| 1 | Grete Waitz | NOR | |
2:28:09 | |
| 2 | Marianne Dickerson | USA | |
2:31:09 | |
| 3 | Raisa Katyukova-Smekhnova | URS | |
2:31:13 | NR |
| 4 | Rosa Mota | POR | 2:31:50 | ||
| 5 | Jacqueline Gareau | CAN | 2:32:35 | ||
| 6 | Laura Fogli | ITA | 2:33:31 | ||
| 7 | Regina Joyce | IRL | 2:33:52 | ||
| 8 | Tuija Toivonen-Jousimaa | FIN | 2:34:14 | NR | |
| 9 | Joyce Smith | GBR | 2:34:27 | ||
| 10 | Lyutsia Belyayeva | URS | 2:34:44 | ||
| 11 | Rita Marchisio | ITA | 2:35:08 | ||
| 12 | Debbie Eide | USA | 2:36:17 | ||
| 13 | Carey May-Edge | IRL | 2:36:28 | ||
| 14 | Glenys Quick | NZL | 2:37:14 | ||
| 15 | Monika Lövenich | FRG | 2:39:19 | ||
| 16 | Marja Vartiainen | FIN | 2:39:22 | ||
| 17 | Carla Beurskens | NED | 2:39:25 | ||
| 18 | Karolina Szabó | HUN | 2:40:23 | ||
| 19 | Christa Vahlensieck | FRG | 2:40:43 | ||
| 20 | Magda Ilands | BEL | 2:40:52 | ||
| 21 | Cindy Hamilton | CAN | 2:41:27 | ||
| 22 | Kath Binns | GBR | 2:42:12 | ||
| 23 | Zoya Ivanova | URS | 2:43:27 | ||
| 24 | Ngaire Drake | NZL | 2:43:51 | ||
| 25 | Jill Colwell | AUS | 2:45:07 | ||
| 26 | Jackie Turney | AUS | 2:45:43 | ||
| 27 | Sinikka Kiippa | FIN | 2:46:10 | ||
| 28 | Dorothy Goertzen | CAN | 2:46:38 | ||
| 29 | Kersti Jacobsen | DEN | 2:46:48 | ||
| 30 | Ilona Zsilak | HUN | 2:46:48 | ||
| 31 | Mieko Tajima | JPN | 2:47:10 | ||
| 32 | Tuulikki Räisänen | SWE | 2:47:29 | ||
| 33 | Jarmila Urbanova | TCH | 2:48:28 | ||
| 34 | Mary O'Connor | NZL | 2:48:44 | ||
| 35 | Yuko Gordon | HKG | 2:48:51 | ||
| 36 | Zehava Shmueli | ISR | 2:49:07 | ||
| 37 | Mette Holm-Hansen | DEN | 2:49:43 | ||
| 38 | Lone Dybdahl | DEN | 2:49:43 | ||
| 39 | Megan Sloane | AUS | 2:51:11 | ||
| 40 | Elizabeth Oberli-Schuh | VEN | 2:51:30 | ||
| 41 | Evy Palm | SWE | 2:51:49 | ||
| 42 | Heidi Jacobsen | NOR | 2:52:51 | ||
| 43 | Midde Hamrin | SWE | 2:52:53 | ||
| 44 | Deirdre Foreman-Nagle | IRL | 2:53:07 | ||
| 45 | Icíar Martínez | ESP | 2:53:24 | ||
| 46 | Rita Borralho | POR | 2:53:41 | ||
| 47 | Oddrun Hovsengen | NOR | 2:54:04 | ||
| 48 | Maria-Luisa Ronquillo | MEX | 2:56:33 | ||
| 49 | Rumiko Kaneko | JPN | 2:58:53 | ||
| 50 | Yong-Hi Son | PRK | 2:59:10 | ||
| 51 | Myong-Suk Kim | PRK | 3:12:41 | ||
| Julie Brown | USA | DNF | |||
| Yueh-Mei Kao | TPE | DNF | |||
| Jinmei Wu | CHN | DNF | |||
| Kandasamy Jayamani | SIN | DNF | |||
| Chantal Langlace | FRA | DNF | |||
| Yupin Lohachart | THA | DNF | |||
| Alba Milana | ITA | DNF | |||
| Charlotte Teske | FRG | DNF | |||
| Marie-Christine Deurbroeck | BEL | DNS | |||
| Glynis Penny | GBR | DNS | |||
| Winnie Ng Lai Chu | HKG | DNS | |||
| Amy Cesaretti | SMR | DNS |