Free Press Marathon organizers predict races will sell out early

Several races during this year's Detroit Free Press Marathon weekend are on the verge of selling out.

While tickets typically sell out around early September, organizers say key races are expected to sell out by the end of July, well ahead of the Sept. 9 deadline to register for international courses. Those key races include the Free Press Marathon, International Half-Marathon, Motor City Half-Marathon and Marathon Relay.

As of Friday, registration for the full marathon is up 78% compared with the same time last year. Registration for the international half is up 55%.

"We've never seen the type of demand for registration that we've seen this year. Typically, our most popular race every year that sees the most participants is the International Half-Marathon, the 13.1-mile race. But the marathon has grown tremendously this year," Aaron Velthoven, the marathon's vice president and race director, said, noting that registrations for the 2024 marathon have already surpassed last year's total.

Organizers expect 20,000 participants on the Sunday of marathon weekend, a 21% increase compared with last year.

Velthoven said marathon registrations are on the rise across the industry, noting that many people took up running during the pandemic.

"I think we're starting to see them come into the sport this year," he said.

In addition to more registrations overall, organizers are welcoming a field of highly competitive runners that is expected to attract 100 athletes to marathon weekend. The 47th annual Detroit Free Press Marathon will look to continue to build off of last year's successes, including recognition for achieving zero waste status.

Last year's event brought 24,000 runners to Detroit. This year, Velthoven said he expects attendance to be high again this year.

"At the pace we're going right now, it will certainly be the largest race weekend we've had with this course," Velthoven said.

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Registrations are also available for races for Saturday including the 5K, 1 Mile, Kids Marathon and Meijer Little Detroit Dash. For more information and to register for the event, go to the Detroit Free Press Marathon's website at freepmarathon.com.

Eric Guzmán covers youth sports culture at the Free Press as a corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support this work at bit.ly/freepRFA.

Contact Eric Guzmán: eguzman@freepress.com; 313-222-1850. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @EricGuzman90.