Who is Sebastian Sawe? Meet Kenyan who made history at London Marathon with sub-two hour world record

A record that seemed destined to be broken one day has finally been shattered. After the London Marathon, there is officially a sub-two-hour marathon time.

Who was the first person to break the record and achieve the milestone? Kenya's Sabastian Sawe, last year's gold medalist in both London and Berlin, etched his name in the record books Sunday. Sawe defeated a field of 38 other elite runners en route to becoming the new world record holder.

Here is what to know about the toppling of this long-standing two-hour window.

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Who is Sabastian Sawe?

Sabastian Sawe is a Kenyan long distance runner who now holds the time for the fastest marathon run in a competitive, city race. He beat Kelvin Kiptum's previous world record time by over a minute.

Over the past the past year, Sawe has three world marathon major victories, including two in London and one in Berlin. Sawe also competes in half marathons, one hour runs and cross country.

Sabastian Sawe record 

Sawe became the first runner to ever break the two-hour mark in a marathon race, finishing the 26.2 miles in 1:59:30.

He became one of three racers to beat the previous record in the London Marathon alone, joining Yomif Kejelcha as the only two with a sub-two-hour time and Jacob Kiplimo as the three to beat Kiptum's record.

Sabastian Sawe marathon pace 

This record-setting time had an average pace of 4:33 per mile. For reference, the world record for just one mile is 3:43. 

For metric system users, that's 2:50 per kilometer.

Fastest marathon times in history

Prior to Sawe, Kelvin Kiptum set the record in 2023. Here are the top five men's marathon times ever.

Sabastian Sawe height and weight

World Athletics does not publish these details for its athletes, so Sawe's height and weight is not currently listed in any forum.

Sabastian Sawe shoes 

In an April 23 press release, Adidas claimed that the shoes Sawe used for the marathon are "the lightest and fastest racing shoes Adidas has ever created." They weigh 97 grams, with the idea of elite athletes in mind.

For London, Sawe wore the Pro Evo 3, a shoe that has undergone a few changes and a few records in earlier races. At the Berlin Marathon in 2023, the Pro Evo 1 set a record in the women's race. Tigst Assefa ran a 2:11:53 time with those shoes on to set a new women's record.

Sabastian Sawe career highlights 

Sawe's three major wins are certainly the greatest career highlight for the Kenyan runner.

He also narrowly missed a Kenyan national record in the one hour run and has gold medals from 2023 in the Riga half-marathon and the World Cross Country Championships.

Where is Sabastian Sawe from?

Sawe is from Barsombe, a small town in Western Kenya. This is a region that produces many of the world's best distance runners and Sawe is no exception.

Barsombe is part of Uasin Gishu County, a region that has produced dozens of elite athletes. These include gold medalists like Noah Ngeny and Emmanuel Korir, a Boston Marathon winner in Sharon Lokedi and the previous marathon world record holder, Kelvin Kiptum.