The Men's marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held starting and finishing at Gukchae-bosang Memorial Park on September 4. Abel Kirui was the defending champion.[1]
The story was all Kirui. Running a casual pace to 15 km, first the Moroccan contingent tried to test the field. The pace picked up and the field strung out. After 25 km, it was down to Kirui, Vincent Kipruto, Eliud Kiptanui, Feyisa Lilesa and Abderrahime Bouramdane. Then Kirui put the hammer down, running 14:18 between 25 and 30 km. Nobody could go with him and he ran all alone, extending his lead for the remainder of the race to finish in 2:07:38. The 2:28 gap was the largest winning margin for the men's marathon in World Championship history, and as of 2024 it remains the only time the men's marathon has been won by more than two minutes. After dropping Bouramdane and Kiptanui, Kipruto and Lilesa ran tactically for the remainder of the race, with Kipruto getting silver.
The race was also the World Cup team competition. In that competition, the scoring is based on the cumulative time of the top three finishers for each team. Each country participating in the World Cup was allowed 5 entries into the marathon. The event was clearly won by Kenya, with 1st, 2nd and 5th-place finishers (Kenya also had the 6th-place finisher). Perennial champion Japan finished second, a cumulative minute ahead of Morocco.
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
| Abel Kirui | Vincent Kipruto | Feyisa Lilesa |
See also: 2011 World Marathon Cup.
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
Abel Kirui Vincent Kipruto David Barmasai Tumo | Hiroyuki Horibata Kentaro Nakamoto Yuki Kawauchi | Abderrahime Bouramdane Rachid Kisri Ahmed Baday |
Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:
| World record | 2:03:59 | Berlin, Germany | 28 September 2008 | |||
| Championship record | 2:06:54 | Berlin, Germany | 22 August 2009 | |||
| World Leading | 2:03:40 | London, Great Britain | 17 April 2011 | |||
| African record | 2:03:59 | Berlin, Germany | 28 September 2008 | |||
| Asian record | 2:06:16 | Chicago, United States | 13 October 2002 | |||
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | 2:05:38 | London, Great Britain | 24 April 2002 | |||
| South American record | 2:06:05 | Berlin, Germany | 20 September 1998 | |||
| Rowspan=2 | European record | Rowspan=2 | 2:06:36 | London, Great Britain | 16 April 2000 | |
| Paris, France | 6 April 2003 | |||||
| Oceanian record | 2:07:51 | Boston, United States | 21 April 1986 |
| KEY: | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | Q | Qualified | NR | National record | PB | Personal best | SB | Seasonal best |
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:07:38 | SB | ||||
| 2:10:06 | |||||
| 2:10:32 | SB | ||||
| 2:10:55 | |||||
| 2:11:39 | |||||
| 2:11:50 | |||||
| 2:11:52 | |||||
| 2:11:57 | |||||
| 2:12:57 | |||||
| 10 | 2:13:10 | ||||
| 11 | 2:13:24 | ||||
| 12 | 2:13:37 | ||||
| 13 | 2:15:32 | PB | |||
| 14 | 2:15:45 | SB | |||
| 15 | 2:15:48 | SB | |||
| 16 | 2:15:56 | SB | |||
| 17 | 2:16:03 | SB | |||
| 18 | 2:16:11 | ||||
| 19 | 2:16:23 | ||||
| 20 | 2:16:41 | ||||
| 21 | 2:16:48 | ||||
| 22 | 2:16:59 | ||||
| 23 | 2:17:04 | ||||
| 24 | 2:17:35 | ||||
| 25 | 2:17:44 | ||||
| 26 | 2:17:45 | SB | |||
| 27 | 2:17:59 | ||||
| 28 | 2:18:05 | ||||
| 29 | 2:18:05 | ||||
| 30 | 2:18:12 | ||||
| 31 | 2:18:30 | SB | |||
| 32 | 2:20:16 | ||||
| 33 | 2:21:12 | ||||
| 34 | 2:21:15 | ||||
| 35 | 2:21:54 | SB | |||
| 36 | 2:22:45 | SB | |||
| 37 | 2:22:49 | SB | |||
| 38 | 2:23:11 | SB | |||
| 39 | 2:23:33 | ||||
| 40 | 2:23:47 | ||||
| 41 | 2:24:06 | ||||
| 42 | 2:24:16 | ||||
| 43 | 2:25:42 | SB | |||
| 44 | 2:27:20 | SB | |||
| 45 | 2:29:15 | SB | |||
| 46 | 2:30:01 | ||||
| 47 | 2:33:20 | SB | |||
| 48 | 2:34:40 | ||||
| 49 | 2:36:43 | ||||
| 50 | 2:38:22 | SB | |||
| 51 | 2:38:33 | NR | |||
| Rank | Country | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6:29:23 | ||
| 1 | Abel Kirui | 2:07:38 | |
| 2 | Vincent Kipruto | 2:10:06 | |
| 5 | David Barmasai Tumo | 2:11:39 | |
| 6 | Eliud Kiptanui | (2:11:50) | |
| Benjamin Kolum Kiptoo | |||
| 2 | 6:41:13 | ||
| 7 | Hiroyuki Horibata | 2:11:52 | |
| 10 | Kentaro Nakamoto | 2:13:10 | |
| 18 | Yuki Kawauchi | 2:16:11 | |
| 29 | Yoshinori Oda | (2:18:05) | |
| 38 | Yukihiro Kitaoka | (2:23:11) | |
| 3 | 6:53:41 | ||
| 25 | José Manuel Martínez | 2:17:44 | |
| 26 | Rafael Iglesias | 2:17:45 | |
| 30 | Pablo Villalobos | 2:18:12 | |
| 4 | 6:54:32 | ||
| 14 | Dong Guojian | 2:15:45 | |
| 24 | Li Zicheng | 2:17:35 | |
| 33 | Wu Shiwei | 2:21:12 | |
| 5 | 6:57:03 | ||
| 23 | Jeong Jin-hyeok | 2:17:04 | |
| 28 | Lee Myong-seung | 2:18:05 | |
| 35 | Hwang Jun-hyeon | 2:21:54 | |
| 40 | Hwang Jun-suk | (2:23:47) | |
| 44 | Kim Min | (2:27:20) | |
| 6 | 7:04:52 | ||
| 31 | Mike Morgan | 2:18:30 | |
| 37 | Mike Sayenko | 2:22:49 | |
| 39 | Jeff Eggleston | 2:23:33 | |
| 41 | Nicholas Arciniaga | (2:24:06) | |
| 45 | Sergio Reyes | (2:29:15) | |