The Kenyan opened up a big gap in the 20th mile to beat a talented men’s field.
With a jaw-dropping 2:40 32nd kilometre, Sabastian Sawe blew up the lead pack and was never challenged en route to winning the 2025 London Marathon in 2:02:27.
The Kenyan bypassed the elite bottle station and surged just past the 30K mark, catching the rest of the field off guard. He sustained his push, covering the 5K between 30K and 35K in 13:56, to cement his lead and destroy his competitors’ will. Sawe’s gap at the finish line was exactly one minute.
Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, the world record-holder in the half marathon, finished second in his debut marathon in 2:03:37. Defending London champion Alexander Munyao of Kenya was awarded third place in a photo finish over last fall’s New York City Marathon winner, Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands. Both ran 2:04:20.
Two-time Olympic champion and former world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge placed sixth in 2:05:25. The Kenyan great ran at the front of the lead pack until falling off dramatically just before the 30K mark. He worked his way up from eighth to sixth over the final eight kilometres.
The reigning Olympic triathlon champion, Alex Yee of Great Britain, placed 14th in 2:11:08. Kevin Salvano, a CPA from Chicago, was the top American finisher, placing 18th in 2:13:03.
How the Race Was Won
The pre-race pacing schedule called for an opening half of 61:00. Instead, a pack of 10 hit halfway in 61:30, likely in part because the final pacemaker dropped out between 20K and halfway. That pack stayed together in various degrees of closeness for almost the next half hour, with little of note happening.
Then Sawe made his move. He put 7 seconds on his pursuers in just the first 90 seconds of surging. That gap grew and grew as Sawe kept pushing, resulting in that 13:56 5K between 30K and 35K. Sawe inevitably slowed, covering the 5K between 35K and 40K in 14:18, but so did Kiplimo and others trying to hold on in the hope that Sawe would blow up.
He didn’t. Sawe covered the second half in 60:57, the only negative split of the day among the men’s and women’s podium finishers.
Sawe, 29, is now two for two in his brief marathon career. He debuted last December in Valencia, winning in 2:02:05. That’s the second fastest debut in history after Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:01:53 in Valencia in 2022. Like world record-holder Kiptum, Sawe has immediately mastered the art of negative splitting marathons by running close to world-class 10K pace late in the race. If accurate, Sawe’s 32nd kilometre of 2:40 is believed to be the fastest ever run in a marathon. It will be interesting to see if Sawe targets the late Kiptum’s world record of 2:00:35 at a more evenly pace race in the fall.
Prize Money
London devotes more of its elite budget to appearance fees than prize money for place. (Boston’s winners, for example, receive $150,000). It also emphasises bonuses for fast times. Here are the payouts for today’s results.
- 1st place, Sabastian Sawe, $155,000 ($55,000 for place/ $100,000 sub-2:03 bonus)
- 2nd place, Jacob Kiplimo, $80,000 ($30,000 for place/ $50,000 sub-2:04 bonus)
- 3rd place, Alexander Munyao, $22,500
- 4th place, Abdi Nageeye, $15,000
- 5th place, Tamirat Tola, $10,000
- 6th place, Eliud Kipchoge, $7,500
- 7th place, Hillary Kipkoech, $5,000
- 8th place, Amanal Petros, $4,000
- 9th place, Mahamed Mahamed, $3,000
- 10th place, Milkesa Mengesha, $2,000
- 11th place, Andrew Buchanan, $1,500
- 12th place, Adam Lipschitz, $1,000
