Sawe Wins London Marathon in 2:02:27

Sabastian Sawe won the 2025 London Marathon in 2:02:27, breaking clear of one of the finest fields ever assembled for a decisive victory on 27 April.

A calculated move at 30 kilometres

The race passed halfway in 61:30, with ten men still locked together. Sawe took the lead at 16 miles but waited, watching. At the 30-kilometre drinks station he skipped his bottle, catching the group off guard, and accelerated hard.

He ripped a 13:56 five-kilometre split from 30 to 35 kilometres, opening a 50-metre gap within two minutes. Only half-marathon world record holder Jacob Kiplimo could give chase, but Sawe kept extending his lead through the warming London streets.

A negative split and an elite field left behind

On a day that started at 55 degrees and climbed into the low sixties, Sawe was the only man in the top ten to run a negative split — 61:30 for the first half, 60:57 for the second. His margin grew to 70 seconds by the finish, the second-largest since 2012.

Kiplimo held on for second in his marathon debut, clocking 2:03:37. Alexander Mutiso edged Abdi Nageeye for third, both timed at 2:04:20, while Olympic champion Tamirat Tola placed fifth and Eliud Kipchoge finished sixth.

Two marathons, two statements

Sawe's 2:02:27 was the second-fastest time in London Marathon history, behind only Kelvin Kiptum's 2:01:25. It followed his debut in Valencia four months earlier, where he ran 2:02:05 — the fifth-fastest debut ever recorded. He joins Kipchoge and Kiptum as the only men to break 2:03 more than once.

"I saw that it was my opportunity to push," Sawe said of the moment he broke away. His coach Claudio Berardelli, who has guided multiple major champions, had already declared: "I've done this job for 21 years. I'm not sure I've ever coached a guy like him."

The 2023 world half-marathon champion, still relatively new to the elite level at age 30, placed himself firmly at the centre of marathon running's future with a performance of rare control and timing.