The Detroit Free Press Marathon is a 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) race run every third Sunday in October in Detroit, Michigan, United States, and Windsor, Ontario, Canada, since 1978. The marathon course is international and has featured the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel for all but two years of its existence. The current course crosses the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel between Detroit and Windsor. Due to its use of the tunnel, the race is able to boast that it has the only official underwater international mile in the world, as the tunnel runs underneath the Detroit River. The race is a USATF-certified, Boston-qualifier course.[1]
The race weekend also features an international half-marathon, a U.S.-Only half-marathon, a relay, a 5K, a 1-mile, a Kids Marathon and a Kids fun run.[2]
History
The predecessor to this race was the Motor City Marathon which started in 1963 and featured multiple laps on Belle Isle. Until 1968, the race was held on Thanksgiving Day.[3]
The first international marathon was organized by former Detroit Free Press editor and publisher Neal Shine, who was inspired to produce a race in Detroit after witnessing the Falmouth Road Race in Boston during a family vacation.[4][5]
From 1978 to 1998 the race started in Windsor and finished in Detroit. The race has had several other sponsors, changing the name slightly each time.
2009's field was a record 19,326 runners who participated.[6]
The 2020 in-person edition of the race was canceled due to the coronaviruspandemic. Registrants were given the option of running the race on their own courses, transferring their entry to 2021 or 2022, or obtaining a 50 percent refund.[7]
The male and female winners of the 2024 race, Andy Bowman and Sydney Devore, were also a married couple.[8]
