Sabastian Sawe: Unique shoe that helps Kenya runner win London Marathon in record time

Kenya's Sabastian Sawe broke the two-hour mark for the first time in history on Sunday in winning the London Marathon. The defending champion was locked in a tight battle with Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha in the closing stages but surged clear to cross the line in 1hr 59minute 30second. Kejelcha also dipped under two hours, with a time of 1:59:41, with Uganda's Jacob Kiplomo third (2:00:28). Sawe, sporting state-of-the-art running shoes and spurred on by second-placed Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia, clocked a barely believable 1hr 59min 30sec to retain his London crown. It shattered by 65 seconds the previous best of 2:00:35 set in Chicago in 2023 by the late Kelvin Kiptum.

All three finished under the previous men's world record of 2:00:35 set in Chicago in 2023 by the late Kelvin Kiptum. Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in October 2019, becoming the first person in recorded history to do a sub-two-hour marathon.




But the time was not ratified as a world record because he ran with specialised shoes, standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it was not an open event.

In October 2019, Kipchoge famously broke that barrier as he timed 1:59:40 on the streets of Vienna. But the time was not ratified as a world record because he ran with specialised shoes, standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it was not an open event.


Sabastian Sawe Shoe

Sawe, wearing Adidas's new Pro Evo 3 supershoe, which weighs less than 100 grams, suggested before Sunday's race that a course record or even a world record was in his sights. He led a group of six as they passed the half-way point in a time of 1:00:29.

Sawe and Kejelcha pulled clear of the rest of the pack and stayed together until the final stages before the Kenyan kicked for home.

Sabastian Sawe Wins Berlin Marathon

Last year, Kenya's Sabastian Sawe won the Berlin Marathon for the first time, narrowly missing a personal best in just his third marathon attempt. Sawe finished in 2hr 02min 16sec, 11 seconds slower than his personal best set in Valencia in 2024.

Sawe's time is equal ninth fastest in history, but fell outside the late Kelvin Kiptum's world record time of 2:00:35 and Eliud Kipchoge's course record of 2:01:09, set in 2022.