Anthony Targan, no. 1709, Jack Strausman and Lance Gibbons, no. 1728, celebrate finishing the Detroit Free Press / Flagstar Bank Marathon.
PREFACE BY TONY TARGAN: Jack and I are buddies from our days at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. Around the time of our 40th birthdays, we agreed - as any man approaching his mid-life crisis would understand - it was time to tackle The Big Kahuna and run a marathon.

Our goal was just to finish and we did: Jack the 2001 Marine Corps Marathon, me the 2002 Detroit Free Press Marathon. But as often is the case with potato chips and marathons, you can't be satisfied with just one. Jack decided last year he would try to run marathons in all 50 states, plus D.C. Detroit was his seventh in 2005 and 10th overall. It was also the first one we ran together. Jack's friend, Lance Gibbons, also from D.C., joined us.

Jack follows each marathon with a detailed e-mail that is part course description and part travel guide. He distributes his write-ups to fellow runners and a few friends who have questioned his sanity for running a marathon a month. The following is Jack's write-up about Detroit.

Yesterday, I ran in the 28th annual Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon. I flew up with my buddy, Lance, and we stayed with friends Tony and Holli in West Bloomfield.

The camaraderie made the race even more enjoyable. Tony, Lance and I ran together for the first 20 miles, then split up. Although I did not qualify for Boston (so the Boston monkey remains firmly on my back, taunting and distracting me from the primary 50-state-and-D.C, goal), I did get a new personal-best time of 3:37:21.

Tony and Lance finished close behind, although reports have it Lance ended up writhing on the ground in pain due to cramping near Mile 23. Tony ran by him and slowed down long enough to ask, "Are you OK?" Lance waved him on. To those who know the old uber-competitve Tony, him slowing for anybody may come as a surprise. Apparently, years of parenting and coaching girls soccer have mellowed him. (Lance recovered, finishing just three minutes behind Tony.)

Saturday night, to get in the mood for Detroit, we watched "8 Mile," filmed in the Motor City. I forgot to add Eminem tunes to my iPod, which would have enhanced the experience when we ran near the Chin Tiki lounge featured in the movie. Eminem still lives in Detroit. Representin' 313. Word.

Detroit gets a bad rap, as good as its rap-singing artists are. I have visited many times through the years, and have noticed things starting to evolve. Both the Lions and Tigers have new stadiums downtown, sitting side by side. The Tigers play at Comerica Park (opened in April 2000); Ford Field, the home of the Lions and this season's Super Bowl XL, opened in August 2002.

Comerica Park's entrance features a series of large tiger heads holding baseballs in their mouths. The race started next to them and ended inside Ford Field, on the 50-yard line. The finish was inspirational - we ran down a steep, dark tunnel into bright lights above the field, with the Jumbotron showing the finish line.

The new "field turf" is kind of spongy, and more realistic than the Astroturf of old. According to Tony, its recycled-rubber "dirt" is shredded Firestone tires turned in after the Ford Explorer exploding-tire debacle. Ironic that they would end up at Ford Field. After the race we sat around the 10-yard line for a bit, then walked into the end zone so we could say we were there when we watch this year's Super Bowl.

Besides the two stadiums (stadia?) there are other signs of rebirth. One store began selling clothing and other paraphernalia with the slogan "Say nice things about Detroit." I am trying to do so here. Also popular is the "Think Detroit" slogan I saw on many sweatshirts. I am not sure what that means.

The first neighborhood the course passed though near downtown was Mexican Town, an area of Mexican restaurants decorated with fitting flags and bright colors. At one, a Mariachi band was playing. This was odd to pass in 40-degree weather, heading south towards Canada.

The event is the only international marathon featuring an underwater mile. At about Mile 4, you cross over the Ambassador Bridge into Windsor, Canada (south of Detroit). Then you run 4 miles along the river, next to a sculpture park, back to the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. Race results included runners' underwater mile time. Ours was 8:11.

The sun was coming up as we crossed into Windsor, and if you looked left you could see it reflect off the GM headquarters building (more on that in a minute) which towers over the Detroit skyline.

The race course crossed over the river again to Belle Isle, a 1,000-acre island in the Detroit River between the city and Canada. The City of Detroit purchased the island in 1879 for $200,000 and kept its Belle Isle (beautiful island) name.

In 1883, Frederick Law Olmstead (the designer of New York City's Central Park) created a master plan for Belle Isle. It is a beautiful, well- maintained park, billed as the country's largest city island park, and features a golf course, yacht club, fountains, fields and recreational facilities. It was a nice rural-like interlude before returning to the city and through Indian Village, a lovely old neighborhood of huge, restored, well-maintained homes.

The only complaint I have about the race organization concerns the start. The chute was too narrow. We arrived early, but stayed in the car for a bit to avoid the nippy 39-degree temperature. (By the way, it is always good to travel with a local. Tony works downtown. We diverted away from a long line of cars backed up on a major road towards Comerica Park, and found cheap parking four blocks from the start.)

After waiting in line for the porta-johns, we walked to the starting area and stood a few minutes before we realized a fence divided the actual starting chute from the street. We had to climb over the fence into the very-crowded chute. On the positive side, it was actually warm packed person-to-person in the crowd.

We crossed the starting line two minutes after the gun, which means we were pretty close to the front since the Free Press reported it took 14:31 for all 13,000-plus runners to cross the line. Chicago apparently gets 40,000 people across its starting line in about the same time. So maybe next year they will either widen the chute or separate marathoners from the half-marathoners.

Other than that, the course was well-organized, with water stops every mile and two GU stations. Crowd support was better than in any other race I ran this year, but it was also the largest race I have run this year.

GM headquarters was originally built by a group called Detroit Renaissance, formed in 1970 by business leaders "concerned with transforming the city's troubled past into a promising future." It is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging the physical and economic revitalization of Detroit and Southeast Michigan, according to its Web site. In the 1970s its major effort was to stimulate building activity in Detroit.

When it opened in 1976, The Renaissance Center was one of the largest privately-financed real estate projects in history. The tallest cylinder-shaped tower is 73 stories. GM purchased the complex a few years ago and, according to Holli, has spent millions to open it up to the street and river; the grounds were previously closed to the rest of the city (in typical 1970s fashion).

The tower looked almost wistful in the sunrise, sort of a symbol of dying American industrial might. But this view may have been colored by recent stories of the Delphi bankruptcy and GM's plan to sell off 50 percent of GMAC.

All in all, Detroit furnished an above-average marathon experience. Thanks to Tony and Holli for their hospitality, and to Lance and Tony for making the race that much more fun. 41 to go. MR

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