At the beginning of 2011, Deba defeated pre-race favourite Mare Dibaba to win the Los Angeles Marathon. She took a second straight victory at the Newport 10000 and then repeated that feat at the Healthy Kidney 10K in New York. She started the San Diego Marathon with a quick pace and reached the halfway marker in 1:09:53 hours. Her second half was not as fast but she still won the race in a new personal best of 2:23:31 hours – a time that also beat Joan Benoit's record for the fastest marathon in California, set at the 1984 Olympic marathon more than 26 years earlier. Deba had also surpassed the best time set by her husband, who remarked: "I will try harder to get the record back. I will not sleep anymore". Two months later she came third at the Beach to Beacon 10K. She placed second at the 2011 New York City Marathon with her new personal best, 2:23:19 hours.