On 26 April 2026, on The Mall in London, Sabastian Sawe crossed the line in 1:59:30. The first sub-two-hour marathon in an official race, and a world record lowered by 65 seconds. Behind him, Yomif Kejelcha also dipped under the barrier in 1:59:41 — in his marathon debut. And a third man beat the old world record without stepping onto the top of the podium: Jacob Kiplimo, 2:00:28.
That is the Kiplimo who lines up on Sunday 11 October in Chicago, on the course where Kelvin Kiptum ran 2:00:35 in 2023. Every specialist newsroom is asking the same question: after London, can Chicago deliver a second sub-two-hour marathon in 2026?
The year the marathon tipped over
It is worth measuring what has happened in six months. At the end of 2025, the men's world record still belonged to Kiptum, killed in a car accident in February 2024: 2:00:35, Chicago, October 2023. Two hours remained a horizon — Eliud Kipchoge had broken it in Vienna in 2019, but in an exhibition event with rotating pacers and a laser car.
In London, on 26 April, six men went through halfway together in 1:00:29: Sawe, Kejelcha, Kiplimo, Amos Kipruto, Tamirat Tola and Deresa Geleta. At 30 km the projection still read 2:01. Then Sawe ran the 30-35 km segment in 13:54, hit 40 km in 1:53:39 and covered the final 2.195 km in 5:51. Second half: 59:01. The world record was broken with a negative split.
| Place | Runner | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sabastian Sawe 🇰🇪 | 1:59:30 — world record |
| 2 | Yomif Kejelcha 🇪🇹 | 1:59:41 — national record, fastest debut in history |
| 3 | Jacob Kiplimo 🇺🇬 | 2:00:28 — national record |
| 4 | Amos Kipruto 🇰🇪 | 2:01:39 |
| 5 | Tamirat Tola 🇪🇹 | 2:02:59 |
All five of the top five set personal bests. Three went faster than the old world record.
Sawe, 31, born in Barsombe in the Rift Valley, trains with Claudio Berardelli's 2Running Club in Nandi County. It was only his fourth marathon: 2:02:05 on debut in Valencia in December 2024, then two wins in London (2:02:27) and Berlin (2:02:16) in 2025. Before London 2026 he strung together six weeks at 200 km a week. A detail that matters in the Kenyan context: before Berlin 2025 he voluntarily submitted to 25 out-of-competition anti-doping tests, paid for by his shoe sponsor.
He is not entered in Chicago. But his 1:59:30 will be there at every kilometre.
Chicago, the course where people run fast
Chicago is flat, sheltered from the wind by buildings along much of the route, and run in October in temperatures that are often ideal. The 48th edition will start and finish in Grant Park, pass through 29 neighbourhoods and be lined by roughly 1.7 million spectators.
Both course records are also world records:
- Men: 2:00:35, Kelvin Kiptum, 2023
- Women: 2:09:56, Ruth Chepngetich, 2024 — the first woman under 2:10
The second deserves a footnote. Chepngetich was banned for three years in October 2025 after testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide, a masking diuretic. Because the test dated from March 2025, World Athletics did not annul the October 2024 record, which officially still stands. It nonetheless hangs over the women's marathon like a mark many would like to see wiped clean the proper way.
Kiplimo, a runner built for this
Jacob Kiplimo is 25. Before turning to the marathon he won Olympic bronze over 10,000 m in Tokyo, became a four-time world cross-country champion (2023, 2024, 2026, plus the junior title in 2017), and ran a half marathon in 56:42 in Barcelona in February 2025 — nobody had ever gone that fast over the distance.
His first marathon was here, in Chicago, in October 2025: a win in 2:02:23. His second was London: 2:00:28. Two races, two of the fastest times in history.
“Winning Chicago was special, but defending the title matters more. Today I feel I can compete with anyone.”
The organisers are talking about one of the deepest fields in the race's history: six men under 2:04.
| Runner | Personal best |
|---|---|
| Jacob Kiplimo 🇺🇬 | 2:00:28 (London 2026) |
| Amos Kipruto 🇰🇪 | 2:01:39 (London 2026), 2nd in Chicago in 2025 |
| Milkesa Mengesha 🇪🇹 | 2:03:17 (Berlin 2024) |
| Tadese Takele 🇪🇹 | 2:03:23 (Tokyo 2025) |
| Daniel Mateiko 🇰🇪 | 2:03:44 (Tokyo 2026) |
| Asrar Hiyrden 🇪🇹 | 2:03:59 (Seville 2026) |
On the American side, Charles Hicks (2:04:35 in Boston in April) and Clayton Young (2:05:41) lead a contingent that also includes Galen Rupp, the 2017 winner here. Conner Mantz, who set the North American record of 2:04:43 on this very course last year, is not entered.
In the women's race, the shadow of Berlin
Two weeks before Chicago, Berlin produced one of the most dramatic races of the year. Tigst Assefa went through 40 km in 2:03:00, on pace for Chepngetich's world record — before injuring herself in the final two kilometres. She finished in 2:11:04, the third-fastest performance in history and a course record, but with a partially ruptured right Achilles tendon. Operated on in Munich the next day, she is out for six months.
Her absence leaves Chicago with a field in which two women have already run under 2:15:
- Brigid Kosgei 🇰🇪 — 2:14:04, on this very course in 2019, the world record at the time. A two-time winner of the race, she returns to Chicago for the first time since, after winning Tokyo in March (2:14:29).
- Hawi Feysa 🇪🇹 — 2:14:57, the defending champion, who says she is after “a personal best”.
Behind them, Sutume Kebede (2:15:55), Megertu Alemu (2:16:34) and Sharon Lokedi, the 2025 Boston winner, who gets her first taste of a flat Major course. For the Americans, Susanna Sullivan, Natosha Rogers, Dakotah Popehn and an ever-present Des Linden.
The two-hour arithmetic
To break two hours, you have to run 2:50 per kilometre for 42.195 km. That is 14:12 for every 5 km, and a half marathon in roughly 59:45.
Kiplimo proved in London that he can hold that pace to 35 km. What separated him from Sawe was the last 7 km, where the Kenyan accelerated while he slowed. In Chicago he will not have Sawe or Kejelcha to pull him along — but nor will he have to chase them. The most likely scenario is a pacemaker-led race on 2:00 to 2:01 schedule, then a decision between 30 and 40 km, as always.
The conditions will decide the rest. Chicago in October means anything between 5 and 20 °C depending on the year; Kiptum had a perfect day in 2023.
What 2026 tells every runner
It would be easy to file all of this under “another planet”. Yet three lessons from this spring apply to a 3:30 runner as much as to Kiplimo.
The negative split is still the winning strategy. The world record was broken with a second half 88 seconds faster than the first. Starting conservatively is not beginner's advice: it is what the fastest man in history does.
The depth of the pack makes the time. Six runners together at halfway means shelter, steady rhythm and shared motivation. Finding a group at your pace in a marathon is worth several minutes.
Shoes do not replace 200 km a week. Yes, the top six in Berlin and the two sub-two-hour men in London were all wearing the same shoe. But Sawe said it himself: the difference was made during six weeks of volume before the race. The shoe optimises; it creates nothing.
See you on Sunday 11 October at 7:30 am Chicago time — 1:30 pm in the UK, 2:30 pm in France.
To prepare your own autumn marathon: what to eat before a marathon, how to recover afterwards, and understanding your heart-rate zones.
Main sources: Marathon Handbook – 2026 elite field · Canadian Running · LetsRun – London 2026 · The Running Channel – Berlin 2026 · NBC Sports – Assefa · u-Trail – the Chepngetich case