Detroit Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Detroit Free Press Marathon is an international marathon that starts and finishes in downtown Detroit and crosses into Windsor, Ontario, held on a Sunday in mid-October. It has been run since 1978 and is presented by MSU Federal Credit Union. In 2026 the marathon started at 7 a.m. on West Fort Street at 3rd Avenue and finished at the foot of Campus Martius, at Woodward Avenue and Congress Street. The route crosses the Ambassador Bridge into Canada and returns to Detroit through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, then runs through Woodbridge and Indian Village, past Eastern Market and along the Dequindre Cut. The organisers call it one of the few truly international marathon courses in the world. A half marathon, a marathon relay and shorter races take place the same weekend. Runners must finish within 6.5 hours from the moment the Last Chance Pacer crosses the start line. The minimum age is 16. The 2026 weekend drew a record 30,000 participants across all events. Andy Bowman won the men's race for the third time in a row in 2026, breaking the event record of 2:13:07 that Greg Meyer set in 1980.