Sabastian Sawe, a Kenyan who only attempted the Berlin Marathon once, narrowly missing a personal best on his third consecutive victory.
Sawe’s personal best was 2h, 02, 16 seconds slower than his personal best of 2h, 02, 16 seconds, which he set in Valencia in 2024.
Sawe’s time is equal to the ninth-fastest in recorded history, but it broke Eliud Kipchoge’s course record set in 2022 and Kelvin Kiptum’s record of 2:00:35, which was set by him.
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Akira Akasaki from Japan came in second with a time of 2: 06:15, while Chimdessa Debele from Ethiopia came in second with 2: 06:57.
The men recorded the fastest opening kilometer in the history of the race in the warmer than usual setting in the German capital.
Sawe and the rest of the pack, which included 2024 champion Milkesa Mengesha and Gabriel Geay, maintained the record-setting pace early and were within range of the world record after ten kilometers.
With 15 kilometers of running, Sawe cut himself from the leaders, allowing Mengesha to pass in 11 seconds.
Sawe, 29, had run two previous marathons with negative splits, but as the mercury rose in Berlin, he started to lose some momentum in the second half.
Sawe’s time is the best in the world for 2025, 11 seconds faster than his previous record of 24 seconds set in London in April, despite missing a personal best or challenging Kipchoge’s course record.
Source: Channels TV
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