(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission.

 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.”

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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)

By David Monti, @d9monti – Running USA