Eastern Market Brewing Co. debuts Motor City Miles for 47th annual Free Press Marathon

Runners in the Detroit Free Press Marathon will get a chance to log some additional miles when the race concludes on Oct. 20.

Eastern Market Brewing Company (EMBC) has partnered with the Free Press Marathon to create Motor City Miles, a new international pale ale that will be available exclusively during the marathon weekend.

"Our overarching goal is to be Detroit's brewery. And to do that you've got to partner with the major events in the city, and, obviously, one of those is the Detroit Marathon," said Dayne Bartscht, founder of Eastern Market Brewing Company. "There's a lot of excitement, too, around the Detroit Marathon, with the fact that they sold out for the first time this year. So, we were really just excited to make it happen."

Eastern Market Brewing has four locations in metro Detroit, and running clubs regularly meet at all of them.

"There's also been a real kismet to the partnership because, as a company, EMBC, really gets — and embraces— running culture," said Aaron Velthoven, vice president and executive race director for the Free Press Marathon.

... how cool would it be to drink one of our beers at the finish line

The idea behind Motor City Miles, Bartscht said, was to make something that runners could enjoy after finishing the marathon. The beer has a light, crisp taste, he said, with a touch of hops and a banana finish — bananas being a common fuel for runners.

The label symbolizes perhaps the most dinstinctive parts of the Free Press Marathon. With the race logo at its center, the can's design shows the Detroit skyline on one side, the Windsor skyline on the other — linked by the Ambassador Bridge, which is part of the route for the full marathon and international half marathon.

Bartscht last ran in the Free Press Marathon in 2016.

"We had just purchased our building in Eastern Market, that would, a year later, become Eastern Market Brewing Company, and I remember running the race and thinking how cool it would be to drink one of our beers at the finish line," Barscht said. In September, the brewery and marathon officials started talking about a partnership. The team created the beer within three weeks.

"We're very agile, and we can move very fast," Barscht said, pointing out that Eastern Market Brewing Company has four locations where they can "ramp up or ramp down our production."

Embracing running culture

One of his favorite memories from the marathon, he said, was running through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, with a custom shirt that read "Eastern Market Brewing Company" on the back.

"It was the first-ever merch item we ever made, and I knew I would be getting passed a lot, so I thought this would be a great billboard for every person that ran by me," he said.

In 2018, Eastern Market Brewing Company started up a run club that gathers every week which has become the one of the busiest nights for the brewery's Eastern Market location.

Emma Leech, lead brewer at Eastern Market Brewing Company's Royal Oak facility, plans to run her first marathon at the Free Press Marathon. Leech headed the creation of Motor City Miles.

“This beer is a favorite of mine, and I’m stoked it’s the official beer of the Detroit Free Press Marathon,” Leech said in the statement.

Where to find Motor City Miles

The beer will be available in cans and on tap at multiple locations in Detroit.

• Eastern Market Brewery, located at 2515 Riopelle St. in Eastern Market

• Elephant and Co. Brewery, located at 456 Charlotte St. in Midtown

• Huntington Place, 1 Washington Blvd, at the Marathon Expo, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday

• Second Best Detroit, 42 Watson St., home of the Official Warm-Up Party

The beer will also be available in four-packs at Meijer Rivertown Market, located at 1475 E. Jefferson Ave.

Motor City Miles will be featured at the Conquered afterparty, located at Parc restaurant at Campus Martius. The free event is open to all and runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 20.

Bartscht is hopeful that this is the first of many years that Eastern Market Brewing Company will serve as a sponsor for the marathon.

"If this partnership continues, I'm definitely going to be running it next year," he said.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Motor City Miles beer to debut for 47th annual Free Press Marathon