Kenyan long-distance runner Sabastian Sawe will return to the United Kingdom to defend the London Marathon on April 26.
The 29-year-old is among a star-studded list confirmed for the event, which comprises a mass race for the public, professional races for men and women long-distance runners, elite-level wheelchair races for men and women, and a 3-mile mini marathon event for U-17 athletes.
Apart from Sawe, who in 2022, set a Kenyan national record in the one hour run at the Memorial Van Damme with a distance of 21,250 metres, narrowly missing the world record, other athletes expected to compete include compatriot Jacob Kiplimo, Joshua Cheptegei, Tamirat Tola and Yomif Kejelcha.
Sawe, who finished seventh in the senior men’s race at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships, won last year’s race in a dominant 2:02:27 – the second-fastest ever London Marathon time and a performance just 22 seconds off the PB of 2:02:05 he set in Valencia in 2024.
Looking ahead to the race, Sawe, who in December, 2024, won the Valencia Marathon in a world-leading time of 2:02:05, has predicted a course record will have to go down for him to win the World Athletics Platinum Label road race for the second year in a row.
‘I am excited to be coming back’
“The TCS London Marathon course is one of the most beautiful and fastest courses in the world,”Sawe told the IAAF website.
“It was my first time running in London last year and it was one of the proudest moments of my life to cross the line as champion. I am excited to be coming back in 2026 and I know now a little bit more about what I can expect.
“I am sure with the quality of athletes coming to London it will take another fast time to win again, perhaps the type of effort the great Kelvin Kiptum put in when he set the course record in 2023.”
London Marathon Events CEO Hugh Brasher admitted they were looking forward to supporting Sawe as he bids to set a new course record in London.
“Sabastian (Sawe) showed the world at last year’s TCS London Marathon that he is a man that could rewrite the marathon record books so we are delighted to welcome him back for this year’s event,” explained Brasher.
“To run 2:02:27 with a negative split of 60:57 for the second half of the race showed the huge potential he has and we are looking forward to supporting Sabastian run as fast as possible in London on Sunday 26 April.”
He concluded: “We are delighted to have such incredible storylines and depth across all our elite races in the 2026 TCS London Marathon.”
In September 2025, Sawe won the Berlin Marathon in 2:02:16, while in 2022, he set a course record at the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon in a time of 58:02 (a non-record eligible course).
He set a then half marathon best of 58:58 from his win at the 2022 Bahrain Royal Night Half Marathon. In December 2023, he won the 15 kilometres road race Montferland Run held in 's-Heerenberg with a time of 42:35, and won the 2024 Copenhagen Half Marathon in a new personal best of 58:05.
The late Kiptum's record stands at two hours one minute and 25 seconds. Kenya’s 2022 London Marathon champion Amos Kipruto and two-time New York City Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor, plus Ethiopia’s Deresa Geleta, the ninth-fastest man in history over the marathon (2:02:38), are other stellar names in this year’s line-up.
Also expected on the start line in the men's race is Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, the 2024 Olympic 10 000 metres champion and world record-holder in the 5 000m and 10 000m.
