Delaware Marathon

This was my first race since 2020 (Austin) and it was a wonderful experience. The course was really quite beautiful and the weather was perfect. The first quarter of the race had lots (LOTS!) of steep uphills and steady inclines, but if you make it through that, the rest of the race is downhill and/or flat. As a previous racer mentioned, I also found it odd that the Riverwalk area was not at least partially blocked off for marathoners - not even signage letting people know that a race was going on. It was a bit annoying to have to dodge clueless pedestrians from mile 25-26. However, the back half of the course was really easy going and well supported. I was surprised how much I liked this race! Word of warning: Wilmington is a funny little town and everything (EVERYTHING) is shut down on Sunday. We were hoping to dine out, but the only restaurants open were Chinese delivery. Very bizarre but be prepared!!

I am so thankul we did not have to do the first half loop twice. The first half is picturesque and lovely, but features significant climbs and fairly long downhills. The course is mostly closed for the first half. The second half is mostly flat out and back on a bike trail, which allows a fairly small number of marathoners to have some more time since it does not require further road closures. (7hour course limit) That said, the trail and the busy waterfront area are not closed, so it was a bit odd having to dodge people out walking and such. It really felt like two totally separate races. (And for the record, I liked the second half better because the bike trail away from the waterfront was super quiet, which I enjoyed ... it felt like a nice, supported training run.) By the time I got to the finish line, it was pretty much a ghost town, unsurprising since there were a lot more half marathoners than full marathoners. All in all, this is a very convenient race for anyone in the northeast; it served as my Delaware marathon for the 50 states, and overall I was pleased by the experience. Train for hills though.

This was my first time running this marathon and I was very impressed. It was a smaller event (around 350 marathon finishers but also half and relay participants as well). The first half of the marathon was run with the half so there were more runners and spectators for entertainment. The second half was an out and back along a rail trail that was new. While this was scenic and mostly flat, it was definitely lacking in spectators which made for some lonely miles as the number of runners had also thinned out. All the volunteers along the entire course, but especially the cyclist course marshalls in the second half were so amazing and supportive. Really great organization from packet pickup, starting area, and finish area. Would definitely recommend this race, great time of year, course, and a good tour of the city of Wilmington.