Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon
The men's marathon event at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games took place August 9. The race was won by Son Kitei.
Marathon route
The marathon course started in the Olympic Stadium. After going around stadium, the starting field left the stadium through the Marathon Gate. The runners crossed the Maifeld and then turned right into the Angerburger Avenue. Shortly thereafter, it was then left into Glockenturmstraße and the first checkpoint after 4 km on the Havelchaussee. They went on the banks of the Havel along the Grunewald to the left side. The second checkpoint was 6 kilometers on Rupenhorn, at kilometer 8 of the third control point followed on Schildhorn. The Grunewaldturm was reached after 10 km, at the level of the island Lindwerder sending the runners southeast. At the end of Havelchaussee runners then turned left on the long, straight Avus. The course went on the race track to the Nordschleife, there returned to the rotor field and the previous route ran back to the Olympic Stadium. The athletes came through the Marathon Gate back to the stadium and then ran for about 150 meters to the finish line.This route differs from the present-day Berlin Marathon.
Korean athletes
During the time of the competition, Korea was a colony of Japan, therefore Korean sportsmen competed as members of Japanese team and were using their Japanese names. The Korean names of Son Kitei and Nan Shōryū are Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong respectively. After Sohn's victory, he bowed his head during the Japanese anthem at his medal ceremony and remarked that he was ashamed to compete for Japan, an occupying power, rather than an independent Korea.Results
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Son Kitei | 2:29:19.2 | OR | ||
| Ernest Harper | 2:31:23.2 | |||
| Nan Shoryu | 2:31:42.0 | |||
| 4 | Erkki Tamila | 2:32:45.0 | ||
| 5 | Väinö Muinonen | 2:33:46.0 | ||
| 6 | Johannes Coleman | 2:36:17.0 | ||
| 7 | Donald Robertson | 2:37:06.2 | ||
| 8 | Jackie Gibson | 2:38:04.0 | ||
| 9 | Mauno Tarkiainen | 2:39:33.0 | ||
| 10 | Thore Enochsson | 2:43:12.0 | ||
| 11 | Stylianos Kyriakides | 2:43:20.0 | ||
| 12 | Nouba Khaled | 2:45:34.0 | ||
| 13 | Henry Palmé | 2:46:08.4 | ||
| 14 | Franz Tuschek | 2:46:29.0 | ||
| 15 | Jimmy Bartlett | 2:48:21.4 | ||
| 16 | Émile Duval | 2:48:39.8 | ||
| 17 | Manuel Dias | 2:49:00.0 | ||
| 18 | Johnny Kelley | 2:49:32.4 | ||
| 19 | Miloslav Luňák | 2:50:26.0 | ||
| 20 | Felix Meskens | 2:51:19.0 | ||
| 21 | Ján Takáč | 2:51:20.0 | ||
| 22 | Rudolf Wöber | 2:51:28.0 | ||
| 23 | Ludovic Gal | 2:55:02.0 | ||
| 24 | Robert Nevens | 2:55:51.0 | ||
| 25 | Anders Hartington Andersen | 2:56:31.0 | ||
| 26 | Gabriel Mendoza | 2:57:17.8 | ||
| 27 | Tommy Lalande | 2:57:20.0 | ||
| 28 | Artūrs Motmillers | 2:58:02.0 | ||
| 29 | Eduard Braesecke | 2:59:33.4 | ||
| 30 | Percy Wyer | 3:00:11.0 | ||
| 31 | Fernand Le Heurteur | 3:01:11.0 | ||
| 32 | Wilhelm Rothmayer | 3:02:32.0 | ||
| 33 | Bronisław Gancarz | 3:03:11.0 | ||
| 34 | Max Beer | 3:06:26.0 | ||
| 35 | Guillermo Suárez | 3:08:18.0 | ||
| 36 | Boris Kharalampiev | 3:08:53.8 | ||
| 37 | Arul Swami | 3:10:44.0 | ||
| 38 | Josef Šulc | 3:11:47.4 | ||
| 39 | Franz Eha | 3:18:17.0 | ||
| 40 | Wang Zhenglin | 3:25:36.4 | ||
| 41 | Stane Šporn | 3:30:47.0 | ||
| 42 | José Farías | 3:33:24.0 | ||
| Juan Acosta | DNF | |||
| Franz Barsicke | DNF | |||
| Tarzan Brown | DNF | |||
| Giannino Bulzone | DNF | |||
| Paul de Bruyn | DNF | |||
| Kazimierz Fiałka | DNF | |||
| Aurelio Genghini | DNF | |||
| Billy McMahon | DNF | |||
| Jaime Mendes | DNF | |||
| Bert Norris | DNF | |||
| Luis Oliva | DNF | |||
| Tamao Shiwaku | DNF | |||
| Harold Webster | DNF | |||
| Juan Carlos Zabala | DNF |
Key: DNF = Did not finish, OR = Olympic record