26-Apr-2026 – London Marathon – 1:59:30 – Adidas AdiZero Adios Pro Evo 3
Date of birth: 16-Mar-1995
Nationality: Kenyan
World Record Duration: 3 days (as of 29 April 2026)
The athlete:
Sabastian Sawe showed promise from an early age in middle distances, fostered by moving in 2017 at 22 years of age to Iten in the famous Rift Valley of Kenya. Although there were glimpses of speed, but no major breakthrough. Rupturing a tendon in March 2020 almost ended his career with Sawe barely able to walk by August. He made the fateful decision to move to Nandi County to train with the 2Running Club, who gave him the space and time needed to heal so he rebuild his running fitness. Another year of recovery in 2021 led to his first international race in 2022, where he would help pace the Seville Half Marathon.
Before he left for Spain he was told that his beloved grandmother had passed away, Saw vowing to honour her through his running. In Seville, he exploded from the start and by seven kilometres had broke the field. He was told by the race director to go for it, and when Sawe finished he had won and done so in 59:02. More victories in the Half Marathon beckoned, including the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships and his personal best of 58:05 at the 2024 Copenhagen Half Marathon. At the same time, Sawe was training for the next step up and made his debut at the 2024 Valencia Marathon.
On the always fast course, he won in an incredible time of 2:02:05, at the time the second fastest marathon debut in history. He won again in his first appearance at the London Marathon, having broken the other eight runners in the lead pack after the 30 kilometre mark. Slightly more conservative pacing meant that even with a surge near the end he was still slower than his debut. Then came the 2025 Berlin Marathon, where another opportunity presented itself to set the new marathon world record. Both Sawe and his sponsors Adidas were acutely aware of the growing cynicism towards any such performances given the increased number of Kenyan athletes being banned for anti-doping violations.
To change the narrative, Sawe and Adidas arranged with World Athletics via the Athletics Integrity Unit to test him at rates far higher than normal. In the months before the race Sawe was tested 25 times and sometimes as frequently as twice daily. Conditions for the race however were unusually hot, and although Sawe went through halfway in 60:16 he would slow down for the remaining half of the race. He still won in 2:02:16 and nearly five minutes ahead of second.
Sawe was quitely confident coming into the 2026 London Marathon, but was facing competition from debutant Yomif Kejelcha and the rising star of Jacob Kiplimo. Both Kejelcha and Kiplimo have recently held the half marathon world record, with Kiplimo coming into the race with a personal best of almost under 2:02. Halfway vanished in 60:29, the pacers doing their job as expected. As the race progressed past 30 kilometres, Sawe and Kejelcha began accelerating, leaving Kiplimo behind. Incredibly Sawe would proceed to follow this with an even faster split between 35 and 40 kilometres, the distance passing in 13:42. Kejelcha dropped off, relatively speaking, at 38 kilometres as his legs began to feel the effect of the pace. Nonetheless, Sawe said later that it it was Kejelcha pushing him that helped him to maintain the pace in those later stages.
Sawe would cross the line in the incredible time of 1:59:30, finally answering the question of whether it was possible to break the two-hour barrier in official competition. More than that, Kejelcha would finish second in 1:59:41 on his debut. Kiplimo was third in 2:00:28, all three men under the former marathon world record. Although the London Marathon has hosted many marathon world records in the past, it is slower than the courses for the Berlin Marathon or Chicago Marathon. Sawe told reporters afterwards that breaking 1:58 may be on the cards, and if conditions are ideal he may well make good on that promise.
The shoes:
Almost as significant where the shoes that Sawe wore, the Adidas AdiZero Adios Pro Evo 3. Statistically the shoe has pushed the limits of the boundaries set by World Athletics. Because of the further advancement to the foam compared with the Evo 1 and 2, the Lightstrike Pro Evo foam weighs half of the previous version. It can be assumed that like the previous versions the midsole foam is made with non-compression molding, which means lighter weight but also lower durability.
Within the foam itself is what Adidas has dubbed the EnergyRim, which unlike previous supershoes from other brands does not have a carbon-fibre element directly under the foot. It goes from one side of the forefoot to the rear of the shoe and then back around the other side in the shape of a U. Although this is also meant to help reduce pronation, the Evo 3 is still very much an elite road racing shoe.
A similar concept to EnergyRim was first used for the Adidas AdiZero Evo Prime X, a supershoe designed to unofficially break the six-hour time for the 100 kilometre ultramarathon distance, Sibusiso Kebede succeeding in doing just that during the event. The carbon-fibre element in the AdiZero Evo Prime X however went all the way around the perimeter of the shoe. It too used the more advanced foam seen in the Evo 3, which meant that despite having a 50mm stack height it only came in at 136 grams. Given the smaller carbon-fibre element, it is possible that this too also helped save weight.
The combination of this new foam and new EnergyRim technology meant the Evo 3 weighed in at an astonishing 97 grams. This is the kind of weight normally associated with the ultralight racing flats made by Japanese manufacturers like ASICS. More important was that this combination also means an improvement in running efficiency of 1.6% compared with the already effective Evo 2.
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/apr/26/bread-and-honey-london-marathon-sabastian-sawe-world-record-2026
https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-label-road-races/news/valencia-marathon-2024-sawe-alemu
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/apr/26/sabastian-sawe-breaks-two-hour-barrier-london-marathon-world-record
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/dec/09/sebastian-sawe-marathon-runner-on-mission-drug-tested-as-much-as-possible
https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/news/a71016450/sebastian-sawe-london-marathon/
https://www.flotrack.org/articles/14135880-2025-london-marathon-live-updates-results
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/apr/27/sabastian-sawe-sets-new-target-london-marathon-win-athletics
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/apr/24/silent-assassin-sabastian-sawe-targets-world-record-in-london-marathon
https://news.adidas.com/running/adidas-unveils-its-first-sub-100-gram-supershoe–the-adizero-adios-pro-evo-3/s/ded7b6a2-952a-4246-b675-4129f78787c4
https://runrepeat.com/adidas-adizero-adios-pro-evo-3https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2026/04/adidas-adizero-adios-pro-evo-3.html
https://believeintherun.com/shoe-reviews/adidas-adizero-prime-x-evo-review/
https://apnews.com/video/marathon-record-breaker-sawe-credits-second-place-finisher-kejelcha-after-smashing-2-hour-barrier-c055af0062e04ac18669339dfc4217ea