Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe, who last month became the first man to run a marathon in under two hours in ​an official race, will attempt to improve on ‌that record on one of the world’s fastest courses at the Berlin Marathon in September, organisers said on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old, who ran ​the London Marathon in one hour, 59 minutes and ​30 seconds, will return to competition when he ⁠defends his Berlin title on September 27.

“After my victory ​in London and my sub-two-hour performance, I can only say ​that I will as always prepare as well as possible, come to Berlin to honour this great event and the organisation that invited ​me, and aim to run as well and as ​fast as I can,” Sawe said in a statement.

The Berlin Marathon’s flat ‌course ⁠is regarded as one of the quickest in the world, with nine men’s world records being set at the event between 1998 and 2022.

Sawe finished the Berlin Marathon in two ​hours, two minutes ​and 16 ⁠seconds in 2025, clocking the world’s best time of the year despite temperatures reaching up ​to 25 degrees Celsius.

His compatriot Eliud Kipchoge still ​holds ⁠the course record, having clocked 2:01:09 in 2022 to set a previous world record.

“We’ll see what happens on race day,” ⁠Sawe ​said.

Organisers said the 2026 edition of ​the Berlin Marathon is expected to attract almost 60,000 athletes from around 160 ​countries.

–Reuters–