Free Press/TCF Bank Marathon

Detroit might be the Motor City, but more than 26,000 runners from across the globe come here to travel by foot instead. The annual Detroit Free Press/TCF Bank Marathon returns for its 42nd year to give runners of all stripes an international workout, as the race traverses into Canada, taking runners over the Ambassador Bridge and through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, with stops in Corktown, Mexicantown, Indian Village, and Belle Isle along the way. Aside from the marathon, there’s a half-marathon, a 1-mile, a 5k, a relay event, a Disabilities Division, and a Meijer Kids Fun Run, and the event is expected to raise more than $2 million for more than 45 charities. Things kick off with a Health and Fitness Expo (that doubles as HQ for participants) from 2-8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18 at TCF Center with nearly 100 vendors, and continues Saturday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. An afterparty for participants and friends and family runs from 8 a.m.–2 p.m. at the corner of Fort Street and Third Street. Advance registration is closed, but people can sign up for U.S.-only events in person at TCF Center. Plus, new this year, photos will be taken and provided to runners free of charge, because pics or it didn’t happen, right?