ASSEFA, SAWE DOMINATE TCS LONDON MARATHON

ASSEFA, SAWE DOMINATE TCS LONDON MARATHON
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission. 

NOTE: This story was written remotely-Ed.

(27-Apr) — In sunny and a-bit-too-warm conditions, Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa and Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe dominated the 45th edition of the TCS London Marathon this morning.  The two adidas-sponsored athletes won using late-race breakaways, and Assefa established a pending women-only world record of 2:15:50.  Sawe, running in only his second marathon, clocked the second-fastest time in London Marathon history: 2:02:27.

Ahead of the elite runners, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner ran away with the professional wheelchair racing titles in 1:25:25 and 1:34:18, respectively.  Hug won his seventh London Marathon (sixth in a row), and Debrunner set a course record and came within two seconds of her own world record.

WOMEN START OUT FAST

Although the women’s field was weakened by the late withdrawals of world record holder Ruth Chepngetich and 2021 Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir (both of Kenya), Assefa still faced strong competition from reigning Olympic champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and former half-marathon world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya.  Shepherded by Kenyan pacemakers Catherine Reline Amanang’ole and Gladys Chepkurui, the trio went through 5 km in an aggressive 15:34.  They were also joined by Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu, and the chase pack of Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot, Ethiopia’s Haven Hailu Desse, American Susanna Sullivan, and Uganda’s Stella Chesang were already 50 seconds back.  Scottish debutante Eilish McColgan was running alone another three seconds back.

The leading four women stayed together through 10 km (31:16), and 15 km (47:11).  It was at that point that both Alemu and Hassan began to have trouble.  Alemu slowed dramatically in the next 5-kilometer segment (she would drop out before 25-K), and Hassan managed to maintain contact through the half-way point (1:06:40) where she was only ten seconds behind.  Amanang’ole stayed on the front, but Chepkurui dropped out just before 20-K.

As the race progressed in the second half, Jepkosgei did most of the leading with Assefa running right on her heels.  Hassan fell farther and farther behind with each 5-kilometer segment, and was 1:10 back at 30-K and 2:03 back at 35-K.  She would run the entire second half alone and finish third in 2:19:00.

Amanang’ole dropped out at 25-K, and Assefa and Jepkosgei ran together through 35-K (1:52:12).  The pair seemed fused together until Assefa dropped a 5:03 for the 24th mile (that’s approximately 37 to 38.7 km), and broke the race open.  She was determined not to finish second as she did last year.

“This looks like a strong, strong race-winning move by Assefa,” said British Olympian Hannah England on the world feed commentary.

Indeed it was.  Assefa sipped her drink at the 40-K fluid station, confident that she had an insurmountable lead.  Getting the women-only world record was icing on the cake, and she fell to her knees with her arms raised just after finishing.  Assefa won a total of USD 305,000: 55,000 for first place, 100,000 for sub-2:16:00, and 150,000 for the women’s world record.

“Last year I did have some problems with the cold,” Assefa said in her post-race interview with the help of an interpreter.  “My hamstring tightened up toward the end of the race.  This year the weather suited me really well.”

Jepkosgei, who was clearly struggling over the final 400 meters, hung on for second in 2:18:44.  Fourth place went to Desse, who was in fifth at halfway, in 2:19:17.  Kenyan veteran Vivian Cheruiyot, who was a late addition to the elite field, finished fifth in 2:22:32 at age 41.

Back in eighth place Eilish McColgan set a Scottish record of 2:24:25 and also took the McColgan family record from her mother, Liz, who ran 2:26:52 at London in 1997.

“I’m really proud to have finished today; it was a very, very tough run,” McColgan told reporters in the race’s mixed zone.  “I started out a little bit hot and paid the price on that.  Lots to learn, a very, very steep learning curve.  Yeah, I can call myself a marathoner.”

Also noteworthy was that Italy’s Sofiia Yaremchuk set a national record of 2:23:14 in seventh place, and American Susanna Sullivan finished tenth in 2:29:30 (off of a 1:11:56 halfway split).  Only 13 women (out of 15 starters) finished in the elite women’s division.

SAWE RUNS AWAY

It was remarkable how easily Sabastian Sawe ran away with the men’s title.  The reigning world half-marathon champion ran in a big lead pack of ten through halfway in 1:01:30 looking very comfortable.  He was joined by Germany’s Amanal Petros; Kenyans Alexander Mutiso Munyao (the race’s defending champion), Eliud Kipchoge, and Timothy Kiplagat; Ethiopians Milkesa Mengesha, Tamirat Tola, and Mohamed Esa; Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo (making his marathon debut); and Dutchman Abdi Nageeye.  That group held together through 25-K (1:13:00), and by 30-K (1:27:47) only Esa had been dropped.

It was at that point when Sawe went to work.  He crushed the 20th mile in 4:18, and ran the 30 to 35-K segment in a sizzling 13:56.  That gave him a 22-second lead at 35-K, which he would more than double by 40-K (he ran 28:16 from 30-K to 40-K).  He sailed to the finish line alone looking as fresh as he did after the first five kilometers.  He ran a mind-blowing negative split of 61:30/60:57.

“I was well prepared for this race, and that’s why it became easy for me to win,” Sawe told reporters.  He won a total of USD 155,000 in prize money and bonuses: 55,000 for the win and 100,000 for sub-2:03.

Behind Sawe, Kiplimo ran an excellent marathon debut, clocking 2:03:37, a new Ugandan marathon record.  Mutiso and Nageeye sprinted side-by-side on the race’s grand finish straight on The Mall, and the Kenyan just edged the reigning TCS New York City Marathon champion by a fraction of a second to take third (both men were timed in 2:04:20).  Tamirat Tola, the reigning Olympic champion, finished fifth in 2:04:42, and Kipchoge –who won London four times before– ran a strong 2:05:25 at age 40.  The top British athlete was Mahamed Mahamed in ninth place in 2:08:52.  Like McColgan, he also won the British national title.

Race organizers expect a record number of finishers, above last year’s record of 53,790 (elite plus mass race, combined).  The entry ballot for the 2026 race, scheduled for April 26th, is already open.

ELITE WOMEN’S RESULTS (all finishers) –
1. Tigist ASSEFA, ETH, 2:15:50 WRwo*
[1:06:40 / 1:09:10]
2. Joyciline JEPKOSGEI, KEN, 2:18:44
3. Sifan HASSAN, NED, 2:19:00
4. Haven Hailu DESSE, ETH, 2:19:17
5. Vivian CHERUIYOT (40+), KEN, 2:22:32
6. Stella CHESANG, UGA, 2:22:42
7. Sofiia YAREMCHUK, ITA, 2:23:14 NR
8. Eilish MCCOLGAN, GBR, 2:24:25 DB/Scottish Record (1st NC)
9. Rose HARVEY, GBR, 2:25:01 (2nd NC)
10. Susanna SULLIVAN, USA, 2:29:30
11. Phily BOWDEN, GBR, 2:30:28 (3rd NC)
12. Molly BOOKMYER, USA, 2:32:31
13. Holly ARCHER, GBR, 2:39:45 DB
*World record/women-only competition; previous 2:16:16, Peres Jepchirchir (KEN), London, 21-Apr-2024

ELITE MEN –
1. Sabastian SAWE, KEN, 2:02:27
[1:01:30 / 1:00:57]
2. Jacob KIPLIMO, UGA, 2:03:37 DB/NR
3. Alexander Mutiso MUNYAO, KEN, 2:04:20
4. Abdi NAGEEYE, NED, 2:04:20
5. Tamirat TOLA, ETH, 2:04:42
6. Eliud KIPCHOGE (40+), KEN, 2:05:25
7. Hillary KIPKOECH, KEN, 2:06:05
8. Amanal PETROS, GER, 2:06:30
9. Mahamed MAHAMED, GBR, 2:08:52 (1st NC)
10. Milkesa MENGESHA, ETH, 2:09:01
11. Andrew BUCHANAN, AUS, 2:09:11
12. Adam LIPSCHITZ, RSA, 2:09:48
13. Sondre Norstad MOEN, NOR, 2:09:57
14. Alex YEE, GBR, 2:11:08 DB (2nd NC)
15. Weynay GHEBRESILASE, GBR, 2:11:21