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    Sabastian Sawe (born March 16, 1995) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who currently holds the marathon world record. Sawe is the first person (together with Yomif Kejelcha) to run a marathon in less than two hours in a record-eligible race, winning the London Marathon 2026 in 1:59:30.

    Sabastian Sawe Biography

    sabastian-sawe-biography
    Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images

    Sabastian Sawe Kimaru, born on March 16, 1996, in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, was reared in a low-income household primarily by his grandmother.

    Sawe grew up running vast distances from an early age, as do many children in the Highlands, where running is more of a way of life than a job.

    Sawe’s consistent improvement continued on the local and regional circuits before breaking out globally in 2022.

    Career

    Sawe ran 58:02 to set a course record at the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon in March 2022. He won the 2022 Bahrain Royal Night Half Marathon in 58:58, setting a half-marathon record at the time.

    In September 2022, he achieved a Kenyan national record for the one-hour run at the Memorial Van Damme, covering 21,250 metres and narrowly missing the world record.

    Sawe placed ninth in the senior men’s race at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships.

    In December 2023, he won the 15-kilometer road race Montferland Run in ‘s-Heerenberg, Netherlands, in 42:35 minutes.

    Sawe won the Copenhagen Half Marathon in September 2024 in 58:05, setting a new personal best.

    On December 1, 2024, he won the Valencia Marathon in a world-leading time of 2:02:05.

    On April 27, 2025, Sawe won the London Marathon in a time of 2:02:27.

    This was followed in September 2025 with a victory at the Berlin Marathon in 2:02:16. In response to doping infractions by other Kenyan competitors, Sawe faced an unusual 25 out-of-competition drug tests from the AIU to battle doping accusations in the run-up to winning the Berlin Marathon.

    Sabastian Sawe World Record

    On April 26, 2026, Sawe won the London Marathon in 1:59:30, making him the first person to complete a competitive marathon in under two hours.

    Eliud Kipchoge’s prior sub-two-hour run in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in 2019 was not accepted as a valid record because it was not completed under racing conditions.

    Sawe ran ten seconds faster than Kipchoge and 65 seconds faster than Kelvin Kiptum’s previous official record.

    Sabastian Sawe Net Worth

    Sabastian Sawe’s net worth is expected to be $1 million. This amount is partly due to his successful long-distance running career, which included substantial earnings from numerous events, endorsements, and sponsorships.

    Social Media

    Instagram: @sabastiansawe

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