Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Sabastian Sawe, the Kenyan long-distance runner, has confirmed his return to the BMW Berlin Marathon scheduled for 27 September 2026, where he will defend his title at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race. This announcement follows his historic performance in London, where he officially became the first athlete to complete a marathon in under two hours, clocking 1:59:30. This performance broke the previous world record by 65 seconds, which was held by the late Kelvin Kiptum since 2023, and surpassed Eliud Kipchoge’s unofficial 2019 time of 1:59:41. Sawe's marathon debut was in Valencia in 2024 with a time of 2:02:05, followed by wins in London and Berlin with times of 2:02:27 and 2:02:16, respectively. He stated his intent to prepare fully and run as fast as possible at Berlin, aiming to honour the event and its organisation.
The BMW Berlin Marathon is known as one of the fastest marathon courses worldwide, with eight consecutive men’s world records set there from 2003 to 2022. The current course record is Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:01:09 from 2022. Sawe remains undefeated in his marathon career so far, with his London sub-two-hour run marking a significant milestone for the sport.
In addition to Sawe’s record-breaking run, Yomif Kejelcha finished second in London with a time of 1:59:41, marking the fastest marathon debut ever and the second-fastest time in history. Jacob Kiplimo also finished inside the previous world record with 2:00:28. On the women’s side, Tigst Assefa defended her title successfully while improving her own women-only world record to 2:15:41.