The Day the Marathon Changed Forever
Five days ago, the London Marathon delivered something no one has ever seen before: not one, but two men breaking the two‑hour barrier in the same race. And unlike the controlled, pacer‑orchestrated events of the past, this happened in a real marathon — with crowds, corners, tactics, and pressure.
Sabastian Sawe crossed the line in 1:59:30, becoming the first person in history to run a legal, open‑race sub‑2 marathon. Eleven seconds later, Yomif Kejelcha finished in 1:59:41, the fastest debut marathon ever recorded. Jacob Kiplimo wasn’t far behind in 2:00:28, also under the previous world record.
And while this is an amazing moment in running history, how they ran the race was also phenomenal.
They negative‑split the fastest marathon in history. Getting faster as they went.
What?!?!
Sawe’s final mile was 4:17.
His last 5K was 13:41 — faster than most people can run a standalone 5K.
Kejelcha matched him stride for stride through 40K and still closed under two hours.
This wasn’t a race where someone hung on.
This was a race where the best runners in the world got faster as the miles went on.
And that’s the real lesson for the rest of us.
No, I’m not suggesting we will all be running sub-2 marathons - though I predict it will now become more common, much like the sub-5 mile, then sub-4…once someone did it, many others quickly followed. But negative splits? That’s something we can stride, er, strive for.
Negative splits aren’t magic. They’re physiology.
When you pace the early miles with control, you:
delay lactate accumulation
protect your running economy
preserve glycogen
reduce central fatigue
keep your stride mechanics intact
maintain psychological control (more on this in the weeks to come!)
In other words, you give your body a chance to show you what it can do when it matters.
The sub‑2 marathon era didn’t begin because humans suddenly got faster.
It began because the best runners in the world learned how to run smarter.
And that’s something every runner — beginner to elite — can train.
Progression runs.
Finish‑fast long runs.
Even just running your easy days actually easy.
The fastest race in human history wasn’t defined by the first half.
It was defined by the last six miles.
If the best runners alive are holding back early and finishing fast, maybe the rest of us should stop believing negative splits are a miracle — and start treating them like a skill.
Because after London, one thing is clear:
The marathon has changed forever.
And the way we all think about pacing should too.
Keep on running!
~Jess
