Dates 17 April 2011 | ||
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Venue London, England, United Kingdom Men Emmanuel Mutai (2:04:44) (Elite)
David Weir (1:30:05) (Wheelchair) Women Mary Keitany (2:19:19) (Elite)
Amanda McGrory (1:46:31) (Wheelchair) | ||
The 2011 London Marathon took place on Sunday, 17 April 2011. The men's elite race saw Emmanuel Mutai win in a course record time to become the fourth-fastest ever over the distance. Runner-up Martin Lel sprinted to the line to beat Patrick Makau, completing a Kenyan sweep of the podium. Mary Keitany became the fourth-fastest woman ever with her winning time, while defending champion Liliya Shobukhova came second with a Russian record time.
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In the elite wheelchair racing marathon, Briton David Weir beat the defending champion Josh Cassidy to claim his fifth title at the event – the most in the history of the competition. London's 2009 women's wheelchair winner Amanda McGrory won her second title in a course record time of 1:46:31 hours.
Around 35,000 people took part in the mass race and 35 Guinness World Records were set at the competition. The majority of the records were for completing the fastest race in a certain costume, but others included the fastest couple and fastest parent-child pairings. German Uli Killian solved 100 Rubik's Cube puzzles whilst completing the race. Steve Chalke, a Christian social activist, improved the record for the most funds raised for charity through a marathon run, raising £2.3 million for his Oasis Trust – beating his own record set at the previous year's race. The largest age group present at the race were men in their 30s, followed by men in their 40s. The joint-youngest runners were Michael Bennett and Helen Nutter, both taking part on their eighteenth birthdays (the minimum allowable age), while the oldest participant was 87-year-old Paul Freedman.
Going against the traditionally strict invitational criteria for the elite races, an additional nine Japanese women were a late addition to the field. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami meant that the Nagoya International Women's Marathon (a qualifier for the 2011 World Championships) was cancelled and a sympathetic agreement between the London race organisers and the Japan Association of Athletics Federations resulted in London taking the role of the cancelled Nagoya race.
The 2011 London Marathon marked the last time that Dave Bedford acted as the sole race director, with Hugh Brasher (son of former runner Chris Brasher) joining Bedford in a joint role in 2012 before taking full responsibility of the role.