A historic achievement in the London Marathon: For the first time, a person has covered a distance of 42 kilometers and 195 meters in less than two hours in an official competition. Kenyan runner Sebastian Seif set a new record of 1:59:30. That’s one minute and five seconds faster than the previous feat: demonstrated in 2023 at the Chicago Marathon by Saif’s compatriot Kelvin Kiptom (he He died At the age of 24 in a traffic accident in Kenya in 2024). In London, two more athletes broke Kiptom’s record – Yomif Kegelsha of Ethiopia (1:59:41) and Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda (2:00:28). How were such advances in human speed and endurance possible? And who, in fact, has already run a marathon in less than two hours, but has not become the official record holder?
Who is Sebastian Sieff and how did he start his career?
Although the London race was just the fourth official marathon distance for 31-year-old Sebastian Sieff, his record is no surprise. Even on the eve of the start, members of the sports team anticipationThe Kenyan has the greatest chance of winning and achieving a historic achievement.
The reason is the progress that Save has shown. He is a native of the Kenyan village of Chokta He grew up In a wealthy family by local standards (the father is a farmer; the mother is a successful runner in her youth, who abandoned her athletic career due to early pregnancy; and the closest person to actually lifting the future record holder after his parents moved to a nearby area due to work was his grandmother Esther). But that doesn’t mean conditions were at least somewhat comfortable: as a child, Sebastian lived in a house with mud walls and a dirt floor; There was almost no electricity in the village; Water supply relies heavily on rainwater harvesting.
Save’s talent was first recognized by two people: his school teacher Julius Kimi and his uncle Abraham Chepkeruk. The latter broke the Ugandan national record – which has yet to be broken – in the 800m in 2008. It was his uncle who inspired his nephew to devote himself seriously to the sport.
During his school years, Saif began participating in competitions and achieved his first successes in middle-distance running. As a teenager, he moved to train in the highland town of Iten, where many famous Kenyan runners had previously grown up. Chepkervuk saw him as his successor in the middle distances – 800 and 1500 meters. But at a competition in Kakamega in 2019, Save was late to his “profile” race and only went to the start of the 5,000m race to participate. And unexpectedly for himself he won.
After that, Sebastian began to diligently master long-distance running. But in 2020, he tore a tendon. Then came the coronavirus pandemic. Save seriously thought about giving up his sports career, but during a difficult period he was supported by his wife Lydia, at the birth of their son Therese – and the same uncle Abraham. In a crucial moment, Chepkirouk helped his nephew move to 2Running Club in Nadi County under the wing of coach Abel Mutai, an Olympic bronze medalist in steeplechase. Founded in 2016 by Italian coach Claudio Berardelli, 2Running Club has one of the most advanced infrastructures for athlete training, treatment and recovery in Kenya.
How conservation got its record: a story of four marathons
Mutai and Berardelli gave Sava time to undergo full rehabilitation from the injury and its recurrence. He could have run the 2020 Valencia Marathon, but fell ill with Covid. During 2021, the athlete trained daily, visiting his family only occasionally. At that time Berardelli was already conceptWhat kind of talent is he dealing with: “Sebastian is something special. He runs like I’ve never seen before.” The Italians trained world champions and Olympic champions.
Finally, on January 30, 2022, Sava was able to make her debut at the Seville Half Marathon. He was assigned the role of a runner: this meant that the runner had to lead the group 10 kilometers in a certain time (28 minutes 10 seconds), and then give way to more experienced athletes. Instead, Sebastian started at a very high pace, pulling eight kilometers clear of his pursuers, and finishing in a record time of 59:02. A few days later, his grandmother Esther died.
After his first success, Save won several more half marathon races, and in October 2023 in Riga he won the title of World Champion. In 2024, Berardelli decided that Sebastian was ready to switch to the marathon distance. His training became more intense: his running distance increased to 40 km, and the distance he walked weekly increased to 200 km. Valencia was again chosen for the “premiere”. The Kenyan’s coaches expected a time of 2:03-2:04, but he won the race in one of the best marathon debuts in history, 2:02:05. Then there was the victory in the 2025 London Marathon. Preparations for the Berlin Marathon began.
It was there, as the coaches expected, that “Save” could set a new world record: the distance in the German capital is considered easier than in other cities where official marathon races are held. But on September 21, 2025, the most unpleasant weather for runners occurred in Berlin: 25°C temperature, high humidity and blazing sun. As a result, he showed a saved time of 2:02:16.
Considering the extreme conditions, the result was more than impressive, all experts said. That’s why expectations for the 2026 London Marathon were initially high. He saves himself to talk In an interview he is quite capable of making a new record. And so it happened.
Get it done puts Up there with the greatest sporting achievements. Imagine running 100 meters in less than 17 seconds. And then you maintain this pace for another 42 kilometers! And that’s exactly what Save did.
The race track was like this. The leaders ran the first half in 60 minutes and 29 seconds. Fast, but not exceptional. The second half of the race was exceptional. In the section from kilometers 30 to 35, Saif and Ethiopian Yomif Kegelcha, who maintained his pace, showed an impressive result of 13:54. What is even more surprising is that after that they only accelerated: the athletes took 13:42 to cover the distance from kilometer 35 to kilometer 40. After that, Kejelcha is still slightly behind the leader. Save kept the pace high until the end – and by the way, It happened More than a million dollars for his victory.
“I feel good, I’m very happy.” Comment Save himself won. “We will remember this day for a long time.” “You have proven that nothing is impossible.”
What factors helped Sava set the record?
- Unique talent and hard work. Save team members describe him as an exemplary athlete. Talent, hard work and strength of character combined. “[Во время соревнований] He is the silent killer He said For The Guardian, sports agent Eric Lillot. -It’s very quiet. But when he starts, he turns into a monster. In an interview with Runner’s World, my coach Sebastian I rememberedHow the athlete transformed right before their eyes: from a young runner with “completely flat muscles”, through hard work, he turned into a champion. Constant psychotherapy, gym classes, exercises with elastic bands, muscle strengthening complexes – Save did and continues to do all this with maximum discipline. He almost never misses training, sacrificing the time he could spend with his family (before marathons, Sebastian sees his wife and child only a few times a month). He also lives in simple conditions: at the base he shares a room with three other athletes and sleeps on a bunk bed. “In the last six weeks [перед рекордом в Лондоне] He ran an average of 200 kilometers or more a week, with a peak of 241 kilometres. to talk His coach Berardelli. Saif is also very concerned about his reputation: before last year’s Berlin Marathon, he participated voluntarily Pass 25 (!) Doping tests and plans to maintain the same frequency of tests in 2026. Here’s how the author of Runner’s World described the Save training:
[Это был] A 22 km race at 2000 metres, consisting of three kilometers each at a pace of three minutes per kilometer or less, a “recovery” at a pace of 3:15 per kilometre, then the final kilometer at the maximum. Berardelli rotated his team’s players as no one could endure the entire training session. Meanwhile, Save looked as quiet as a race car stuck in a traffic jam. At the 10 km mark his score was 30:32. Steep climb – no slowing down. The exhausted athletes collapsed into the truck, and he ran alone and<...> He finished the race with an amazing time of 2:40 per kilometre.
- Progress of athletes from Kenya. Save is not the only African country dominating global long-distance racing. Back in 2013, scientists maleKenyan athletes are disproportionately represented among the winners of such competitions. Among the factors behind this phenomenon, the authors of the study identified various reasons: from a diet rich in starch and a special body shape to high-altitude training and socio-economic factors that instill a special psychological resilience in athletes.
- Advances in equipment. Nike 10 years ago the introduction Innovative running shoes made using… This reduced the weight of the shoes and to improve results Athletes. It was sneakers that started to look better and save athletes’ energy that allowed runners to start dreaming of covering the marathon distance in less than two hours. Previous records have been set in Nike shoes: in 2018, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge completed the Berlin race in a Vaporfly in 2:01:39. And in 2023, Kenvin Kiptum, who tragically passed away less than a year later, demonstrated a time of 2:00:35 in an Alphafly model in Chicago. Meanwhile, the record holders at the London 2026 Olympics are Hefza and Kejelcha user Sports shoes from Adidas, Nike’s archrival (the German company’s shares are equal Senior 1.5% on the news of Hefiz’s victory). Their shoe model is Adios Pro Evo 3 -It weighs only 97 grams. Save team too male Morten sports use.
Save wasn’t the first to run a two-hour marathon. Why was the previous record not recorded?
Indeed, on October 12, 2019, the former world record holder, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, took part in the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna. overcome Marathon in 1:59:40.
But all the way he was accompanied by sequential drivers (41 people in total), an escort vehicle shining a green laser pointer onto the road, and assistants dispensing water from a bicycle moving nearby.
As a result, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) did not certify this race as a record because it was not an open competition, but rather a special event with particularly comfortable conditions for the runner. In 2020, the IAAF also banned the Nike Alphafly, the prototype sneaker model in which Kipchoge set the record, from competitions under its sponsorship. Due to their design, the shoes, in the regulator’s opinion, provided a very strong competitive advantage to the wearer.
However, Kipchoge was the first to officially prove that the human body can complete a marathon in less than two hours. Save has already shown that this can be done in a regular race against other racers.