Hello! I got back from the east coast the other day after spending some time there and finishing my fourth marathon. After what was unarguably my worst few months of training thus far (for some emotionally traumatic personal reasons), the marathon wall came earlier than ever before and my mental state was nowhere near where it needed to be. But I did finish, and overall it was a really great weekend.
I am currently living in Arizona, but am missing the green and friendliness of the east coast where I grew up and am looking for jobs out in Washington DC. Having only been back to this side of the country once in the past year, I thought the Delaware Marathon would be a good opportunity to come back, see my family, be with my mom on Mother’s Day, and get another 26.2 miles under my belt. AND! this was the first marathon where I convinced one of my friends to participate!
I flew out on a redeye Thursday night into Friday morning, where my mom picked me up in DC and we spent the afternoon with my sister at her school in College Park, MD. I had a relaxing day with my family, and on Saturday we drove to Wilmington, DE for packet pickup. The marathon website had a list of race-sponsered hotels, which I made sure to look into in order to avoid the long commute from the hotel to the start-line (I learned my lesson last fall in Vegas). We ended up staying at the Doubletree Downtown Hotel, which was only about half a mile from the start of the race, as well as the expo which was located in Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park.
Swag: 5/5
I was honestly very impressed by the swag participants received for this race: a t-shirt, a hat, a pint glass with the Delaware Marathon logo on it, some free Gu packets (!!!), and a nice drawstring bag to keep everything in. The bibs had one of those chip timers built in, which was good because having to deal with tying the chips to my shoe has never been my favorite thing. The race is sponsored by Discover Card, and a woman at one of the booths said if I had a Discover Card because if I did, I would get a free car magnet. I don’t have a Discover Card. The woman threw back her head in a cackle and said “Yeah, I didn’t think you were old enough to have one.” With tight lips I snatched the rest of my swag and walked away. When will this stop? And don’t tell me I’ll be thankful when I’m 40.
Mom stopped at a little sign-making station on the way out and I just love her so so much.
My family and I went to DiMeo’s Pizzaiuoli Napulitani on Market Street for dinner, which had a very friendly atmosphere and really really good pasta.
Course: 3/5
At 7 am sharp the gun went off. The race was relatively small: only a little over 500 marathoners and 1300 participants in total (there was also a half, a 4-person relay, and an 8-person relay). So the start was really relaxed and not crowded.
The course was made up of two near-identical loops, which started by running along the river on the Wilmington Riverwalk, then made its way to Brandywine Park, and eventually running to Wawaset Park and Little Italy. There were a good number of spectators and musicians along the course because there was a lot of running through parks and neighborhoods. Also, LOTS OF HILLS. I have not really run a real hill since my Baltimore marathon. Arizona is flat, so that’s how I’ve been training the last year, and the hills came at a bit of a shock. I ran with my friend for the first lap, at about an 8:15-8:30 pace (my first mile was 8:13!!!! omfg). So already around mile 12 or 13 I was really really feeling it bad, and I still had another lap to do.
The last lap was extremely rough, mostly because I never learn and didn’t pace myself, but I did manage to get an extra burst of energy around mile 23 when I ran through Little Italy and devoured a little cup of lemon Italian ice. The last few miles are mostly downhill (with the exception of one long never-ending hill that made me want to fall over and die). I finished in 4:04:43, making me the most consistant runner of all time, regardless of the amount of training I put in or the significance of the elevation changes in the course.
I am giving the course 3 out of 5 stars because of the multiple laps. Not my favorite thing.
Medal: 5/5
Wow, this is a nice medal. It is heavy, colorful, and representative of the adorable town of Wilmington. Very high quality and a great addition to the collection.
Difficulty: 3/5
The course was not easy, but I have a hard time giving it more than 3 stars because I think that a big part of all the struggling I did while running it could be attributed more to one, the intense humidity that caused my entire tank top to get so wet that I could ring out gallons of sweat afterwards, and my ponytail, which wasn’t touching any part of my body, to become completely drenched. And two, and probably more importantly, I didn’t run the smartest race. My first half marathon was too fast, and it really hurt me on the second half. If you decide to run this course, be sure to do some hill training, and pace yourself.
Water Stations: 5/5
There were water stations every 1-2 miles with both water and Gatorade and very friendly volunteers. I never found myself thirsty, and the Italian ice station was one of the best things that could have happened to me during this race.
Accessibility: 5/5
Since it is a smaller city, and the race is not incredibly big, nor do the roads close for it, so it was pretty easy for loved ones to access different parts of the course to cheer you on. Also, getting to the start was a breeze. There were two shuttles leaving from my hotel, one at 5:30 and one at 6:20. My original plan was to take the 6:20 one down to the start, but it ended up being easier to just walk down, as the start was downtown right next to the park where we got our packets the evening before. I met up with Annie, who came from Philadelphia to run her second marathon with me. I know that the parking was not too difficult because she said she got there a little after 5:30 and was the first one in the parking lot near the park. So regardless of whether you stay in Wilmington overnight or come in the early morning, you won’t have any problems.
Food: 5/5
After the race we received tickets to the post-race party, which was also in the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park, and included a visit to the hospitality tent and beer tent. Two of Annie’s and my friends from college came from DC to watch us finish. Afterwards we sat in the shade in the park with plates full of pulled pork sandwiches, chips, pizza, and soft pretzels. SO MANY GOOD FOOD OPTIONS! Probably the very best I have seen at any race (with the exception of the Pikesville 5k, which essentially offers a 5-course breakfast post-race).
Affordability: 3/5
The race is pretty similar in price to the Baltimore Running Festival. Register early and pay around $100. Register later and pay $125. Plan ahead! And like I said, the swag and post-race spread is top-notch, so it is money well spent.
Organization: 5/5
I actually really really liked this race. I think it was the best organized marathon I have run thus far. I really did feel like I got my money’s worth. The soft pretzels were the most incredible things I had ever eaten. Everything ran so smoothly and easily; I had no trouble picking up my packet from the well laid-out expo, getting to the start, or understanding the course. Also, they printed everyone’s names on his or her bib, so the crowd support was really sweet and personalized.
THANK YOU to the Delaware Marathon for providing me with the hotel list, because that in and of itself just made everything run perfectly.
The volunteers were great, and I appreciated that though the race was located in a city, it had a small-race, hometown feel. The course is somewhat difficult, which they honestly do not warn you about, and is all on roads, which the city does not close for the race. A lot of times a road would have one lane closed, so you’d be running right next to traffic. However, there were always officers directing traffic, so I never had to stop for a car and the lack of closed roads did not interfere with my race at all. I liked the timing company that this marathon used: the text alerts to my friends and family were a lot more frequent and much faster than the ones in Vegas. Also a fantastic post-race party. It was pretty muggy, but not tooooo hot since it was still early May. Probably one of my favorite races so far, and SUCH a great weekend. Very thankful to have had the opportunity to run this.
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