Each national team consisted of six athletes, who alternately covered six stages to complete the 42.195 km marathon distance. The first, third and fifth stages were of 5 km, the second and fourth stages were of 10 km, and the final stage covered the remaining 7.195 km.[3]
In the women's race, Genet Gebregiorgis and Berhane Adere established a 38-second lead for Ethiopia over the first two legs. The nation dominated the competition to win in a championship record of 2:16:04, having the fastest runner in every stage, bar an interruption of Italy's Silvia Sommaggio on the third leg. The Romanian and Japanese teams traded places for the runner-up spot, but a decisive final leg by Elena Fidatov brought the Romanians the silver medals by a margin of 17 seconds.
In the men's race, it was the Kenyan team that dominated, with Simon Rono and Joseph Kimani establishing a lead of 41 seconds over the first two stages and David Kipruto grabbing the fastest time in the fifth stage. The Brazilians closed the gap slightly in the mid-race thanks to Delmir dos Santos, but ultimately ended up runners-up with a time of 2:01:24 hours behind Kenya's 2:00:40. Ethiopia and the hosts Denmark battled for the bronze position throughout the race but a strong final leg by Ethiopia's Worku Bikila resulted in a time of 2:01:50 hours, putting clear distance between the two teams.
