How has the men's marathon world record evolved as 2-hour mark breached for 1st time?

The men's marathon record stood at 2:04:55 in 2003, set by Kenya's Paul Tergat. It was progressively broken by Haile Gebrselassie, Patrick Makau, Wilson Kipsang, Dennis Kimetto and Eliud Kipchoge, reaching 2:01:09 by 2022. Kelvin Kiptum pushed it to 2:00:35 in 2023. Kenya's Sabastian Sawe finally smashed the 2-hour barrier at the 2026 London Marathon, clocking 1:59:30 on Sunday.