LONDON (AP) \u2014 The fabled 2-hour barrier for a marathon has been broken, officially, in an once-inconceivable achievement in sports.<\/p>\n
Not by one runner, but two.<\/p>\n
In a race for the ages, Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds on Sunday, shattering the previous men\u2019s world record by an astonishing 65 seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat comes today is not for me alone,\u201d the 29-year-old Sawe said, \u201cbut for all of us today in London.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just 11 seconds further back was Ethiopia\u2019s Yomif Kejelcha, who \u2014 running in his first-ever marathon \u2014 also covered the 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) course in under 2 hours.<\/p>\n
Completing the podium was Uganda\u2019s Jacob Kiplimo, who broke the previous world-record time \u2014 set by Kenya\u2019s Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023 \u2014 by seven seconds, finishing in 2:00:28.<\/p>\n
In an exhilarating sight, Sawe ran quicker as the marathon went on, covering the second half of the race in 59 minutes and 1 second. He pulled clear with Kejelcha after 30 kilometers and then made his solo break in the final two kilometers, sprinting along the finish on The Mall to loud cheers.<\/p>\n
Sawe, who retained his title<\/a> in London, said it was a \u201cday to remember for me\u201d and thanked the huge crowds who lined the streets of the British capital to witness what might be regarded as a feat marking the peak of human physical achievement.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they help a lot,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause if it was not for them you don\u2019t feel like you are so loved … with them calling, you feel so happy and strong.\u201d<\/p>\n Under two hours has been done before \u2014 unofficially<\/p>\n Breaking two hours in a marathon has been a long time coming \u2014 and has been done before.<\/p>\n However, when Eliud Kipchoge \u2014 the Kenyan long-distance great \u2014 achieved the feat in Vienna in 2019, it was in a specially tailored race called the \u201c1.59 Challenge\u201d that was arranged by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe in favorable conditions, on a 6-mile (9.6-kilometer) circuit, and using rotating pacemakers.<\/p>\n That meant it wasn\u2019t classed as an official race setting, so Kipchoge\u2019s time of 1:59:40 didn\u2019t go in the record book.<\/p>\n In any case, Sawe surpassed that time by 10 seconds on a mostly flat course across London in dry, sunny conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goalposts have literally just moved for marathon running,\u201d Paula Radcliffe, a former winner of the London Marathon, said during commentary of the race for the BBC. <\/p>\n At the turn of the century, the world\u2019s best time for the men\u2019s marathon was 2:05:42, set by Khalid Khannouchi in Chicago in 1999.<\/p>\n Khannouchi broke his own record by four seconds in 2002 \u2014 the last time the fastest men\u2019s marathon was run in London \u2014 and it has been whittled down gradually over the last 24 years by a succession of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners, including Haile Gebrselassie, Wilson Kipsang, Kipchoge and most recently Kiptum.<\/p>\n Assefa wins fastest-ever women\u2019s-only marathon <\/p>\n A record was also set in the women\u2019s race, with Ethiopia\u2019s Tigst Assefa pulling away with about 500 meters remaining to win in 2:15:41 and defend the title in the fastest-ever time in a women\u2019s-only marathon.<\/p>\n However, it was 16 seconds slower than the course record set by Radcliffe in 2003 when it was a mixed race.<\/p>\n