| Event: | Men's marathon |
| Competition: | European Athletics Championships |
The men's marathon at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Prague, then Czechoslovakia, on 3 September 1978.
| Gold | Leonid Moseyev | |
| Silver | Nikolay Penzin | |
| Bronze | Karel Lismont |
3 September
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | align=left | 2:11:57.5 | CR | ||||
| align=left | align=left | 2:11:59.0 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | | 2:12:07.7 | ||||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 2:12:20.0 | ||||
| 5 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:12:29.4 | NR | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:12:45.3 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 2:12:54.3 | ||||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 2:13:39.7 | ||||
| 9 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:14:31.7 | |||
| 10 | align=left | align=left | 2:14:41.3 | ||||
| 11 | align=left | align=left | 2:14:43.3 | ||||
| 12 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:15:01.9 | |||
| 13 | align=left | align=left | | 2:15:31.5 | |||
| 14 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:15:45.0 | |||
| 15 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:15:47.8 | |||
| 16 | align=left | align=left | | 2:16:09.2 | |||
| 17 | align=left | align=left | 2:16:37.6 | ||||
| 18 | align=left | align=left | | 2:16:49.5 | |||
| 19 | align=left | align=left | 2:16:53.0 | ||||
| 20 | align=left | align=left | 2:16:56.3 | ||||
| 21 | align=left | align=left | | 2:17:24.5 | |||
| 22 | align=left | align=left | 2:17:32.8 | ||||
| 23 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:17:48.0 | |||
| 24 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:18:17.8 | |||
| 25 | align=left | align=left | | 2:18:44.5 | |||
| 26 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:19:26.4 | |||
| 27 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:20:28.5 | |||
| 28 | align=left | align=left | 2:20:49.4 | ||||
| 29 | align=left | align=left | | 2:21:00.2 | |||
| 30 | align=left | align=left | 2:21:25.2 | ||||
| 31 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:21:35.1 | |||
| 32 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:22:47.4 | |||
| 33 | align=left | align=left | 2:23:14.8 | ||||
| 34 | align=left | align=left | 2:23:38.3 | ||||
| 35 | align=left | align=left | | 2:23:39.7 | |||
| 36 | align=left | align=left | | 2:25:56.2 | |||
| 37 | align=left | align=left | 2:32:16.9 | ||||
| align=left | align=left | | DNF | ||||
| align=left | align=left | DNF | |||||
| align=left | align=left | | DNF | ||||
| align=left | align=left | | DNF | ||||
| align=left | align=left | DNF | |||||
| align=left | align=left | DNF | |||||
| align=left | align=left | | DNF | ||||
| align=left | align=left | | DNF | ||||
| align=left | align=left | DNF | |||||
| align=left | align=left | | DNF | ||||
| align=left | align=left | | DNF | ||||
| align=left | align=left | DNF |
According to an unofficial count, 49 athletes from 21 countries participated in the event.
(3) (2) (2) (2) (2) (3) (3) (2) (1) (1) (2) (2) (3)