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FastestThings

Men's Marathon

Sabastian Sawe

Kenyan marathoner. World Athletics records 1:59:30 at the London Marathon on 26 April 2026.

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Race time

1:59:30

Men's marathon, TCS London Marathon, 26 April 2026. World Athletics results mark WR.

OfficialWorld Athletics (opens source in a new tab)

This list

Why it's so fast

A marathon is an aerobic race. The fast times come from runners who waste very little energy at a pace they can hold for just over two hours.

  1. Running economy

    At this distance the limiter is oxygen and fuel, not the start. A runner who uses less energy at the same pace can stay there longer.

  2. The course and the day

    A record needs a legal course, pacers within the rules, and weather that is not fighting the runner. The entry names the race.

The record on this list is Kelvin Kiptum.

This is how the category works. A note written for this entry appears here once it is in the database.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 1:59:30Ranked figure

    Men's marathon, TCS London Marathon, 26 April 2026. World Athletics results mark WR.

    Official
    World Athletics (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Country
Kenya
Event
Marathon
Mark
1:59:30
Race
London, 26 April 2026

Context

Background

World Athletics' report and its results page both print 1:59:30 for Sabastian Sawe at the London Marathon on 26 April 2026. Olympics.com prints the same time and the same day. Sky Sports also prints 1:59:30. The ranked time is 7,170 seconds, which is 1:59:30.

Kipchoge's 1:59:40 in Vienna in 2019 was an exhibition with rotating pacers. World Athletics and Olympics.com both say that run was not eligible. It is not a row here.

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.