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(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. (18-Jun) -- Ryan Ford of the On Athletics Club in Boulder, Colo., is a 2:05:46 marathoner, and a 59:48 half-marathoner.  That makes him one of just four Americans in history who have broken 2:06:00 for the marathon and 60:00 for the half-marathon, under all conditions (the others are Conner Mantz, Zouhair Talbi, and Ryan Hall). But according to his statistics page at WorldAthletics.com his 10K PB is just 30:22.  That's the stat next to his name on the start list for Sunday's B.A.A. 10K in Boston, a World Athletics Label race he'll be running for the first time.  Seeing that stat on the start list gave him a chuckle. "When I saw that I said I guess I only ran one road 10K," Ford told Race Results Weekly in a telephone interview from Boulder yesterday.  "And it was that one at altitude." Ford was referring to the Bolder Boulder 10K last month where, at 1655m/5430ft elevation, he ran that time just five weeks after Boston.  He also ran (and won) the 2025 Cotton Row Run 10K in his hometown of Huntsville, Ala., in 29:04. That race is not on the World Athletics official calendar, so the mark wasn't accepted for the W.A. database. "I've run road races around there," Ford continued, referring to the 10-kilometer distance.  "I've run Manchester (in Connecticut), which is a little under five miles, and I've done a 5-mile road race (the Crazy 8's 8K in Kingsport, Tenn.), and much longer road races.  But I guess I've never run a 10K besides those two when I'm in good shape.  That will be nice to race that for my World Athletics page." As more fast, top-level half-marathons, like the Aramco Houston Half and the Valencia Half, have taken center stage, an increasing number of athletes enter races at that distance in top shape and end up recording unofficial 10K PB's along the way.  Ford is no exception.  At the 2026 United Airlines NYC Half, he went through 10K in 27:58 on his way to a 60:22 finish.  He also split 28:18 at the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon last January (on his way to a 59:48 PB), and 28:46 at the same race the year before. But at the race in New York, Ford barely noticed this 10K split. That's because he was focused on competing, not setting a time. "I think I glanced over and I think I saw that it was around 28 minutes," Ford said.  "Just didn't think about it too much, though.  Didn't think about what is that per mile, and all this stuff.  I also knew that we had maybe started out the race, the first couple of miles, pretty fast.  So, I didn't know what pace we were currently running.  It's hard not to glance at the clock but I tried to not think about it too much, to be honest." Since joining the On Athletics Club last October after his previous training group, ZAP Endurance in Blowing Rock, N.C., folded, Ford has raised his expectations.  He's one of three men in the club's road sub-group (the other two are Joe Klecker and Kenyan Patrick Kiprop, who is also running in Boston on Sunday).  Under head coach Dathan Ritzenhein and his assistant Laura Thweatt, the 28 year-old Ford has become a world class athlete, a remarkable achievement for a runner who entered the NCAA system at the University of Tennessee-Martin in 2016 with a two-mile PB of just 9:21.18. "Ryan has been such a great addition to the team," said Ritzenhein in an e-mail.  "He doesn't think about what is on the plan, he just does whatever you tell him to do.  He has complete trust and belief in himself and us." Ford said that adapting to Ritzenhein's coaching has felt natural.  The training isn't that different from ZAP under his former coach Pete Rea.  But the club has so many high level athletes --like Olympic and world medalists Hellen Obiri, Yared Nuguse, and Geordie Beamish-- that the club mentality is different.  The OAC exists to create national and international champions. "ZAP is a little bit more laid back, and OAC is more like organized with the ways we are doing things," Ford explained.  "It's very set-up, and we have a lot of stuff at our disposal that we didn't have at ZAP.  At the end of the day, the training is pretty similar." A big difference for Ford has been that long runs are anything but slow. "At OAC definitely more steady, aggressive long runs versus at ZAP," Ford said.  "At ZAP we would do easier long runs but have maybe some one to two-minute pick-ups at the end of a long run to kind of get a workout out of it.  But here the long run is a big focus.  I'll be running 5:15 to 5:30 pace for 20+ miles on any given long run, pretty much.  Never really happened at ZAP." Ford has developed his talents slowly, both during his NCAA career and his three years with ZAP.  Because of the COVID-19 pandemic he ran for six years in the NCAA system, five with University of Tennessee-Martin and the last year with Iowa State.  That long incubation period gave Ford time to develop more intentionally.  By the time he finished up at Iowa State, his 5000m best was 13:34.79 and his 10,000m best was 28:34.35.  He finished 47th at the 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, the fifth and final scorer for the Cyclones who finished second to Northern Arizona. "Everybody kind of progresses differently," Ford observed.  "Maybe some of these people (his OAC teammates) were doing more serious training in high school and that led them to maybe a bigger program as a freshman in the NCAA, versus I did six years in the NCAA because of COVID.  It wasn't until my sixth and final year that I transferred to a big program like Iowa State and actually that final year of college I improved 30 seconds in the 5-K and around a minute in the 10-K.  I was thinking, wow, what if I was here as a freshman?  But in high school my times were not good enough.  I wouldn't have been in that kind of program from the start.  Maybe that slowed down my progression a little bit, but it got me to where I am now." Ford likes racing in Boston.  Competing at the Boston Marathon in 2025 while he was still at ZAP, he ran 2:08:00 and finished tenth, a performance he called "the race of my life" when asked about it.  He's guardedly optimistic about competing on Sunday because over the last couple of weeks he has finally felt like he has his legs under him again.  His recovery from the Boston Marathon has been slow due at least in part to those fast downhill miles early in the race where his quads got pounded. "I feel like I'm mostly back now," Ford said.  "To be honest, this has been the longest my legs have felt beat-up after a marathon.  This is my fourth marathon, but I ran a pretty aggressive race.  I know the first half of Boston is easier, but my first half was very fast (1:01:52), much faster than I went out before, and I think that played into that last 10-K when I started to slow down a bit." Sunday's 10K is mostly flat.  The course goes from Back Bay, into Cambridge, returns to Back Bay, passes through the Boston Marathon finish line, then finishes adjacent to the Public Garden and Boston Common on Charles Street.  The highest elevation on the course is only six meters above the start line, Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge.  Ford is almost certain to smash his official 10K PB, but that's not what he's focused on. "I'm starting to come around and starting to feel good again," he said.  "Just looking at the field I want to, again, focus on competing.  I don't know exactly how fast the course is or what time I would shoot for.  I just want to feel like I'm in the race and relevant, hopefully be able to cover some moves and get back to practicing some racing tactics.  Hopefully have a good day I guess.  If I could be up there and place well I'd be very happy with the weekend." * The 14th annual B.A.A. 10K presented by Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute starts at 8:00 a.m.  The professional start lists and prize money details are here: https://www.baa.org/races/boston-10k/pro-field/.  The open division winners will earn $12,000, and a $7500 course record bonus is available for both men (27:19) and women (30:36).  The race also has pro wheelchair and para divisions with separate prize money purses. Sunday morning's weather should be cool for late June, about 64F/18C, but with high humidity (about 70%).  Boston Athletic Association officials are expecting a total field size of about 10,000 runners (the 2025 race had 7615 finishers when it rained and the race was nearly cancelled due to the threat of thunderstorms). PHOTO: Ryan Ford of the On Athletics Club (photo courtesy of On)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. (28-May) -- In the sixth kilometer of last December's USATF Cross Country Championships in Portland, Ore., Katie Izzo and Weini Kelati broke away from the field.  Kelati, an Olympian and national record holder who had already won multiple national titles, eventually surged away from Izzo to take the win as expected.  But behind her, Izzo was having the race of her life.  Running alone, she finished second and qualified for Team USATF for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee.  It was her first-ever podium finish at a national championships, and it had been a long time coming for the 29 year-old former Arkansas Razorback. "It kind of goes back to about a year ago when things started clicking, just being more used to altitude," Izzo told Race Results Weekly in a telephone interview yesterday from her home in Flagstaff where she trains with the Golden Peaks Track Club.  "Obviously, the breakthrough so far has been the U.S. Cross Country Championships.  After that, it was always a level I knew I could get to as a pro, but... it's hard to have everything click.  So once I finally got that result on paper to show that I could compete with the best in the U.S., I think that just finally gave me the last bit of confidence where what I did in that race, where I just went for it, I want to continue to do that in all my races." That performance kicked off an excellent series of performances in 2026 for Izzo, whose collegiate career was interrupted by the COVID shutdown in 2020.  She's raced six times so far this year with three top-five finishes. That included her 24th place finish (third American) at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, a personal best 31:27 for 10K at the Cooper River Bridge Run (second place), and a 15:10.75 indoor personal best for 5000m.  In April she stretched herself by running the USATF 10-Mile Championships at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile in Washington, D.C., and the highly-competitive Boston 5K just six days apart.  She ran 52:00 for the 10-mile (10th place), and 15:33 for the 5K where she missed second place by just a fraction of a second in a sprint finish. "I just always want to be the person who is fearless," Izzo continued.  "I'm still figuring that out on the track, but it's been really fun to especially do that on the roads, lately." Izzo is taking that confidence into Saturday's Delightful Run for Woman in Albany, N.Y., one of America's most storied 5K road races won by past stars like Lynn Jennings, Marla Runyan, and Libbie Hickman.  She's running at the Delightful Run for the first time, and hopes to compete well.  She's not focused on her time, she said. "I'd say more it's just about competing," Izzo explained.  "Like I said, just going for the win and practicing that.  I feel like the time will be whatever it is.  Of course, I always like to run fast, but I'd be good just with the win and, honestly, just thinking about it as a workout and get the most out of myself."  She added: "That's the goal; just going for it." Izzo's 2026 season nearly got derailed before it started.  She contracted a staph infection in her ankle at last December's national cross country championships and was still getting treatment in the days before the World Championships. "I tried not to vocalize it too much because I was just trying to get healthy after U.S. Cross, but I actually got a staph infection in my ankle after U.S. Cross," Izzo revealed.  "It actually got really nasty where I had to alter training.  It was so infected I had to get it drained, and it was super-painful.  I had to miss some workouts and cross-train it.  On top of that, I was on antibiotics to clear the thing out.  I was worried that I wouldn't even get to the starting line." The meet organizers in Tallahassee created a water obstacle on the course and dyed the water blue.  Izzo was concerned that multiple dips in the water might reignite her infection. "I knew there was going to be a water pit, and I'm like if this gets into the water pit that would be so not good," Izzo recalled.  "There's a story for every result, and I think by the time I got to the starting line I was pretty wiped out just from my body dealing with that infection.  The heat probably didn't help." Izzo, who is sponsored by adidas, is coached by Terrence Mahon and his wife, Jen Rhines.  Her club used to be called the Golden Coast Track Club because the team was located in San Diego, but they changed their name when Mahon, Rhines and Izzo all relocated to Flagstaff.  Izzo was the only athlete who followed Mahon and Rhines from San Diego, and the club had to be completely reconstituted. On May 7, the Golden Peaks name became official and the team consists of five athletes: Izzo, Olivia Howell, Taryn Parks, Ellie Baker, and Alex Carlson.  All are sponsored by adidas, except for Baker who is British and is with New Balance.  Izzo said that it's her best-ever training group and one of the keys to her success. "It slowly became a reality about a year ago," Izzo said of rebuilding the club.  "I was the only one on the team.  I didn't know what I was going to do.  My other teammates had left, and it was just me, Terrence and Jen out here.  But little by little the pieces just fell together.  My first teammate Olivia joined about a year ago, and this fall got Alex Carlson, Taryn Parks and Ellie Baker.  They're all like middle distance, 800/1500, so they keep me speedy.  They drop me like a bad habit when we do 150 meters, but I think I help them with the longer stuff." More importantly, Izzo said, is the group vibe. "They're all just super-sweet girls," she said.  "We definitely just get along great.  They're just fun to be around, and I think that has also helped my training a lot because the environment is so great.  We just feed off each other, and it's enjoyable to go to practice.  We definitely want to make sure that's the way the team always stays." The Delightful Run, which had 1733 finishers last year, is a lot like a cross country race.  The middle section in Washington Park features several choppy hills, and that's just fine with Izzo who took third at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships and helped the Razorbacks win their first-ever NCAA cross country team title. "I'm really excited to race," said Izzo.  "I've been watching everyone race on the track and I'm just dying to race myself.  I have obviously been enjoying the roads and it's been a breath of fresh air doing new races and different distances."  She continued: "It just sounded like a fun one to do.  I feel like women's-only races are always fun.  Like, I've enjoyed the 6K road champs (in Canton, Ohio).  Based off of how the B.A.A. 5K went it just seemed like a new, fun and exciting one to do." Izzo has the best credentials of any of the elites entered in the race.  Her main opponents will be Anne-Marie Given (née Blaney) and Caroline Garrett of the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project, Canadian Cleo Boyd, and veteran marathoner Steph Bruce.  Last year's champion, Molly Born, who ran 15:31 in a lashing rain, is not competing this year. Izzo hopes that a good run in Albany will set her up nicely for the Toyota USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships in New York City in late July where she expects to compete in the 10,000m (although the 5000m is still a possibility).  The Delightful race will give her a lower-pressure race to work on both her racing skills and her fitness. "I haven't won a race since (last) Fourth of July, so I really want to practice winning," Izzo said.  "That's kind of another reason I want to do it.  I just really want to put myself in position to win." The Delightful Run for Women was founded in 1979 as the Freihofer's Run For Life with financial support from the Freihofer's Baking Company, famous for their chocolate chip cookies.  It later became the Freihofer's Run for Women, and hosted national championships at both 10K and 5K.  The race was rebranded as the Delightful Run for Women in 2024 when Sara Lee Delightful Bread took over as title sponsor (Delightful is a sister brand of Freihofer's).  The race will be contested on a new, USATF-certified and record-eligible course. PHOTO: Katie Izzo finishing third at the 2026 Boston 5K on April 18 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission.NEW YORK (27-May) -- The 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10K --the world's first-ever all-women's road race founded by New York Road Runners in 1972-- will feature a powerhouse international field headlined by three of Kenya's best athletes: Hellen Obiri, reigning Mini and TCS New York City Marathon champion; Agnes Ngetich, reigning world cross country champion and 10K world record-holder; and Sharon Lokedi, two-time Boston Marathon champion.And that's just the tip of the iceberg.Out of the forty-woman elite field announced today for the June 6 race in Central Park, 15 have personal bests under 32:00 (21 under 33:00), and the race will feature 10 Olympians and Paralympians, nine global medalists, and multiple national record holders representing nine different countries.  Twenty-eight USA women are scheduled to compete.Obiri (On Athletics Club), 36, the only athlete in history to win world titles in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track, has been particularly successful in racing in New York.  She has won the TCS New York City Marathon twice (2023 and 2025/course record), the United Airlines NYC Half twice (2023 and 2026), and the Mini once (2025).  Her personal best is 30:15 (Manchester, 2022), and her best time at the Mini is 30:19 when she finished second in 2023 to Ethiopia's Senbere Teferi.  The Mini course is slightly downhill and is not eligible for record-setting."I am looking forward to returning to Central Park after setting a course record at the TCS New York City Marathon and winning the Mastercard New York Mini 10K last year," Obiri said through a statement.  "I am excited to take on this challenge among a competitive group of women athletes and the 10,000 women who will be inspiring and motivating each other on the course."Ngetich (adidas), 25, ran the World Athletics-ratified world record of 28:46 in Valencia in January, 2024, and also owns the women-only world record of 29:27 set in Herzogenaurach, Germany, in 2025. Coming off of her World Athletics Cross Country Championships victory in Tallahassee last January, she hoped to run well at the United NYC Half last March, but suffered from hypothermia and only finished 13th after sharing the lead with Obiri in the first half of the race.  She will be making her Mini debut.Lokedi (Under Armour), 32, successfully defended her title at the Boston Marathon last April after finishing second to Obiri at the NYC Half.  Like Obiri, she has been very successful running in New York.  She won the NYC Half in 2025, the NYC Marathon in 2022, and was twice second in the Mini (2022 and 2024).There are three Europeans in the field including Slovenia's Klara Lukan (Puma), the European record-holder and the second-fastest woman in the field with a 29:51 personal best.  The 25 year-old will be making her USA road running debut at the Mini.The Americans will be well-represented by Weini Kelati (Nike), Emma Grace Hurley (Asics), Jessica McClain (Brooks), Amanda Vestri (Brooks), Annie Frisbie (Puma/Minnesota Distance Elite), Bailey Hertenstein (Nike), Annie Rodenfels (Solomon), Ednah Kurgat (U.S. Army), Dakotah Popehn (Puma/Minnesota Distance Elite), and Emily Venters (Nike).  Kelati, Hurley, McClain, Rodenfels and Kurgat were just yesterday selected by USA Track & Field to represent the USA at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen in September.  Kelati, 29, the reigning national cross country champion and North American record holder for the half-marathon, was the runner-up at the Mini last year, running a personal best 30:49.  Hurley, 28, has run the Mini three times and finished in the top-10 each time.  McClain, 34, the fastest-ever American at the Boston Marathon, has run the Mini twice, finishing in the top-8 both times.  Vestri, 26, has run the Mini twice with great success.  In 2024 she clocked a personal best 31:17 and finished fourth, and in 2025 she ran 31:20 and finished sixth.Kelati enjoyed her battle with Obiri at last year's Mini.  "She's a tough runner, she's like a marathoner," Kelati said of Obiri.  She continued: "I was like, no matter what, I have to follow her.  I know she has a great finish.  I just had to push myself today."The last American to win the Mini was Sara Hall in 2021.  She also won in 2019 when the race served as the USATF Championships.The Mini also has an elite wheelchair competition.  Reigning Mini champion and course record holder, Susannah Scaroni, will not be defending her title (she's on maternity leave).  As such,  five-time TCS New York City Marathon champion Tatyana McFadden looks like the favorite for victory.  McFadden is coming off second place finishes at the Boston and London Marathons last month.  "I'm thrilled to return to the Mastercard New York Mini 10K and see if I can win my first Mini title," McFadden said through a press release. "I love the energy of a women's only race, especially one with so much history."The Mini was founded in 1972 by New York Road Runners, spearheaded by Fred Lebow and Kathrine Switzer. It was called the Crazylegs Mini Marathon (Crazylegs was a brand of women's shaving cream).  Just 72 women finished the race that year.  After last year's race, which had a record 9973 finishers, a total of 255,289 athletes had finished the Mini throughout its history.  Organizers expect over 10,000 finishers this year.The Mastercard New York Mini 10K is a World Athletics Label Road Race and offers prize money for the top-7 open athletes, top-5 Americans (double-dipping allowed), top-3 professional wheelchair athletes, top-3 NYRR members, and and top-3 masters athletes (with NYRR membership). The race will have a FREE and LIVE broadcast featuring an all-women commentary team on WABC-TV (channel 7 in New York), ESPN+, abc7ny.com, and New York Road Runners' YouTube channel. Here is the full elite field for the 2026 Mastercard New York Mini 10K with personal best times: RUNNERS: Agnes Ngetich, KEN, 28:46 WR (Valencia, 2024)Klara Lukan, SLO, 29:51 AR (Laredo, 2026)Hellen Obiri, KEN 30:15 (Manchester, 2022)Tsigie Gebreselama, ETH, 30:29 (Paderborn, 2023)Weini Kelati, Flagstaff, Ariz., 30:49 (Mini, 2025)Sharon Lokedi, KEN, 30:52 (Mini, 2022)Viola Cheptoo, KEN, 30:55 (Phoenix, 2019)Emma Grace Hurley, Indianapolis, 31:00 (Tokyo, 2025)Jessica McClain, Scottsdale, Ariz., 31:13 (Mesa, Ariz., 2026)Amanda Vestri, Boone, N.C., 31:17 (Mini, 2024)Annie Frisbie, Hopkins, Minn., 31:37 (Charleston, S.C., 2026)Bailey Hertenstein, Boulder, Colo., 31:48 (Mini, 2025)Annie Rodenfels, Boulder, Colo., 31:54 (Boston, 2024)Ednah Kurgat, Colorado Springs, Colo., 31:56 (Miramar, Fla., 2025)Dakotah Popehn, Burnsville, Minn., 31:58 (Mini, 2024)Fionnuala McCormack (40+), IRL, 32:08 (Meath, IRL, 2022)Emily Venters, Salt Lake City, 32:11 (Boston, 2024)Stephanie Bruce (40+), Flagstaff, Ariz., 32:21 (Atlanta, 2018)Tessa Barrett, Arlington, Va., 32:27+ (Philadelphia, 2026)Rachel Smith, Flagstaff, Ariz., 32:35 (Cape Elizabeth, Maine, 2024)Mercy Chelangat, KEN, 32:37 (Boston, 2024)WuGa He, CHN, 33:06 (Mini, 2022)Elena Hayday, Minneapolis, 33:30 (Boston, 2024)Sophia King, Chesterfield, Va., 33:50 (Northport, N.Y., 2023)Lisa Hart, GBR, 34:05 (Winter Park, Fla., 2026)Gabi Rooker, Minneapolis, 34:11 (Charleston, S.C., 2026)Madison Offstein, New York, 34:24 (Atlanta, 2021)Brooke Starn, New York, 35:14 (New York City, 2024)Alexandra Conway, New York, 35:28 (New York, 2025)Alana Levy, New York, 35:50+ (New York, 2025)Alosha Southern, Brooklyn, N.Y., 35:52 (Mini, 2024)Annabel Stafford, North Grafton, Mass., 36:02 (Boston, 2025)Stephanie Diacovo, New York, 36:19+ (Brooklyn, N.Y. 2026)Anastasia Dmitrienko, New York, 36:20+ (Brooklyn, N.Y., 2026)Jennifer DiMascio Donohue, Long Island City, N.Y., 36:42 (Flushing, N.Y., 2025)Katarina Mayer, CAN, 36:51 (Flushing, N.Y., 2025)Katarina Birimac, Bronx, N.Y., DebutCailie Hughes, Bloomington, Minn.,  DebutAmisa Murayama, JPN, DebutNazuki Sasaki, JPN, DebutSydney Vaught, Fayetteville, Ark., Debut WHEELCHAIR ATHLETES: Tatyana McFadden, Baltimore, 23:14 (Atlanta, 2016)Hannah Dederick, Champaign, Ill., 24:29 (Mini, 2025)Linden Williamson, Boerne, Texas, 25:11 (Mini, 2025)Michelle Wheeler, Dallas, 26:04 (Mini, 2023)Hoda Elshorbagy, EGY, 26:09 (Mini, 2025)Milena Sobie, Streetsboro, Ohio, 30:17 (Cedartown, Ga., 2025)Rachel Cleaver, Beloit, Texas, 34:44 (Atlanta, 2025)April Coughlin, New York, 35:37 (Mini, 2025) PHOTO: Hellen Obiri winning the 2025 Mastercard New York Mini 10-K (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. (13-May) -- Just 17 days after becoming the first man to break two hours in a regulation marathon, Kenya's Sabastian Sawe has announced that he plans to defend his title at the BMW Berlin Marathon scheduled for Sunday, September 27.  Sawe, 31, who represents adidas, won last year's race in 2:02:16 in very warm conditions, well off the event record of 2:01:09 set by compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in 2022. Whether Sawe decides to attack Kipchoge's event record, or his incredible 1:59:30 world record from the TCS London Marathon last month, remains to be seen. "I am very much looking forward to returning to the BMW Berlin-Marathon this year to defend my title," Sawe said through a statement released by race organizers, SCC Events.  "Many people might be wondering what my goals are this time around.  After my victory in London and my sub-two-hour performance, all I can say is that, as always, I will prepare myself as thoroughly as possible.  I am coming to Berlin to honor this magnificent event and the organization that invited me, and I intend to run as well and as fast as I possibly can." Sawe, who is also the reigning world half-marathon champion, attacked Kelvin Kiptum's then world record of 2:00:35 at last year's race, splitting 10K in 28:26 and halfway in 1:00:16.  But the oppressive heat and humidity were too much for him to hold that pace.  As the temperature soared to 25C/77F, he had to slow down in the second half.  Nonetheless, he won the race by almost exactly four minutes over Japan's Akira Akasaki.  Organizers dubbed his performance the "warm weather world record." "I gave it my all and am absolutely delighted to have won the race," Sawe said after last year's contest.  "It was tough going in the heat." The men's world record has been set at the BMW Berlin Marathon nine times beginning in 1998 when Brazil's Ronaldo da Costa clocked 2:06:05.  Most recently, it was two-time Olympic Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge's 2022 winning time of 2:01:09.  Surely, race director Mark Milde would like to see the world record come back to the streets of Berlin. "At SCC Events, we are absolutely delighted to welcome Sabastian Sawe back to the BMW Berlin Marathon," said Milde through a statement.  "With his impressive progress over the past few months and his historic world record, he has definitively written his name into the history books of marathon running. The fact that Sabastian consciously chose to return to Berlin is a tremendous tribute to the global standing of our event and the speed of our course." The BMW Berlin Marathon's technical sponsor is adidas which will make promoting Sawe's participation in the race much easier.  His image in adidas kit can appear on all of the event's promotional materials without the fear of a sponsor conflict, a problem that bedevils race organizers throughout the world. That business consideration won't matter much to the sport's hardcore fans, however.  They will tune in to see just how fast Sawe can run. "On race day, we shall see what happens," said Sawe.  "I look forward to once again experiencing the fantastic atmosphere and the spectators lining the course." ** The BMW Berlin Marathon is one of the original five events of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, the premiere league of professional marathon running.  In 2025 it was the fifth-largest marathon in the world with 48,038 finishers.  Organizers said today that they were anticipating "60,000 runners from approximately 160 countries" for the 2026 race. PHOTO: Sabastian Sawe winning the 2025 BMW Berlin Marathon (photo by Petko Beier for SCC Events; used with permission)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. (April 26, 2026) -- Nearly 72 years after Roger Bannister became the first man to break four minutes for the mile at the Iffley Road Track in Oxford, Kenya's Sabastian Sawe and Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha became the first men to run under two hours for a standard marathon held under World Athletics rules*.  Sawe, 31, and Kejelcha, 28, finished first and second at Sunday's TCS London Marathon in 1:59:30 and 1:59:41, respectively.  They smashed the late Kelvin Kiptum's 2023 world record of 2:00:35 set at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, and Kejelcha ran (by far) the fastest debut marathon in history.  Third place Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda also finished under Kiptum's record, clocking 2:00:28. Moreover, Sawe successfully defended his title. "I am so happy, it is a day to remember for me," Sawe told the race's media team.  "We started the race well and approaching the end of finishing the race I was feeling strong. Reaching the finish line I saw the time and I was so excited to run a world record today." Remarkably, the race's fastest running came in the second half.  The first three 5-kilometer segments were covered in 14:14, 14:21 and 14:35, respectively.  That's fast running for sure, but "only" projected a 2:01:26 finish, about a minute outside of Kiptum's record.  Sawe, Kejelcha, Kiplimo, Kenya's Amos Kipruto, and Ethiopia's Deresa Geleta and Tamirat Tola were all in the lead pack. "They clearly had their Weetabix this morning," said British Olympian Chris Thompson on the race's international broadcast. The first injection of pace came in the next 5-kilometer segment.  With pacemaker Oscar Chelimo of Uganda on the front, the top-6 athletes ran 14:11 from 15 to 20 kilometers, then went through halfway in 1:00:29.  Nobody dropped off of the pace, and the same six men remained in contention.  No doubt, the sunny and cool conditions were helping all of the athletes. About halfway between 25 and 30 kilometers Chelimo retired leaving the contenders to fight for the win.  A fracture developed in the lead group just before 30K (1:26:03). Sawe and Kejelcha led Kiplimo by two seconds and Kipruto, Geleta, and Tola drifted back. That segment wasn't particularly fast (14:22), but the next two were incredible.  Sawe and Kejelcha blasted through the 5 kilometers from 30 to 35K in 13:54, and then from 35 to 40K in eye-popping 13:42 (27:36 from 30 to 40K).  That put the leading pair on pace to go under two hours,  But who would win? At the Paris Marathon earlier this month Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa ran 6:01 from 40-K to the finish line, the fastest final marathon segment ever. Until today. Sawe ran 5:51 to Kejelcha's 6:02 and that was the difference.  The race did not come down to a sprint.  Instead, Sawe gently pulled away in the final kilometer to get a glorious win on The Mall some 90 kilometers southeast of where Bannister had made history in 1954.  He ran the second half in 59:01. "I think I was well prepared because coming to London for the second time was so important to me and that is why I prepared well for it," Sawe explained. Under the prize money and bonus system put in place by race organizers, Sawe earned $355,000 (US) including $150,000 for a new world record.  Kejelcha earned $180,000 and Kiplimo got $172,500.  All three men will earn much more than those "above the table" totals because the race paid them appearance fees (and likely private place bonuses), and their kit sponsors (adidas for Sawe and Kejelcha, and Nike for Kiplimo) typically pay bonuses for exceptional performances like these. Down the finish order, Kipruto ran 2:01:39 for fourth place, Tola 2:02:59 for fifth, and Geleta 2:03:23 for sixth.  Irishman Peter Lynch ran a national record 2:06:08 in ninth place, and the top British finisher --and the winner of the U.K. Athletics national title-- was Mahamed Mahamed in tenth place in 2:06:14. The women's race also saw a world record (for a women-only race) and a successful title defense by Ethiopia's Tigist Assefa.  Assefa, 29, the 2024 Olympic Marathon silver medalist, ran a brilliant tactical race against rivals Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei, both of Kenya.  Behind excellent pacemaking by Ethiopia's Tsige Gebreselama and Kenya's Miriam Chebet, the trio hit halfway in 1:06:12, well under world record pace and also on schedule to break Paula Radcliffe's 2:15:25 course record set in a mixed-gender format in 2003. Unlike in the men's race, the women slowed down in the second half.  The first four 5-kilometer segments went rapidly in 15:39, 15:24, 15:56, and 15:42, respectively, but after that they would not run sub-16:00 for any additional segments.  Instead, they took turns at the lead and traded small surges, trying to test each other.  None of those moves were hard enough to break up the race. Up to the 40-K mark, the three women recorded identical split times.  Something had to give, and Assefa steadily ramped up her speed in the final kilometer to ease away from her challengers.  When she made the final right-hand turn onto The Mall both Obiri and Jepkosgei were too far back to catch up.  Squeezing out the last bit of pace she had left, she managed to trim her women-only world record from last year's race by nine seconds, clocking 2:15:41.  Radcliffe's absolute race record was not broken. "I screamed when I finished because I knew I was breaking the world record," Assefa told the race's media team.  "I felt much healthier today and have worked really hard on my speed and all my training has paid off.  Thank you to God for this fantastic competition, and I wanted to thank my opponents, many of whom are my friends. They've done great and well done!" Obiri, running her first marathon with pacemakers, ran a huge personal best of 2:15:53.  Jepkosgei, who won this race in 2021, finished third in 2:15:55.  It was her fifth time making the podium in London. Assefa earned $280,000 US in prize money and publicly-reported time bonuses.  Obiri earned $105,000 and Jepkosgei $97,500.  All three athletes also received appearance fees and likely personal bonuses. The top British athlete was Eilish McColgan in 2:24:51 in seventh place, slightly slower than her personal best 2:24:25 from this race last year.  Behind her was the 2025 World Athletics Championships bronze medalist Julia Paternain in a personal best 2:25:47.  Paternain, who represents Uruguay and was born in Mexico, was raised in Great Britain and her participation was heavily promoted by race organizers.  Her mark was a national record. In the professional wheelchair races, Switzerland's Marcel Hug rebounded from his Boston Marathon win last Monday and collected his eighth TCS London Marathon winner's trophy in 1:24:13.  His margin of victory was four minutes and 33 seconds. "This guy is just unbeatable," said commentator Hannah England on the race broadcast. Another Swiss athlete, Catherine Debrunner, won a tightly-contested women's contest in the professional wheelchair category against American Tatyana McFadden.  The pair pushed most of the race together, and it wasn't until the final set of turns before The Mall where Debrunner got away.  She was clocked in 1:38:29 to McFadden's 1:38:34.  Boston Marathon winner Eden Rainbow-Cooper, who is British, finished a distant 11th in 1:51:12. Both wheelchair winners earned $55,000 in prize money, the same as Sawe and Assefa. *Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:41 in an exhibition marathon in Vienna on October 12, 2019 which was not held under World Athletics rules PHOTO: Sabastian Sawe setting a world record of 1:59:30 at the 2026 TCS London Marathon (photo by Bob Martin for London Marathon Events)