Tigst Assefa posts women's-only world mark in London Marathon, Sebastian Sawe wins men's race

Running his first major marathon in unusually warm temperatures, Sabastian Sawe made it look easy.

The Kenyan runner made a solo breakaway with about 10 kilometres left and never looked like wavering in the sunshine as he cruised to victory in the London Marathon on Sunday. Sawe pulled away from a leading group of nine runners about 90 minutes into the race and finished in two hours two minutes 27 seconds.

Sawe made his move when his rivals slowed down at a drinks station, opting not to take any water despite temperatures that crept toward 18 C as the elite runners were finishing.

"I saw that was my opportunity to push," Sawe said. "And I ran well."

So well that the only rival who was able to give chase was Jacob Kiplimo, the half marathon world record holder who was making his full marathon debut. But Kiplimo was never able to get close to erasing the gap, and the Ugandan finished 70 seconds back in second place.

While Sawe is the fourth Kenyan runner in a row to win the men's race in London, he is a relatively new name to the marathon scene.

The 29-year-old Sawe's only previous marathon win came in Valencia in 2024. This was his first start in one of the six marathon "majors" — Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City — but it's unlikely to be his last.

"It does give me hope that in the future, the marathon will be so important to me, and be so easy for me," he said.

Sawe said he was a late bloomer as he focused on education in his youth before becoming a full-time runner.

"I think the secret is training well, with discipline and focus, and trusting the process," he said.

Kiplimo's debut had been much anticipated after he shattered the half marathon world record by 48 seconds in Barcelona in February,