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    • Sydney Devore wins the 2024 Women’s Detroit Marathon
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    Sydney Devore wins the 2024 Women’s Detroit Marathon

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

    Brad Emons
    | Especially for the free press

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    After her husband, Andrew Bowman, won the men’s race, Sydney Devore-Bowman of Ferndale kept up her end of the bargain by running the 47th annual Detroit Free Press Marathon presented by MSU Federal Credit Union on Sunday won women’s title.

    It was the first time at the Detroit Marathon that a married couple won both titles.

    After Andrew completed the 26.2 mile route in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 47 seconds, Sydney followed with a time of 2:42:46.

    “He’s waiting for you, he’s waiting for you.”

    Devore-Bowman, a two-time US Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier (2020 and 2024), is a native of Lakeland, Florida, and ran at the University of Florida. With an average of 6:13 per mile, she beat runner-up Chelsea Hall (New Albany). , Ohio), who ran 2:45:52, and third-place finisher Casey Mulroy (Richmond, Va.), who ran 2:50.34.

    Devore-Bowman, 33, took charge early and found herself in her husband’s waiting arms at the finish line in what turned out to be a joyful and emotional scene.

    “The whole last 4 miles … I thought, ‘He’s waiting for you, he’s waiting for you,'” said Sydney, who originally met her husband at the Great Lakes Relay. “And oh my God, I just started crying as I turned the (final) corner. I just wanted to run into his arms in case I cried and not feel embarrassed.”

    Racing conditions were ideal with temperatures in the high 40s and wind gusts of up to 11 miles per hour. The race ran across both sides of the Detroit River and crossed the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.

    “I had a lot of self-doubt at first, and he kept reassuring me that I just needed to keep moving, get out there and just have fun,” Devore-Bowman said. “I told myself, ‘Smile all the time and make sure you’re having fun, because then the outcome won’t matter.’ Because I had a lot of fun and I realized pretty early on that I was winning – I was just like, I don’t know – I doubted myself, but he believed in me. And now we have achieved our first marathon victory together.”

    “I just had to come into town”

    The route also included Detroit neighborhoods including Woodbridge and Indian Village, passing through Eastern Market and along the Dequindre Cut before ending at Campus Martius.

    “Throughout the run I thought, I always believe in racing with integrity and showing up and doing what you say you’re going to do,” Devore-Bowman said. “And I was really lucky. My body took part. I felt great the whole time. And the crowds… every single one knew my name. I just had to show up in town. I kept telling myself, ‘You can do it,’ and that’s what I did.”

    Devore-Bowman sensed a one-two finish was possible when their paths crossed on the track.

    “By mile 20 I knew his lead was pretty good,” Sydney said. “We had to pass each other on Lafayette (in opposite directions). So I saw him and second place and knew he had done it. I could tell he had it by the way he moved.”

    Devore-Bowman set a personal best of 2:31:07 by winning the 2018 Pittsburgh Marathon. She placed 16th at the 2018 New York City Marathon and 22nd in Boston (2:31.08).

    “I feel like every marathon is different, every setup is different,” she said. “I’m just always there and do my best that day. I don’t think time necessarily plays that big of a role. I will always do my best to finish as high as possible. And today it was 2:42, so I’m happy with that.”

    Both Andrew and Sydney now have their sights set on running the California International Marathon in six weeks, but there was much to celebrate after their historic wins at the Detroit Marathon.

    “We’re going to meet all of our friends at Ferndale Project Brewery,” Sydney said. “Have fun, bring our dogs. That makes it easy because we know all the good spots and where to go.”

    For the first time, the Detroit Free Press Marathon included an elite field of more than 80 top runners from Michigan, Canada and North America. The winners of the men’s and women’s divisions each win $3,000; The handbike winner takes home $600.

    Karen Blackford holds the Detroit Marathon record with four wins (1979, 1982, 1984, 1992), while Detroit native Ella Willis (1988, 1989, 1991) and Russian Lyubov Denisova (2012, 2013, 2015) each hold it three times won.

    The record for female runners was set by Elene Orlova, who needed just 2:34:16 to beat the 26.2-mile distance in 2004.

    Editor’s note: Sydney Devore-Bowman’s age has been corrected from an earlier version of this story.

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    Caradoc Wyn
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