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Top 10 Fastest Marathon Times by Men

The ten fastest legal marathons ever run by men, from Sabastian Sawe's history-making 1:59:30 world record down to a stacked field of sub-2:03 performances.

Updated July 6, 2026 10 ranked 5 sources

Quick answer: 1. Sabastian Sawe, 2. Yomif Kejelcha, 3. Jacob Kiplimo, 4. Kelvin Kiptum, 5. Eliud Kipchoge, 6. Amos Kipruto, 7. Kenenisa Bekele, 8. Sisay Lemma, 9. Benson Kipruto, 10. John Korir.

Ranked by each runner's fastest marathon finishing time on a record-eligible course, this list captures the men who have run the distance faster than anyone else in history. The top of the table was rewritten in April 2026, when the London Marathon delivered the first sub-two-hour marathon in legal race conditions — and put two men under the barrier on the same day. These are the fastest legal 26.2-mile performances on record, drawn from World Athletics' official all-time list. It's for anyone tracking the outer edge of human endurance: which runner is fastest, where the record fell, and how close the chasing pack now sits to two hours.

Fastest marathon time (seconds)

Fastest marathon time (seconds)
Sabastian Sawe
Yomif Kejelcha
Jacob Kiplimo
Kelvin Kiptum
Eliud Kipchoge
Amos Kipruto
Kenenisa Bekele
Sisay Lemma
Benson Kipruto
John Korir
7,1707,344

The ranking

1

Sabastian Sawe

Sawe ran 1:59:30 to become the first man to break two hours in a legal, record-eligible race, setting the world record at the 2026 London Marathon.

country: Kenyavenue: Londondate: 2026-04-26
2

Yomif Kejelcha

On his marathon debut, Kejelcha also went under two hours with 1:59:41, finishing second at London 2026 just behind Sawe.

country: Ethiopiavenue: Londondate: 2026-04-26
3

Jacob Kiplimo

Kiplimo's 2:00:28 for third at London 2026 is the fastest marathon ever run by anyone outside Kenya or Ethiopia.

country: Ugandavenue: Londondate: 2026-04-26
4

Kelvin Kiptum

Kiptum's 2:00:35 in Chicago was the ratified world record before London 2026; he died in February 2024, and the mark still stands among the fastest ever.

country: Kenyavenue: Chicagodate: 2023-10-08
5

Eliud Kipchoge

The two-time Olympic marathon champion set 2:01:09 in Berlin, a former world record and long the benchmark for the event.

country: Kenyavenue: Berlindate: 2022-09-25
6

Amos Kipruto

Kipruto's career-best 2:01:39 came in the sub-two-hour London 2026 race, placing him sixth on the all-time list.

country: Kenyavenue: Londondate: 2026-04-26
7

Kenenisa Bekele

Bekele's 2:01:41 in Berlin stood for years as the second-fastest marathon in history, missing Kipchoge's record by just two seconds.

country: Ethiopiavenue: Berlindate: 2019-09-29
8

Sisay Lemma

Lemma ran 2:01:48 in Valencia after passing halfway on world-record pace, holding on for one of the fastest marathons ever.

country: Ethiopiavenue: Valenciadate: 2023-12-03
9

Benson Kipruto

Kipruto's 2:02:16 course record in Tokyo is among the fastest marathons ever run in Japan.

country: Kenyavenue: Tokyodate: 2024-03-03
10

John Korir

The 2025 Boston Marathon champion soloed to 2:02:24 in Valencia, rounding out the ten fastest men in history.

country: Kenyavenue: Valenciadate: 2025-12-07

Full comparison

# Name countryvenuedate
1 Sabastian Sawe KenyaLondon2026-04-26
2 Yomif Kejelcha EthiopiaLondon2026-04-26
3 Jacob Kiplimo UgandaLondon2026-04-26
4 Kelvin Kiptum KenyaChicago2023-10-08
5 Eliud Kipchoge KenyaBerlin2022-09-25
6 Amos Kipruto KenyaLondon2026-04-26
7 Kenenisa Bekele EthiopiaBerlin2019-09-29
8 Sisay Lemma EthiopiaValencia2023-12-03
9 Benson Kipruto KenyaTokyo2024-03-03
10 John Korir KenyaValencia2025-12-07

How we ranked this

Runners are ranked by their single fastest marathon finishing time (the classic 42.195 km / 26.2-mile distance) run on a record-eligible, World Athletics-recognized course, expressed in total seconds. Rank 1 is the lowest (fastest) time. Each athlete appears once, at their personal best; performances on courses ineligible for records (e.g., special-project time trials with in-and-out pacing) are excluded, as are any marks not ratified or listed by World Athletics. Times are sourced from the World Athletics all-time top list and cross-checked against alltime-athletics.com. A reader can reproduce the order by sorting official personal bests from fastest to slowest.

FAQ

Who has run the fastest marathon ever?

Sabastian Sawe of Kenya holds the world record at 1:59:30, set at the London Marathon on 26 April 2026 — the first sub-two-hour marathon ever run in legal, record-eligible race conditions.

Has anyone officially run a marathon under two hours?

Yes. At the 2026 London Marathon, both Sabastian Sawe (1:59:30) and Yomif Kejelcha (1:59:41) finished under two hours in a legal, record-eligible race. Earlier sub-two-hour efforts, such as Eliud Kipchoge's 1:59:40 in Vienna in 2019, were special time-trial projects that did not qualify for official records.

What was the marathon world record before Sawe?

Kelvin Kiptum held the ratified world record at 2:00:35, set in Chicago on 8 October 2023. Before that, Eliud Kipchoge's 2:01:09 in Berlin (2022) was the record.

Why are all the fastest marathon times held by runners from Kenya and Ethiopia?

East African distance runners have long dominated marathon racing, and nine of the ten fastest men are Kenyan or Ethiopian. Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo, third on this list at 2:00:28, holds the fastest marathon ever run by an athlete from outside those two countries.

Sources