Michigan couple wins 2024 Detroit Free Press Marathon

(CBS DETROIT) — There was some marathon magic at the finish line in Detroit on Sunday. The winners of the 2024 Detroit Free Press Marathon men’s and women’s races are not only Metro Detroit athletes who overcame injuries to win, but also husbands and wives.

The two ran 26.2 miles straight into each other’s arms.

“I saw him win and I just thought, ‘He’s doing it and I’m doing it,'” said Sydney Devore-Bowman, the winner of the women’s race. “What we dared to dream we could make happen actually happened. And then I just thought, ‘Don’t screw it up.'”

Devore-Bowman won the women’s race in 2:42:46, just 25 minutes after her husband Andrew Bowman. He won the men’s race in 2:17:47.

The pair were allowed to run past each other around the 20 mile mark.

“Usually when we pass each other we like to blow each other a kiss or something like that, and when I saw that I was like, ‘Whew, okay, now just focus on yourself and survive.’ “Because I struggled in the last three miles,” Andrew Bowman said.

The couple is from Ferndale and celebrated their victories with their local running club.

“I just can’t think of a better way to celebrate winning a local marathon with our local running group in our hometown. It’s just fantastic,” Bowman said.

They said the Detroit Marathon is not to be missed, no matter how good you are.

“Walk/Run it; find a way. There’s nothing better than seeing Detroit come alive like it does today,” Devore-Bowman said.

Sydney said her running journey started at her high school in Florida.

“Because I’m bad at all sports, I lack hand-eye coordination. And my college advisor said that you can’t get into a good college if you don’t have extracurriculars. “So athletics was the only option for me,” she said.

She said she eventually fell in love with the sport and quickly became a strong athlete. Run for the University of Florida before becoming a professional runner.

Andrew grew up running in Michigan before joining the team at Oakland University. He and Sydney met at a race in Michigan.

And the couple aren’t the only athletes in the family. Andrew’s mother also ran the Detroit Marathon and placed third in her age group.

And the couple still can’t put their feet up. They’re running a 10-mile race in Pittsburgh in three weeks and another marathon in California three weeks after that.

Before the Detroit Free Press Marathon, both were injured in a trail race.

“There was a good stretch where I didn’t think I would make it to the starting line,” Devore-Bowman said.

Both insisted on taking home the victories.