On a historic day in London, plenty of Brits also made their mark with some incredible times. Mahamad Mahamad secured a top-10 finish and was the quickest Brit, with a time of 02:06:14.

That was just ahead of Patrick Dever (02:06:18), in 11th, with Weynay Ghebresilasie in 13th (02:06:59), Jack Rowe in 14th (02:07:47) and Phil Sesemann in 16th (02:08:41).

Rounding out the top-20 were Tewelde Menges (02:10:48) and debutant Alfie Manthorpe (02:11:31).

In the women’s, Eilish McColgan was seventh overall with 02:24:51, just outside her debut from last year. Rose Harvey was ninth (02:26:14) and Jessica Warner-Judd was 12th (02:29:28)

Incredible performances.

There was also a new women-only record set in the women’s race as Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa defended her London Marathon crown. Assefa held off the challenge of Hellen Obiri, pulling away with 500 meters remaining to win in 2:15:41 and take nine seconds off her time from last year. However, it was 16 seconds slower than the course record set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 when it was a mixed race.

Sabastian Sawe made history on the streets of London with the first official marathon under two hours in the fastest race ever run over the 26.2-mile distance.

Sawe, the 29-year-old Kenyan, shattered the previous world record held by the late Kelvin Kiptum with an astonishing run of 1:59:30 that shaved 65 seconds off the previous best set by his compatriot in Chicago in 2023.

“I'm feeling good. I'm so happy. It's a day to remember for me. It is a day to remember,” Sawe tells the BBC.

He says he come into the marathon knowing sub-2:00:00 was possible. I think he may be talking about the late Kelvin Kiptum when speaking about what got him over the line.

“We started the race well and approaching the end and finishing the race, I was feeling strong and I remembered my fellow champion athlete who was so competitive and I think he was the one who helped a lot.

“I'm finally reaching the finishing line. I saw the time and I was so excited to see running a world record today.

“I think I was well prepared because coming to London for the second time was so important to me, and that's why. I prepared well for it.”

Sawe’s previous best of 2:02:05 was achieved in winning the London Marathon last year, and he obliterated his personal best by defending his title.

Speaking ahead of the London Marathon, Sabastian Sawe did not rule out a word record when asked about his chances.

And asked if his shoes, the Adidas Pro Evo 3s, were of course – or even world – record quality, the 29-year-old replied, simply: “Yep.”

Sawe ran a NEGATIVE SPLIT! He went out in 60:30, he came back in 59:00.

He teased the world record. But no one was expecting this!

The top three times in today’s race would have all broken the previous world record set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023.

Sawe and Kejelcha both went under two hours, but Jacob Kiplimo also went under Kiptum’s best of 02:00:30.

Just amazing.

THE FIRST OFFICIAL MARATHON UNDER TWO HOURS! SABASTIAN SAWE BREAKS THE WORLD RECORD AND MAKES HISTORY IN LONDON!

Astonishing! He has absolutely destroyed it! The Kenyan has done it! To add to an unbelievable day, Kejelcha has gone under two hours as well! Like London buses!

• 1 - SAWE (KEN) -01:59:30
• 2 - KEJELCHA (ETH) - 01:59:41
• 3 - KIPLIMO (UGA) - 02:00:28
• 4 - KIPRUTO (KEN) - 02:01:39
• 5- GELETA (ETH) - 02:02:59
• 6 - TOLA (ETH) -02:03:23