The Women's Marathon race at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics was held on 14 August in the streets of Helsinki with the goal line situated in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Paula Radcliffe set the pace of the race, leading all the way from start to finish. Constantina Tomescu was able to keep up with Radcliffe the longest, but began to fall behind after the 25 km mark and at the end found herself overtaken by the defending champion Catherine Ndereba.
| Gold |  Paula RadcliffeGreat Britain (GBR) | |
| Silver |  Catherine NderebaKenya (KEN) | |
| Bronze | Constantina Tomescu Romania (ROM) |
| DNS | did not start | |
| NM | no mark | |
| WR | world record | |
| AR | area record | |
| NR | national record | |
| PB | personal best | |
| SB | season best |
| Rank | Number | Athlete | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 KILOMETRES | ||||
| 1 | 281 | 16:47 | ||
| 2 | 423 | 16:47 | ||
| 3 | 207 | 16:47 | ||
| 4 | 456 | 16:50 | ||
| 5 | 214 | 16:50 | ||
| 10 KILOMETRES | ||||
| 1 | 281 | 33:23 | ||
| 2 | 423 | 33:23 | ||
| 3 | 207 | 33:23 | ||
| 4 | 601 | 33:26 | ||
| 5 | 456 | 33:26 | ||
| 15 KILOMETRES | ||||
| 1 | 281 | 49:53 | ||
| 2 | 423 | 49:54 | ||
| 3 | 207 | 49:54 | ||
| 4 | 601 | 49:54 | ||
| 5 | 456 | 49:56 | ||
| 20 KILOMETRES | ||||
| 1 | 281 | 1:06:16 | ||
| 2 | 601 | 1:06:17 | ||
| 3 | 450 | 1:06:18 | ||
| 4 | 456 | 1:06:18 | ||
| 5 | 125 | 1:06:39 | ||
| HALF MARATHON | ||||
| 1 | 281 | 1:09:49 | ||
| 2 | 456 | 1:09:52 | ||
| 3 | 450 | 1:09:52 | ||
| 4 | 601 | 1:09:53 | ||
| 5 | 125 | 1:10:19 | ||
| 25 KILOMETRES | ||||
| 1 | 281 | 1:22:47 | ||
| 2 | 601 | 1:22:48 | ||
| 3 | 456 | 1:22:50 | ||
| 4 | 450 | 1:23:00 | ||
| 5 | 125 | 1:23:42 | ||
| 30 KILOMETRES | ||||
| 1 | 281 | 1:39:22 | ||
| 2 | 601 | 1:39:33 | ||
| 3 | 456 | 1:39:38 | ||
| 4 | 450 | 1:40:30 | ||
| 5 | 125 | 1:41:03 | ||
| 35 KILOMETRES | ||||
| 1 | 281 | 1:56:14 | ||
| 2 | 456 | 1:56:42 | ||
| 3 | 601 | 1:56:59 | ||
| 4 | 450 | 1:58:29 | ||
| 5 | 125 | 1:58:35 | ||
| 40 KILOMETRES | ||||
| 1 | 281 | 2:13:22 | ||
| 2 | 456 | 2:14:09 | ||
| 3 | 601 | 2:15:16 | ||
| 4 | 214 | 2:16:06 | ||
| 5 | 125 | 2:16:33 | ||
| Rank | Athlete | Time | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:20:57 | CR | |||
| 2:22:01 | SB | |||
| 2:23:19 | ||||
| 4 | 2:23:30 | PB | ||
| 5 | 2:24:12 | |||
| 6 | 2:24:20 | |||
| 7 | 2:24:22 | PB | ||
| 8 | 2:25:46 | |||
| 9 | 2:26:14 | SB | ||
| 10 | 2:26:29 | |||
| 11 | 2:26:50 | PB | ||
| 12 | 2:27:14 | PB | ||
| 13 | 2:27:46 | PB | ||
| 14 | 2:29:43 | PB | ||
| 15 | 2:30:28 | |||
| 16 | 2:30:38 | |||
| 17 | 2:31:16 | |||
| 18 | 2:31:26 | PB | ||
| 19 | 2:32:47 | |||
| 20 | 2:32:53 | |||
| 21 | 2:33:20 | PB | ||
| 22 | 2:34:01 | |||
| 23 | 2:34:07 | |||
| 24 | 2:34:35 | |||
| 25 | 2:34:41 | PB | ||
| 26 | 2:34:43 | PB | ||
| 27 | 2:34:45 | |||
| 28 | 2:35:08 | |||
| 29 | 2:35:48 | |||
| 30 | 2:36:29 | SB | ||
| 31 | 2:36:41 | |||
| 32 | 2:36:50 | |||
| 33 | 2:37:03 | PB | ||
| 34 | 2:38:16 | |||
| 35 | 2:38:32 | PB | ||
| 36 | 2:39:02 | SB | ||
| 37 | 2:39:13 | |||
| 38 | 2:39:36 | SB | ||
| 39 | 2:39:47 | |||
| 40 | 2:39:58 | |||
| 41 | 2:41:51 | SB | ||
| 42 | 2:43:31 | SB | ||
| 43 | 2:43:58 | SB | ||
| 44 | 2:47:42 | |||
| 45 | 2:50:36 | |||
| 46 | 2:52:11 | |||
| 47 | 2:52:41 | |||
| 48 | 2:53:08 | |||
| 49 | 2:54:08 | |||
| 50 | 2:57:18 | |||
| 51 | 3:03:26 | SB | ||
| DID NOT FINISH (DNF) | ||||
| - | DNF | |||
| - | DNF | |||
| - | DNF | |||
| - | DNF | |||
| - | DNF | |||
| - | DNF | |||
| DID NOT START (DNS) | ||||
| - | DNS | |||
| - | DNS | |||