Yomif Kejelcha did not win the 2026 London Marathon on Sunday. He still wrote himself into running history. The 28-year-old Ethiopian crossed the finish line in 1:59:41, becoming the second person ever to run under two hours for the marathon in race conditions, and he did it on his debut at the distance.
Most of the spotlight belonged to Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe, who finished 11 seconds ahead in 1:59:30 and broke the world record. Kelvin Kiptum had set the previous mark of 2:00:35 in 2023. Behind them, Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda took third in 2:00:28, also under the old record. Three men, one race, and the deepest day in marathon history.
For Kejelcha, the result was barely believable. Before the race, he had told reporters it was “not possible” for him to go under two hours on his first try.
“It’s pretty crazy, I feel great, I don’t have words. My coaches told me you’re ready. I’m not expecting to break 2 hours but London is also my dream marathon. I come to London and this happens in London and I’m so happy.”
How the race unfolded
Kejelcha was the only runner who could stay with Sawe through the middle miles. The pair were stride-for-stride approaching 40 kilometres, hitting that mark in 1:53:39, with Kiplimo already 21 seconds back in third. Their split for the previous 5km was 13:42, the fastest of the day.
Kejelcha then absorbed an injection of pace as the leaders approached Buckingham Palace. He stayed glued to Sawe through a 4:12 24th mile before the Kenyan finally pulled away in the closing stretch. Even then, Kejelcha kept rolling, holding his form to the line.
By his own account, there was nothing left in the tank.
“If we stop at 41 kilometers, I’m happy. My legs stop. My legs [were] done.”
Sawe was the first to credit his rival’s role in the result. “Yomif was so competitive and I think he helped a lot,” he said.
A pacemaker in the truest sense
There is a clear parallel here. When Sir Roger Bannister broke four minutes for the mile in 1954, his teammates Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway shared the workload up front and made the record possible. Kejelcha was not a hired pacemaker on Sunday. He was a competitor. But the effect was similar. Without him pushing through 30 and 35 kilometres, Sawe might have been alone in the wind, and the world record might still belong to Kiptum.
Two athletes pulled each other to a place no one had reached before, and they did it without rabbits in front of them for the back half of the race.
A range that hinted at something big
Kejelcha did not arrive at the marathon as an unknown. His résumé at shorter distances is one of the most varied in the sport.
He set the world record for the half marathon at 57:30 in Valencia in 2024, a mark that has since been broken but still ranks as the second-fastest in history. He held the world record for the indoor mile at 3:47.01 from 2019 until 2025. He is the fourth-fastest 5,000m runner ever with a best of 12:38.95. He took silver in the 10,000m at the 2019 and 2025 World Championships, and won world indoor gold in the 3,000m in 2016 and 2018.
Between 2018 and 2019 he trained under Alberto Salazar as part of the Nike Oregon Project, alongside Sifan Hassan. His range across distances is rivalled only by Hassan herself, who has won global titles from the 1,500m to the marathon.
That blend of speed and strength is what allowed him to handle the back-end pace in London. Most marathon debutants fade. Kejelcha closed his last 2.2 kilometres in roughly 6:02, holding pace at 2:45 per kilometre when it mattered most.
The shoes on his feet
Both Kejelcha and Sawe wore the same model on race day, the Adidas Pro Evo 3, which weighs in at 97 grams. The shoe has been at the centre of conversation around super shoe development for the past year, and it now has two sub-two-hour finishes attached to it from the same race.
Kejelcha’s London Marathon splits
| Split | Cumulative Time | Split Time | min/km | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5K | 0:14:14 | 14:14 | 2:51 | 21.08 |
| 10K | 0:28:37 | 14:23 | 2:53 | 20.88 |
| 15K | 0:43:10 | 14:33 | 2:55 | 20.61 |
| 20K | 0:57:21 | 14:11 | 2:51 | 21.16 |
| Half | 1:00:29 | 3:08 | 2:52 | 20.98 |
| 25K | 1:11:41 | 11:12 | 2:53 | 20.90 |
| 30K | 1:26:03 | 14:22 | 2:53 | 20.89 |
| 35K | 1:39:57 | 13:54 | 2:47 | 21.58 |
| 40K | 1:53:39 | 13:42 | 2:45 | 21.90 |
| Finish | 1:59:41 | 6:02 | 2:45 | 21.79 |
The negative split second half tells the story. Kejelcha got faster as the race went on, and his fastest 5km segment was the one between 35K and 40K, run at 2:45 per kilometre.
For Kejelcha, the question now is what comes next. He has set the bar for marathon debuts at a height that may take years to match. He also leaves London with a personal best at 26.2 miles that only one runner on Earth has ever bettered.
Not bad for someone who did not think it was possible.
