A 2013 University of Michigan graduate, Zachary Ornelas (above), finished first Sunday morning in the 36th Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank International Marathon, sportswriter Anthony Fenech posts at the paper's live blog coverage.
His time was 2 hours, 20 minutes and 10 seconds.
The women's winner is 35-year-old Lyubov Denisova of Russia, according to Fenech, who didn't immediately post her time.
Dorota Gruca of New Mexico won the women's half-marathon and Tom Davis of Fremont, Ind., won the hand cycle division for competitors with handicaps.
Overall winner Zachary Ornelas of Ann Arbor Ornelas, 22, was on UM's track team for four years and now is on a national mountain trail running team. (Instagram photo)
About 6,000 entrants ran and rolled from Windsor to Detroit across the Ambassador Bridge on a sunny 43-degree morning.
Ornelas, 22, was on UM's track team for four years and now is on a national mountain running team, according to an online interview last month by Justin Britton.
He's from Cedar Park, Texas, and earned a secondary education degree in Ann Arbor. Ornelas earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2011-13, his UM bio shows. He's a two-time AAU Junior Olympic champion in the 3,000-meter race and set a national AAU record in the 2,000-meter steeplechase.
North America's only marathon with a cross-border route began shortly before 7 a.m. – nearly an hour before sunrise – with hand cyclists and wheelchair racers. They were followed by marathoners, half-marathoners and five-person relay teams.
Participation is described as a record by the paper, continuing the event's dramatic growth.
The first Free Press Marathon in 1978 drew 1,942 runners. At the turn of the century, the Free Press Marathon had yet to double in size, attracting 3,588 participants. But last year, on a beautifully brisk but sunny morning, the 35th edition drew a record field of 23,755.
That’s a 662% increase over a dozen years.
