Ferndale resident Andy Bowman is feeling faster than ever and ready to make history next weekend at the 49th annual Detroit Free Press Marathon presented by MSU Federal Credit Union.
Bowman, 32, won the race in 2024 and 2025, and if he can pull off another first-place finish along the 26.2-mile course on Sunday, Oct. 18, he will tie the event's record for back-to-back-to-back wins.
He also has a legitimate shot at breaking the race's all-time record.
That record, 2:13:07, was set way back in 1980 by Grand Rapids native Greg Meyer. Last year, Bowman finished the race in 2:16:10, which despite the day's extraordinarily gusty winds, was over a minute faster than his victory time the previous year, although off his personal best marathon of 2:14:19.
Sitting down for an interview Oct. 7 at Ferndale Project, a neighborhood bar and cafe, Bowman said his training has been going great and he is aiming for a three-peat this year.
"All my workouts are pointing to a pretty big PR for me and a possible shot at taking down the course record, which for me would be like a nice little cherry on top," Bowman said. “That record has been there since 1980 and I thought I was going to do it last year. But we got all of that really bad wind and I just never felt like I got a really good shake at it.”
Yet even if he can vanquish that 46-year-old record, the victory, at least on an emotional level, would still be hard to beat that of the 2024 Detroit Free Press marathon.
That was the year Andy Bowman and his wife, Sydney Devore-Bowman, became the firsthusband-and-wife duo to win the marathon's respective men's and women's titles. Images of their ecstatic embrace and kiss at the finish made national news.
Although Sydney was back for last year's marathon, she wasn't running that day. She instead watched her husband's victory while holding their newborn son, Liam, born just three weeks earlier. The three of them together, moments after Dad had crossed the finish line, made for more heart-warming photographs.
Devore-Bowman, who recently turned 35, is now running again, although she has had to deal with a few injuries during her transition back. She will be racing next Sunday, but lining up for the International-Half Marathon rather than the full marathon.
"I don’t think she’s hoping for a lot come Free Press," Andy Bowman said. "She’s sticking it out for the Half, because we love that marathon so much that it just feels like the thing to do — and she might surprise herself.”
He said Sydney is still working toward running fast marathons again in the future and has plans in December to run her first full marathon since she became a mother.
“She’s killing some workouts right now. And truth be told, if she’s not running, she’s going crazy,” he said with a laugh. “So she needs this — our family needs this — so I’m happy and excited.”
“I honestly think she still has some of her best times in front of her," he added. “She’s still got some time. I think with the advent of the super shoes, so much more training knowledge and fueling, you’re seeing a lot of runners having success like well into their 40s."
Liam, who is now 1 year old, will also be back for this year's race, this time accompanied by Sydney's parents.
A family business
Andy and Sydney operate their own business, Run Through the Wall, which provides virtual coaching services for runners across the country.
Andy also works as a personal trainer. He now has his own with private clients, following a period as a trainer at the upscale Equinox gym in Bloomfield Hills.
These days he often starts his own weekday training runs at 5:30 a.m. so that he can be ready for 7:30 a.m. appointments with his clients.
He does most of his runs in Ferndale, he said, and on weekends heads over to the Kensington and Stony Creek Metroparks. Most of his training is done alone, which he acknowledges can be surprising to people, as high-level runners often belong to training groups with other fast runners.
Bowman said training solo is very different from how he did it in his early running career. Back then he was always running with his identical brother, Jacob Bowman, as well as with school and college teammates.
The Bowman brothers are from the small farm town of Marlette and they share space on their high school's record board, with Andy holding the 3200 meters track record and Jacob the 1600 meters record.
The brothers went on to run and compete together at Oakland University.
"We did all the same sports and we constantly pushed each other," Andy Bowman said. "From a very young age all the way through college, we were on the same team and we did the same stuff. So I’ve had about as much pushing from my teammates as I think I could ever want.
"At this junction, if I'm (training) by myself, I don’t feel this crazy pull to keep pushing beyond my limits for the day. So it helps me to just match up with where my body is at.”
Varying the mileage
Bowman said he lowered his mileage early this summer to about 80 miles per week and did several local races of sub-marathon distances, including Clawson's Firecracker Mile as well as a 10K and a half marathon. In August he increased his volume to above 100 miles per week in preparation for the Free Press Marathon, peaking at 120 miles for one week. He has since tapered down his mileage to be sharp on race day.
“No injuries, knock on wood," he said. "I’ve gotten into a good cycle of just making sure that when I feel something coming on, I know how to get in front of it. For the most part the training is progressive enough that I think my body has responded to it really well.”
Bowman said he doesn't have any formal sponsorships right now. He thinks he needs to run a big PR for that situation to change. Perhaps that will come at next weekend's marathon.
"If I ran like sub 2:10, sub 2:09, I’d be willing to bet I could get some sort of contract," he said. "But as it stands, I’m not one of those individuals that they’re clamoring for. Which, to some degree or another, from a mental standpoint, can be a lot easier on you, because you know your performance is not having an effect on what you have at your disposal."
Still, another victory in the Free Press marathon will have financial benefits. The top male and female finishers are to each take home $3,000 in cash, with an additional $150 for the top male and female from Michigan.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-378-5460 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Andy Bowman is ready to three-peat at Detroit Free Press marathon
