Kenya's Sawe wins London Marathon as Ethiopia's Assefa takes women's race

Running his first major marathon in unusually warm temperatures, Sabastian Kawe made it look easy.

The Kenyan runner made a solo breakaway with about 10 kilometers left and never looked like wavering in the sunshine as he cruised to victory in the London Marathon on Sunday. Sawe pulled away from a leading group of nine runners about 90 minutes into the race and finished in 2 hours, 2 minutes and 27 seconds.

Sawe made his move when his rivals slowed down at a drinks station — opting not to take any water despite temperatures that crept toward 18 C (64) as the elite runners were finishing.

“I was well prepared for this race and that’s why it became easy for me to win,” Kawe said.

Jacob Kiplimo, the half marathon world record holder who was making his full marathon debut, was the only runner able to give chase but could never get close to erasing the gap. The Ugandan finished 70 seconds back in second place.

The 29-year-old Sawe's only previous marathon win came in Valencia in 2024. This was his first start in one of the six marathon “majors” — Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City — but it's unlikely to be his last.

“It does give me hope that in the future, the marathon will be so important to me, and be so easy for me,” he said.

He is the fourth Kenyan runner in a row to win the men's race in London.

In a tight sprint for third place, Alexander Mutiso Munyao of Kenya beat Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands in a photo finish.

Assefa sets women-only record

In the women's race, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia secured her first London Marathon title after pulling away from Joyciline Jepkosgei near the end.

Assefa made up for second-place finishes in London and the Paris Olympics last year, finishing in 2:15:50. It was the fastest ever time in a women’s-only marathon — but 25 seconds slower than the course record set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 when it was a mixed race.

The weather in London was a lot warmer this year than in 2024, which Assefa said was to her advantage.

“Last year I did have some problems with the cold, my hamstring tightened up toward the end of the race,” Assefa said through an interpreter. “This year the weather suited me really well.”

Assefa adds this win to two previous Berlin Marathon titles.

Jepkosgei, the 2021 London winner, was almost three minutes back after tiring near the end.

Olympic champion Sifan Hassan fell behind about halway through the race and finished third, 3:10 behind.