cheapest sport to get into and if you do get picked up it's a way to escape poverty so a lot of people in Africa do it. Of course more athletes in a discipline = higher chance of a great one emerging.
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Fallouttgrrl 1 day ago +7
Honestly I'm stocking up on rhino blood for when they do start testing for horse blood Get in on it before the rest catch on!
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XADEBRAVO 1 day ago +2
Fair play then. Just seems to happen a lot these days a while later.
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Politicsboringagain 1 day ago +1
Or you know maybe people aren't actually cheating and years of training just makes these people good. 
1
Northern-Canadian 1 day ago -3
It’s happened so many times it’s hard to care. The records are near useless.
-3
Politicsboringagain 1 day ago +1
Sounds like you're just not interested in the sport. And that's okay I find most sports that people loving boring and completely uninteresting. 
1
Commercial-Co 1 day ago
Idk but i think usain bolt’s records will be broken soon
0
WiFiForeheadWrinkles 1 day ago +18
Need a Summoning Salt video on the history of literal speedrunning
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PurpleSailor 1 day ago +14
As a former runner myself this is just amazing. The guy that came in second also had a sub 2 hour run time. 2 hours of sustained running at 13.11 mph is a hell of an achievement!
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leviathab13186 1 day ago +6
He must drink power thrust
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Icyknightmare 21 hr ago +3
It's been a long time since I last thought that Powerthirst made you run as fast as a Kenyan.
3
kstargate-425 1 day ago +13
This is absolutely insane times and this is an average of 4 minutes and 33 seconds per mile and is absolutely insane as he finished in 1hr, 59mins and 30secs. ETA: For the metric users out there it's 2 minutes and 50 seconds per kilometer
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EdisonTheTurtle 1 day ago +7
They let an X-Men villain run a marathon and are surprised he broke records?
7
Metacomet99 1 day ago
A woman from Norway, a guy from Kenya and 20000 losers.
0
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