This was my 10th marathon and my favorite to date. I wasn't psyched about the four-loop course but ended up loving it because after passing everyone four times you felt like old friends. The stretch along the river was beautiful and serene. The volunteers were fabulous and super friendly and there was a great variety of food/snacks offered along the course and at the finish. It was my worst finishing time, but I had the most fun. Go figure! I'll be back next year.

What a great experience! The marathon course is pretty flat with a few small hills to keep things interesting. The goodie bags and food afterwards were fantastic. There was plenty of food even though I was one of the last ones to finish. There were some things that I didn't like. The course laps around 4 times (which I didn't mind) and the mile markers were not clear in places. It was also hard to know exactly where to turn at times. I am a slooowwww runner and my goal was to finish before 6 hours when the course would be closed. Even though I finished within this window, they started taking the course down before then and some of the people guiding you through the course left, which made things confusing.

Overall though, I loved this marathon. There was not a great deal of crowd support, but the people who were there made up for it with enthusiasm. The volunteers were fantastic. They even had a cell phone stand where you could make a call during the marathon to say hi to someone which I thought was pretty neat. One of the best things to me was that because it was a loop course you were able to see runners at all levels throughout the marathon and the runners were encouraging each other throughout the race. If you are looking for a laidback, friendly marathon with a very reasonable course and don't mind loops, I would highly recommend this one!

Great weather, super volunteers, plentiful water stops, nice t-shirt and medal, and outstanding post-race food! What more could you want? I enjoyed the loop course because it allowed back-of-the-pack runners to see the leaders several times and never feel alone on the course in a race with only 600 runners. Lots of people (including me) did better than their predicted finish times. I hope to do this race again!

This was my 5th marathon and the smallest race I've done. I really loved my experience at the Delaware marathon. On the first of my four loops of the course I hated the loop, but by the final lap, when I was tired and cranky I loved it. I loved knowing what was ahead of me and I loved that by this time all the volunteers and spectators knew who I was and encouraged me personally. I liked seeing so many other runners, both fast and slow, out on the course. I was inspired by both the race winner and by those just a few miles ahead of me toughing it out to the finish. The volunteers were awesome, the course was well marked and patrolled, and the post-race food was awesome! Pizza, soft pretzels, sandwiches, ice cream and plenty of it even for the snails like me! The 'Class of 2006' t-shirts are very cool and list everybody's name. They're also green which is a nice change from the white or gray that you get at most races. The pint glass is really nice too and the goodie bags contained things runners will actually use (like Gu) not just race brochures. There are also plenty of bathrooms available all along the course. Best of all I had a huge PR on the course. Overall, I had a great time and I can't wait until next year!

I appreciated everything about this race: the multi-loop course, the great volunteers and the overall festive atmosphere.

Since this is the only road marathon in Delaware, it is a great place to meet runners like myself, whose hobby is collecting marathons.

I will return in 2007.

I did this one in 2004 and then this year 2006. The first year the course was a tad different, the crowd was slightly fewer, the carb party was a touch less appealing and the T shirt was way way better. This year the carb party was quite good, the course was a bit easier, the crowd was a little larger and the T shirt was, sadly, switched from a dry-fit type that you can really run in, to a 100% cotton one just like the other cheapo Ts you get from unimaginative or underfunded small marathons and then toss into a drawer and forget about.

I had a good time though! The weather was perfect, the support nice and friendly, the food at the end was really great. I just hope the person who made the decision on the shirt (who must have been a couch potato not a runner) is slightly ashamed, particularly as the dry-fit Ts were available (but you had to PAY for one!!) I run in the old one still, but this new one is a bit lame - pretty though.

My compliments to all involved in this marathon from the organizers to the dedicated volunteers to the enthusiastic fans to the law enforcement professionals controlling traffic. While a four-loop course might typically lean towards the boring, sections of beautiful scenery, live bands/DJ's and enthusiastic support from spectators and volunteers made this one fun. As a slow runner, I appreciated the patience of everyone involved as well as the abundance and quality of post-race refreshments.
Great job by all involved! I highly recommend this one!! Thank you Wilmington!!!

Third time's a charm. Thanks again to Wayne Kursh and his crew of volunteers for pulling off another great marathon! Nice 4-loop course (ok, nothing spectacular, but very predictable and pretty much flat - teak wood boardwalk on a couple sections) that you can do whatever you want to on - whether it's a PR, a leisurely Sunday morning long run, ticking off another state like many 50-state club members do, or just keeping up a tradition (my favorite).

Beautiful weather - cool start, windy, and just a little warm towards the end. Definitely worth doing again. Great organization and support, enthusiastic spectators and bands, nice 'Class of 2006' t-shirt (cotton, this yr.) with all our names on it! - this is just a great little marathon I want to keep doing.

Although with a nagging injury that I thought would prevent me from doing well, it turned out to be an enjoyable race that I hope to improve on in the future - maybe one of these days I'll be a lucky one to get a personalized road-sign.

First-rate marathon for the 1st state!

Hands down, one of the best race shirts I've received at a marathon. It's a Runner's World wicking shirt with the first and last names of all the marathoners on the back of the shirt. You'll wear this one proudly and often. The loop course was mentally challenging but do-able. All in all, a very well organized race for only the 2nd year! Kudos to the race organizers!

The organizers did a great job with a difficult city to plan a marathon in. I prefer the course taken by the Rodney Ceasar 1/2 marathon, but this course takes out some of the hills. With the marathon and the relay there were lots of people on the course, which narrows considerably in points when it travels on sidewalks.