Nearly 30,000 runners, thousands of cheering spectators and a new course record made this year’s Detroit Free Press Marathon one to remember. The 49th annual race took place Sunday, October 18, bringing participants from 30 countries, including more than 3,000 Canadians, to Detroit and Windsor for one of the event’s biggest weekends yet.
The international course remains one of the things that makes the Detroit marathon so special. Runners crossed the Ambassador Bridge into Windsor, traveled along Riverside Drive and made their way back into Detroit through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. It’s a stretch of the race that participants look forward to each year, with the unusual experience of running beneath the Detroit River and crossing the international border twice. Along the way, residents on both sides of the river came out to cheer, offer encouragement and enjoy the excitement.
There was plenty to celebrate at the finish line, too. Ferndale’s Andy Bowman won the men’s marathon for the third straight year, breaking a course record that had stood for 46 years. Allison Sherman of Lake Orion took the women’s title with a time of 2:43:30. The sold-out international marathon and half-marathon races were part of a full weekend of activities that also included a relay, 5K and children’s races.
The turnout was impressive, but so was the community support. Hundreds of volunteers helped make the weekend possible, including about 175 students from Riverside Secondary School in Windsor. Spectators lined the route, and the excitement carried from the streets of downtown Detroit to Windsor’s waterfront and back again. Race director Aaron Velthoven called it a tremendous weekend, praising the energy and enthusiasm throughout both cities.
The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel is proud to have once again played a part in this annual tradition. Opening the Tunnel to runners instead of vehicles takes planning and coordination, but it’s worth it to see thousands of people enjoy this unique international crossing in a completely different way. As organizers begin preparing for the marathon’s 50th anniversary in 2027, this year’s event leaves plenty to celebrate and even more to look forward to.
