For most marathons, the process is simple: register online, show up on race day to collect your identification number, and then run. However, the Detroit Free Press Marathon, run by math teacher Dan Garbowitz, is a special exception. Everyone needs a valid passport to compete. This Boston qualifying race follows a unique course. Traveling internationally, the runners start in Detroit, travel into Canada, and then run back to Detroit for the finish.
Many people might think running a marathon, or even two miles, is an extreme workout. However, people like Garbowitz believe that races like these are fun events to train for and look forward to. Like most long-distance runners, Garbowitz loves to run and has for a while.
“I have been into fitness my entire life,” Garbowitz said. “I started running distances when I was 20 years old, and I would say I got into running competitively when I was 22 when I realized that I had some speed.”
However, being a teacher and a dad, he has not always had time to run. When his children were born, he had to take a break from running, especially the long process of training for a marathon, to be there for his family. Once his children grew old enough to take care of themselves for short periods, he was able to get back to the activity he loves: training for marathons and other long-distance runs.
Garbowitz’s recent free time allowed him to train for the Detroit Free Press Marathon. As he was training, he was working toward running a qualifying time for the famous Boston Marathon. For each age group, there is a different time that you would have to run to make it. Garbowtiz started his training back in July of this year and was on track to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Then, something shocking changed: the qualifying time was moved shorter.
“The Boston qualifier [time] was three hours and ten minutes, but they made it more challenging to get in,” Garbowitz said. “So, I would say about six weeks out from the race, they lowered the time to 3:05, so during most of my training block I was training to run a 3:10. Then, those last six weeks, I thought, ‘man, I have to run this faster.’”
Following the course over bridges and borders, Garbowitz was positive about his run. However, his struggles started when he reached the crossing point: the Ambassador Bridge.
“Going over the bridge is challenging because you have to go up and then down,” Garbowitz said, “and then coming back into the States through the tunnel was a bigger challenge than I thought because it’s so steep. The back half of the marathon is the most challenging part. There is this idiom that a marathon is a 20-mile warm-up to run a 10K race, and it feels that way.”
However, once he passed the finish line, he saw his time: 3:06:48. Garbowitz was a little over one minute off of qualifying.
“I’d had to run seven minutes and three seconds per mile,” Garbowitz recalls. “My pace was seven minutes and six seconds per mile.”
With such a minimal difference being the deciding factor between qualifying and not, this would be very discouraging to most people. However, as Garbowitz spoke with his family afterward, he said that he felt mixed emotions. The upsetting fact that he would have qualified had the times stayed the same was there, yet he was proud that he comfortably beat the original cut-off. Now the question is, will he try again next year in this same race to qualify? The short answer: no.
“I would run that race, just as a fun thing to do, and try to enjoy it maybe a little more,” Garbowitz said. “This time I went in with a very clear goal in mind, so there were parts of that race that would be super cool, like going over the bridge at sunrise. But, I was in a different head space; I was just trying to run fast.”
Even though he will not race this course again, his running journey does not stop here. His long time of running has kept the spirit of long-distance in his blood, and he has plenty of advice when asked about running. Though marathons are very long, there are lots of ways to prepare, both mentally and physically.
“Training for a marathon is a very large undertaking,” Garbowitz said. “If they’ve never run a marathon before, I would say just go into it aiming to finish because finishing a marathon in itself is a big feat. I would say train, make [training] a commitment, and just aim to finish.”
