Marathon record holder could run even faster at Berlin Marathon
Sabastian Sawe made headlines last month when he became the first in the world to legally run a marathon in less than 2 hours. Now, the 27-year-old Kenyan is aiming to go one better in Berlin
READING LEVEL: GREEN
All eyes will be on the world’s fastest marathon runner at the Berlin Marathon later this year.
World record holder Sabastian Sawe will attempt to break his own astonishing feat when he lines up for the marathon in a few months’ time, sending the sporting world into a frenzy of anticipation.
The Kenyan, 27, shattered the world record in London last month as he crossed the line in one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.
In doing so, Sawe became the first athlete to legally* run a marathon under the two-hour mark — while second place Yomif Kejelcha also achieved the feat just 11 seconds back.
Eliud Kipchoge previously ran an unofficial* marathon in under two hours, but Sawe’s was the first legal success under race conditions.
Now he will look to go even quicker on a flatter, faster course in Berlin on September 27 — a race where Kipchoge recorded his best legal time of 2:01:09.
Sawe announced his goals for Berlin after revealing that he would compete in this year’s marathon.
“I’m very happy to return to the Berlin Marathon this year and to defend my title,” he said. “Many people may be wondering what my goals are this time round.
“After coming off my win in London and sub-2* performance, I can only say that, like always, I plan to prepare myself to the best of my ability.
“To come to Berlin to honour this great event and organisation which have invited me, and to run as well and fast as possible.
“Then on the day, we will see what will happen.
“I look at again experiencing the fantastic atmosphere and crowds that line the course.”
Sawe won in Berlin last year with a time of 2:02:16.
His victory in 2025 was just his third marathon and he tackled it in tricky 25C weather conditions.
Many will expect him to go faster than he did in London given Berlin often sees quicker times.
Berlin Marathon race director Mark Milde said: “With his impressive development over the past months and his historic world record, he has firmly written his name into the history books of marathon running.
“The fact that Sabastian consciously chose to return to Berlin is a great recognition of the global standing of our event and its fast course.
“If all conditions are right on race day, the weather cooperates, and Sabastian arrives at the start line in top form, then anything is possible.”
POLL
GLOSSARY
- legally: officially measured and certified by an official sporting body
- unofficial: not organised or certified by an official sporting body and not usually involving the traditional qualification requirements and race fees of an official marathon
- sub-2: less than two hours
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QUICK QUIZ
1. In what time did Sabastian Sawe finish the London Marathon?
2. Which other runner finished the London Marathon in under two hours?
3. Which runner had already run an unofficial marathon in less than two hours before Sawe’s London win?
4. Why is Sawe expected to achieve an even better time when he competes in the Berlin Marathon?
5. What was Sawe’s finish time at the Berlin Marathon last year?
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Interview with a world record holder
Imagine that you are a journalist that is about to have the opportunity to interview Sabastian Sawe prior to his run in the upcoming Berlin Marathon. Think about other athlete interviews you have seen on television, and the types of comments and questions athletes are presented. Prepare for your interview by writing down your introduction, praise for the athlete, and interesting and insightful questions you would ask him. You could ask about how he got to this point, his preparation for the race, how he is feeling, his goals, etc.
Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
To understand just how fast Sabastion Sawe’s world record marathon run was, follow these steps.
You will need a stop watch and a calculator.
1. Have a friend time you running as fast as you can over 100 metres. (From one side of your sports oval to the other should be about 100 metres). e.g. 22 seconds
2. Multiply your time (in seconds) by 421.95 (To get the total number of seconds it would take you to run a full marathon distance if you maintained your speed). e.g. 22 x 421.95 = 9,282.9 seconds
3. Divide your total number of seconds by 60 (To get the number of minutes). e.g. 9,282.9 divided by 60 = 154.715 minutes
4. Convert your minutes to hours and minutes. e.g. 154.715 minutes = 2 hours, 34 minutes
5. Compare your time to Sabastian’s. Are you faster or slower? By how much. e.g. I am slower by 35 minutes
6. Consider how much effort it took for your 100 metre run. Imagine maintaining this pace for 422 laps!
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Mathematics
VCOP ACTIVITY
Creative vocabulary
Find a bland sentence from the article to up-level. Can you add more detail and description? Can you replace any ‘said’ words with more specific synonyms?
Have you outdone yourself and used some really great vocabulary throughout your writing? Firstly, well done. Secondly, let’s ensure everyone can understand it by adding a glossary of terms. Pick three of your wow words and create a glossary for each word to explain what it means.