Ferndale, Michigan, man Andy Bowman won the Detroit Free Press Marathon for the third straight year Sunday, according to race organizers.

Bowman, 32, completed the 2026 marathon with a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes and 11 seconds, beating his 2025 time by nearly four minutes. Ross Roberson, 32, of Zionsville, Indiana, finished second in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 30 seconds.

Lake Orion, Michigan, resident Allison Sherman was the first woman to cross the finish line in the international 26.2-mile race with a time of 2 hours, 43 minutes and 29 seconds, finishing nearly five minutes ahead of Dianne Fisher of Rocky River, Ohio, the second woman to finish.

The marathon began with chilly temperatures, but unlike last year's gloomy, rainy weather, as the day progressed, runners enjoyed blue skies and sunshine.

"This is the perfect temperature, the perfect day for this. I loved it. The cold helped. The heat at the end felt nice," Victoria Lilly, from Indiana, said.

Some people use the marathon as an opportunity to challenge themselves.

"I'd done so many halves, and it was just time to take it to the next level," Stacey O'Brien of Rochester Hills, Michigan, said.

"We've always been runners, and we've always wanted to push ourselves to do something hard, and so we said this is the ultimate side quest," Nicole Grindling, from Plymouth, Michigan, said.

For others, it's about spending time with loved ones.

"My friends and I always travel for a race every fall, like, we do a little girls trip, and we heard Detroit was the happiest race ever, so we came to check it out," Lilly Fontinell of Baltimore, Maryland, said.

The marathon's route took competitors through several Detroit neighborhoods and into Canada via the Ambassador Bridge.

"I've never left the country before, so I had to get my passport for the race," Fontinell said.

More than 26 miles may seem daunting for first-timers, but worth it in the end.

"About mile 23, I was like, I'm never doing this again. But now that it's over, I think it's great," Victoria Lilly said.

The event exceeded expectations for many.

"I feel like I raced and had the time of my life. I just thought of people that inspired me this training block and really sought out having fun on the course," Fontinell said.

It forges a community.

"I met somebody that, she had survived breast cancer and it was her first marathon. The demographics of people running, you know, you don't have to look like a runner. You just have to show up and do it," O'Brien said.

The 49th running of the marathon brought in more than 30,000 people from all 50 U.S. states and over 30 countries to downtown Detroit.