World champ says Detroit marathon has potential to be among the best in the world

World record-holder Haile Gebrselassie ran 10 miles of the Detroit Marathon on Sunday and told reporters it had the potential to be as big as New York's and Boston's.

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On Sunday, he started with the elite athletes at the front, and went just far enough to experience the crossings of the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, the world's only international marathon crossing and underwater mile. There, Gebrselassie says, lies much of the event's potential.

"The city itself, also, is a big city and is very known," he said. "Here in Detroit, there are a lot of big car companies. Once they sponsor this race, this race can be a big marathon. Why not?"

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