Kejelcha, Gebrhiwet, Cheptegei, Sawe, Kiplimo all at London Marathon (2026) - Who wins?

Kiplimo WR

Sawe, no WR though. Somewhere in the 2:01-2:02:30 range

London is not the fastest.

Sabastian Sawe (KEN) - 2:02:05
Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) - 2:02:23
Deresa Geleta (ETH) - 2:02:38
Amos Kipruto (KEN) - 2:03:13
Tamirat Tola (ETH) - 2:03:39
Amanal Petros (GER) - 2:04:03
Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN) - 2:04:23
Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) - 2:04:52
Shunya Kikuchi (JPN) - 2:06:06
Emile Cairess (GBR) - 2:06:46
Mahamed Mahamed (GBR) - 2:07:05
Philip Sesemann (GBR) - 2:07:10
Hassan Chahdi (FRA) - 2:07:30
Adam Lipschitz (RSA) - 2:08:54
Patrick Dever (GBR) - 2:08:58
Peter Lynch (IRL) - 2:09:36
Tim Vincent (AUS) - 2:09:40
Dewi Griffiths (GBR) - 2:09:49
Weynay Ghebresilasie (GBR) - 2:09:50
Tewelde Menges (GBR) - 2:09:58
George James (GBR) - 2:10:10
Liam Boudin (AUS) - 2:10:28
Jake Smith (GBR) - 2:11:00
Marc Scott (GBR) - 2:11:19
Jack Rowe (GBR) - 2:12:31
Andrew Fyfe (GBR) - 2:13:20
Alex Milne (GBR) - 2:14:03
Peter Le Grice (GBR) 2:14:45
Sean Hogan (GBR) 2:14:51
Jack Barraclough (GBR) - 2:14:55
Christopher Thomas (GBR) -2:14:55
Chris Perry (GBR) - 2:14:57
David Bishop (GBR) - 2:15:16
Charlie Sandison (GBR) - 2:15:38
William Mycroft (GBR, 2:15:54
Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) - Debut
Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH) - Debut
Isaia Kipkoech Lasio (KEN) - Debut
Alfie Manthorpe (GBR) - Debut

I assume you mean course. That field is fantastic. The race has the 2 best marathoners of 2025 plus 4 of the top 6 + Kejelcha, Hagos G and Cheptegei.

OMG. I just realized Jonathan didn't even mentionCheptegei in his article. That's how poor the start to his marathon career has been.

Personally, I'd like to see Cheptegei run Boston. He's repeatedly shown he's not ready to run 2:02 in a marathon. So why in the world is he running time trial after time trial? When you just finished 5th in Amsterdam, signing up for London seems crazy to me.

You are still a huge n ame and former world xc champ - try Boston. Maybe you excel on that type of course.

Kiplimo vs Sawe Round II LOOKS AMAZING.

When did we last have a battle royale like this where it was clearly the top 2 men's marathoners on earth battling it out? Anyone know. I bet Jonathan can think about it and figure it out.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2026/01/2026-london-mens-field-is-loaded-worlds-top-2-marathoners-sabastian-sawe-jacob-kiplimo-to-battle-in-rematch-yomif-kejelcha-debut/

These are the most stacked marathon fields I can ever remember seeing. I think it's especially interesting that Kiplimo and Cheptegei will be racing together again. Their teamwork could be crucial against such a competitive field.

Awesome to see all time range monster Kejelcha debut with Geberhiwet. Kejelcha solo’d that half WR in the rain if I recall correctly and never hesitated to push the pace during 3500m mark of top DL 5ks. I am very curious to see how he handles the 30km onwards stretch in London.

Bekele beating Kipsang in Berlin some 10 years ago?

Jake Barraclough (GBR) will win

Disappointed that not a single US man wants to run the World's premier marathon. C'mon.

Cheptegei gets Kiplimo to 30k if not more and DNF. Kiplimo wins.

Remember Kiplimo was exactly 30" ahead of Kiptum @ 35 kms. If his training goes well, another build-up will do.

Sawe is amazing but the consistency of his times suggest he is knocking at his ceiling.

Bit unfair on Sawe, it was stupidly warm in Berlin! I do agree on the Cheptegei DNF though.

Kiplimo end of thread.

I'm going to go with Kiplimo and a WR.

Last year I knew he wasn't ready.

Remember his 2:02 race he was below WR pace for a while.

If he's ready the WR is gone.

Don't expect much. It's too early for Kejelcha - needs experience.

Forgot to mention, if Hassan shows up fresh we could be in for a spectacular time. She will beat the other ladies easily IF she's prepared.