From left Kenyan marathoners: Sabastian Sawe (PB 1:59:30) Kelvin Kiptum (PB 2:00:35), Eliud Kipchoge (PB 2:01:09), Dennis Kimetto (BP 2:02:57), Wilson Kipsang (PB 2:03:23), Patrick Makau (PB 2:03:38 and Paul Tergat (PB 2:04:55)
When the late Kelvin Kiptum set the world abuzz with a marathon world record in Chicago on October 8, 2023, two former holders of this vaunted record made a bold prediction.
Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum poses after the press conference ahead of the 2023 London Marathon.
Legendary distance runners Paul Tergat and Patrick Makau forecast that a sub-two-hour marathon would be attained sooner rather than later.
Kiptum, aged 23 then, had shattered Eliud Kipchoge’s marathon world record of 2hr 1min and 9sec set last year in Berlin, winning in Chicago in a blistering 2:00:35.
Kiptum died in a tragic road accident on February 11, 2024, in Elgeyo Marakwet moments after announcing plans for a sub-two-hour marathon attempt at the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14.
The sub 2hr run came to pass on Sunday when Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe majestically won the London Marathon in 1:59:30.
Kenya's Sabastian Sawe celebrates with a shoe after winning the men's elite race at the London Marathon in a new world record time of 01:59:30 on April 26, 2026.
Second-placed Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha timed 1:59:41 while Ugandan Benjamin Kiplimo finished third in 2:00:28, to finish inside Kiptum’s record.
However, Tergat and Makau reckon that it will now take some time before Sawe’s world record is shattered.
The marathon world record has now been broken 53 times since the ratification of the first record run over the distance 118 years ago.
Incidentally, the first official marathon world record was set by American Johnny Hayes of 2:55:18 at the 1908 London Olympic Games, the same streets where the first sub two-hour time was achieved on Sunday.
In fact, the London Marathon has produced 11 world records.
Kenyans have broken the marathon world record eight times.
Tergat was the first Kenyan to own the world record when he broke Moroccan-turned-American Khalid Kannouchi’s three-year-old record of 2:05:38.
Tergat blew away the field to win the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:04:55 on September 28, 2003, making history as the first man to run under two hours and five minutes.
The man he took away the record from, Khannouchi, had first broken the world record with a time of 2:05:42 in the Chicago Marathon on October 24, 1999, while racing as a Moroccan before lowering it three years later in London.
“It was like a dream of someone coming under 2:05, but I did it. It is now a reality that with the improved shoes technology, great pacesetting, the two-hour barrier has been broken as I predicted in 2023,” said Tergat.
Tergat, who also broke the half-marathon world record thrice, noted that the fast times athletes are posting now can also be attributed to more runners running, more races being held and good management.
“Watching Sawe run in the streets of London in sunny conditions was amazing because the British capital has always been cloudy, cold and sometimes rainy during the marathon,” said Tergat, whose best performance in London were second place finishes in 2001 and 2002.
“Sawe’s time is breathtaking. It brought a sense of joy like the one I had when I went under two hours and five minutes. It wasn’t just a world record but history unfolding in real time,” said the 56-year-old Tergat, a Kenya Defence Forces colonel.
Tergat, who used Nike Air Zoom Katana II to break the world record in 2003, noted that his shoes had thin soles compared to today’s thick ones but near paper weight.
“Science and technology are the way to go, but used correctly. Access to modern facilities like the gym and tartan track for speed work contributes to these performances,” said Tergat.
PHOTO | ODD ANDERSEN | AFP Patrick Makau of Kenya celebrates after winning the 38th Berlin Marathon on September 25, 2011 in Berlin. He set a new world record in an official time of 2hr 03min 38sec.
Makau, who became the second Kenyan to break the world record, said that good nutrition in training and during the races has also contributed to faster times.
“Athletes are observing a good diet backed up by nutritionists, unlike our time when we really didn’t take much consideration in what we eat, to that minute detail. There are many energy drinks and energy bar jells consumed along the competition route these days, things we didn’t see during our times,” said Makau, 41.
“Sawe’s time will stay for a while unless he decides to improve it further while he is still strong now,” said Makau.
Photo/FILE
Former world record holder Paul Tergat crosses the finish line to win the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon at Ojiyama stadium in Otsu, western Japan in March 2009.
Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie broke Tergat’s world record with a time of 2:04:26 in 2007 in Berlin. The Ethiopian lowered his record to 2:03:59 the following year, becoming the first man to run sub-2:04 before Makau erased it with a new time of 2:03:38 in Berlin in 2011.
Kenya's Wilson Kipsang celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the Pro Men's division during the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon in Central Park on November 2, 2014, New York City. Kipsang won his maiden New York Marathon on debut to claim the 2013/2014 World Marathon Majors. PHOTO | FILE |
From then on, the record has been a Kenyan preserve with Wilson Kipsang (2:03:23) breaking it in Berlin in 2013 before Dennis Kimetto made history as the first man to chalk a sub-2:02, winning in 2014 Berlin in 2:02:57.
Winner of the women's race Ethiopia's Tigist Assefa (left) and winner of the men's race Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge celebrate on the podium with their trophies after the Berlin Marathon on September 24, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. Assefa smashed the women's marathon world record in Berlin, winning in 2hr 11min 53sec, more than two minutes ahead of the previous mark. Kipchoge's fifth win in Berlin takes him past Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie's four victories.
Then Eliud Kipchoge became the first man to run under two hours and two minutes, winning in Berlin in 2018 in 2:01:39 before improving his record to 2:01:09 in the same city in 2022.
Kiptum broke the sub-2:01 barrier with a blistering 2:00:35 in Chicago in 2023.
While Kenyans have claimed eight world records, athletes from the United Kingdom have broken the most world records, 12.
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge crosses the finish line to win the men's race at the London Marathon on April 28, 2019.
Henry Barrett was the first Briton to own the marathon world record in 1909 with his time of 2:42:31 in London, and Ian Thompson was the last from his 2:09:12 winning time at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games.
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