As the spring marathon season shifts gears from Boston to London, all eyes are now on Jacob Kiplimo. The 24-year-old Ugandan distance star will make his much-anticipated marathon debut this Sunday at the 2025 TCS London Marathon.
Kiplimo, the current half-marathon world record holder, shocked the running world earlier this year with a blistering 56:42 performance in Barcelona. The pace, if carried through 42.2 kilometres, would project him well under the elusive two-hour barrier—a mark that hasn’t been broken in an official race. Naturally, the speculation around Kiplimo’s debut has sparked talk amongst fans about whether we will see a world record in London, or even a sub-two-hour attempt.
Jacob Kiplimo is one of the biggest names debuting in the London Marathon this month. Will we see the fastest debut ever? pic.twitter.com/LiWEvR54uy
— Justin Lagat (@LagatJustin) April 8, 2025
Despite the buzz, Kiplimo isn’t buying into the talk. “On Sunday, I have to first run a good race before I start thinking about time,” Kiplimo told reporters at Friday’s elite athlete press conference in London. “Against this deep field, I would be happy with making the podium.”
The marathon world record currently belongs to the late Kelvin Kiptum, who clocked 2:00:35 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. While pundits have pegged Kiplimo as the potential heir to Kiptum’s record, and perhaps the next to challenge the two-hour barrier, Kiplimo and his team have kept their expectations in check.
“He has run extremely quick for the half, but we’re not talking about sub-two hours,” said his agent, Federico Rosa, to reporters. “I expect us to be somewhere around 2:01, 2:02 in the men’s race.”
Kiplimo’s consistency and dominance over cross country and the half marathon have made him one of the most exciting distance talents of the last five years. His Ugandan compatriot, Joshua Cheptegei, has found similar success on the track, holding world records over 5,000m and 10,000m. But Cheptegei’s marathon debut didn’t go as many hoped—he faded to a 2:08:59 finish in Valencia 2023.
“I’ve been doing 220km per week for the marathon. Before it was around 120km.”
Jacob Kiplimo talks through his expectations for @LondonMarathon after his half-marathon 56:42 WR from Barcelona 🇺🇬
He wants to focus on his own race and isn’t bothered by talk of running a… pic.twitter.com/VYNMQcsQwL
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) April 24, 2025
For London, Kiplimo says he significantly increased his weekly training load and mileage from 120 km to 220 km. It’s a sharp uptick aimed at making his marathon debut as smooth and strong as possible.
Kiplimo will face a strong men’s field featuring the defending champion Alexander Mutiso, four-time London Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge and 2024 Olympic gold medallist in the marathon, Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola. All three men might not have the speed to hang with Kiplimo, but they will 100 per cent rely on their experience and tactics to get the best of the young star.
How to watch
If you have a subscription to FloTrack, you can follow Sunday’s marathon coverage starting at 3:30 a.m. E.T. The elite women will start at 9 a.m. local time, while the elite men will go off at 9:40 a.m.
