Sabastian Sawe WINS the London Marathon: Kenyan runner blows away men's competition - including Eliud Kipchoge - to win iconic race, while Tigst Assefa wins the women's event
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- Kipchoge, widely regarded as the best-every in his field, was battered by Sawe
- Assefa shattered the women's-only world record as she also claimed victory
Sabastian Sawe saw off a strong field to take an iconic victory in the London Marathon.
The Kenyan bettered the great Eliud Kipchoge - widely regarded as the best ever men's marathon runner - to cross the line first on The Mall.
Sawe pulled away from a leading group of nine runners about 90 minutes into the race and finished in 2 hours, 2 minutes and 27 seconds. He made his move when his rivals slowed down at a drinks station - opting not to take any water despite warm temperatures.
Jacob Kiplimo, the half marathon world record holder who was making his full marathon debut, was the only runner able to give chase but could never get close to erasing the gap. The Ugandan finished about 70 seconds back in second place.
Sawe's only previous marathon win came in Valencia in 2024. He is the fourth Kenyan runner in a row to win the men's race in London.
In the women's race, Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa won by a considerable distance on a sun-soaked morning in London, shattering the women's-only world record in the process.
The 28-year-old Assefa, silver medallist in the event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, crossed the finish line in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds, beating the previous women's-only record of 2:16:16 set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Jepkosgei, 31, finished second in 2:18.44.
The sizzling early pace was too much for reigning Olympic marathon champion and 2024 London winner Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who fell back off the leaders around the halfway mark en route to finishing third in 2:19.00.
It was a Swiss double in the wheelchair events, with Marcel Hug racing to his sixth London marathon title in 1:25:25 and Catherine Debrunner winning her third women's title in four years in 1:34:18, missing her own world record by two seconds.
A world record 56,000 runners were expected to participate in the 42.195-kilometre race that started at Greenwich Park, snaked along the River Thames before finishing on The Mall.
More than 56,000 people were expected to run the 26.2mile course on a warm day that saw temperatures rise up to 20 degrees Celsius in the capital.
Among the participants are David Stancombe and Sergio Aguiar, whose daughters Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were murdered in the Southport mass stabbing last summer.
They are raising money for projects in memory of their daughters and Bebe King, six, who was also killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July.
In a video message posted on X, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wished the pair 'the very best of luck'.
He added: 'This is an incredible way to honour the memory of your precious daughters and the entire nation is in awe of your courage and your resilience.
'We'll all be with you, every single step of the way.'
This year, around 55.3 per cent of registered participants of the UK race were male, with some 44.5 per cent female and 0.15 per cent non-binary.
The youngest participant is Lucy Jones, who turned 18 on Sunday, while the oldest runners are Mohan Kudchadker, 84, and Mary Jo Brinkman, 83 – both of whom are travelled from the US for the event.
Some 103 runners were attempting to break 87 Guinness World Records at this year's event, including a duo dressed as a slinky dog and a firefighter wearing full kit.
Many participants hope their quirky attempts to break records will help boost their fundraising efforts for their chosen charities.
Other record attempts include the fastest marathon dressed as a crustacean (male), fastest marathon dressed as a vegetable (female), and most pairs of underwear worn during a marathon (female).
16 MPs are also among those running, including Labour's Josh Fenton-Glyn, Conservative Harriet Cross and Liberal Democrat Tom Gordon.
