Californian Beasley cuts through ‘cold’ for title
Mary Beasley said she had run so many marathons that she couldn’t recall ever being in Detroit.
But after winning the 45th annual Free Press Marathon, she said it was a special victory and it made her feel right at home.
The 46-year-old from Gardena, California, covered the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 42 minutes and 25 seconds as she comfortably pulled away from runner-up Rebecca Spellman of Galloway, Ohio, (2:48.42) and third-place finisher Kimberly Proctor (2:50:44) of Rockford.
For her efforts, Beasley took home a total of $6,000, which also includes her winning the Masters Division (40-and-up). Spellman and Proctor earned $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.
“I’m very competitive,” Beasley said. “I’ve won a lot of marathons, but this is a major one I’ve won this year.”
Beasley, a nurse assistant, is a native of Nigeria who came to the U.S. at 16. She ran in high school and also competed at El Camino Junior College before going on to Cal-State Dominguez Hills.
She ran a 6:12 per mile pace but was unsure when she separated herself from the rest of the women’s field. Beasley figured it was around the 13-mile mark when the full-marathoners separated themselves from the international half field at Campus Martius.
“It was a lot of people — the relay, half-marathon — so it was a little bit confusing, but I guess I was the one leading,” Beasley said. “But when they were telling me, ‘Oh, you’ve got it, you’re winning,’ I was like, I said, ‘OK,’ I was in the front and that’s when I know I was leading.”
The course featured some changes from a year ago as well, but many of the same routes remained including crossing the Ambassador Bridge into Windsor and re-entering into the U.S. through the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.
“The course was tough ... from the Canada to
the U.S. it was a lot of turns, but it was great,” Beasley said. “People were out there cheering, shocked to see a lot of people early morning, it was great. I was happy I did 2:42.”
The race started at 7 a.m. under ideal conditions, just a slight wind with temperatures in the low 40s.
“It’s too cold, it’s too cold for me,” Beasley said with a chuckle.
Beasley, however, liked going through the tunnel at Mile 8.
“Canada and the U.S. is almost the same,” Beasley said. “I’m like, ‘We’re crossing the border?’ It was quick coming back. It was great, I was like, ‘OK.’ It was warm there.”
Beasley said her personal best is a 2:33 at the Twin Cities Marathon. She was the first American to win the Free Press overall female division since Dearborn’s Courtney Brewis (2:45:52) did it in 2014.
Beasley said she would probably return in 2023 to defend her crown, but she’ll remember what she did this year.
“I’m trying (to) think if I came to Detroit, I don’t think so, I can’t remember,” she said. “It’s a great city, a lot of fun.”