2011 London Marathon

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.[1] [2]

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.[3]  London's 2009 women's wheelchair winner Amanda McGrory won her second title in a course record time of 1:46:31 hours.[4]

Around 35,000 people took part in the mass race and 35 Guinness World Records were set at the competition.[5]  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.[6]  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.[7]  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.[8]

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.[9] [10]

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.[11]

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Contents
[hide]  *1 Results <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;"> ==Results<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Elite races<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === Emmanuel Mutai en route to his course record winMartin Lel sprinted to take second place.;Elite Men Mary Keitany won the women's race and became the fourth fastest woman ever.Liliya Shobukhova was second in a Russian record time.;Elite women ===Wheelchair races<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === David Weir and Heinz Frei duelling in the men's wheelchair raceAction from the women's wheelchair race;Men's event
 * 1.1 Elite races
 * 1.2 Wheelchair races
 * 2 See also
 * 3 References
 * 4 External links
 * Women's event