Date 3rd Sunday in October Distance Marathon | Event type road Established 1978 | |
Location Detroit, Michigan, United States and Windsor, Ontario, Canada Course records Male: 2:13:07 (Greg Meyer, 1980)
Female: 2:34:16 (Elena Orlova, 2004) | ||
The Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon is a 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) race run every October in Detroit, Michigan, United States and Windsor, Ontario, Canada since 1978. The predecessor to this race was the Motor City Marathon which started in 1963 and featured multiple laps on Belle Isle. The marathon course is international and has featured the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel for all but two years of its existence. From 1978 to 1998 the race started in Windsor and finished in Detroit. 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.
Apart from the main event, there is also a half-marathon, a relay and a 5 km fun run.
The 2009 overall winner was Nicholas Stanko (Haslett, Michigan) in a time of 2:20:24. The female winner was Sarah Plaxton (Highland, Michigan), who achieved a time of 2:57:10. The first prize for the marathon was $5,000.
2009's field was a record 19,326 runners who participated.
In 2009, three men died participating in the half marathon race.
In 2010, there was musical entertainment, such as the Detroit Party Marching Band at the half mile station.