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☰
Delaware Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Delaware Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 4.5 
Spectators 3.5
Number of comments: 170 [displaying comments 121 to 131]
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S. P. from Richmond, VA
(6/6/2006)
 "Loved It!!" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Delaware Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I signed up for this marathon purely to check off DE from my 50-state marathon list and because I have relatives who live in the Wilmington area. I didn't expect much, but ended up being very pleasantly surprised. My experience started with a funny personal e-mail from the race director himself, and ended with the coolest running trophy ever - a pewter bobble-head doll (of a girl running) that I won for placing in my age group. SO COOL!! I was dreading the 4-loop course, but I ended up loving it!! Yeah, the scenery isn't the best in some parts (with some interesting smells to boot), but the portion along the river was beautiful and where you run through the start/finish line was lined with enthusiastic fans - incredible!! I ended up enjoying knowing what to expect ahead of me and where all the mile markers were located before I got there. The course was so compact that my husband was able to pop out several times on each lap to give me encouragement, GU and fluids. There was only 1 small hill to speak of (of course you run it 4 times!). It was so cool to see both the front and back of the pack and all the volunteers were so friendly and great. One stopped me on the last lap with 4 miles to go and said, "You have done so well today, young lady!!" That carried me all the way to the finish line. The packet pick-up was fast and easy, in and out in 5 minutes. The "expo" was 3 booths set up in a tent. Parking was great. The T-shirt would have been cool in better fabric. The after-race festivities were fun with a band and they had so much food!! Way better food than Boston or many of the other big marathons. And I got my picture taken with the mayor of Wilmington!! My only complaints were that the finish line was kind of confusing - my husband had to yell and point which way to go (after you had ran the same way 4 times, why make us go a completely different way?), there was no GU on the course (apparently you were supposed to bring the GU you got in your packet), and the course was confusing in parts (they kept making you change which side of the road to run on). Some people may not like that there was a relay race going on simutaneously so you were constantly being run down by people with fresh legs. But the relay runners were clearly marked with signs on their backs so they didn't make you feel too bad. Otherwise, perfect weather, great race, PR by a tenth of a second, Boston qualified. Couldn't ask for more!! I recommend this race if you get the chance! | |
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K. H. from Pittsburgh, PA
(5/26/2006)
 "a fine, local race" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Delaware Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 All in all Delaware was certainly a pleasant experience, but it was a bit lacking. I don't mind the loop course, it's just that the area we looped through was pretty uninteresting. It must have been to minimize traffic disruption, but a lot of the course was through some pretty dull, middle-of-nowhere streets. Still, it was flat and there was plenty of support from the volunteers. One more complaint: weren't there supposed to be GU pass-outs? The positives were the generally good organization and the friendliness of the atmosphere. It was an extremely comfortable race to run. Very upbeat, smiling runners. If you're in the general region, I would absolutely recommend the race. They even posted a sign for me congratulating my wife on her graduation from med school the next day! | |
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G. Austin from New Jersey
(5/24/2006)
 "Super friendly and fun. Perfectly organized." (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Delaware Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 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. | |
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Anne H. from Pennsylvania, USA
(5/24/2006)
"Great Marathon!" (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Delaware Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 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! | |
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M. T. from Philadelphia
(5/23/2006)
"Fun small marathon" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Delaware Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 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! | |
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H. D. from Collegeville, PA
(5/23/2006)
"Surprisingly Awesome!" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Delaware Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 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! | |
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Eliot W. Collins from Raritan, NJ
(5/23/2006)
"Enjoyable Race - Will Return in 2007" (about: 2006)
50+ previous marathons
| 2 Delaware Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 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. | |
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S. H. from Washington DC
(5/22/2006)
"Not bad - on the decline though" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Delaware Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 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. | |
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Linda Rowinski from Oneonta, NY
(5/22/2006)
 "Outstanding small marathon experience!!" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Delaware Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 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!!! | |
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Dana Jones from Lansdale, PA
(5/22/2006)
"Becoming a great East Coast marathon" (about: 2006)
50+ previous marathons
| 3 Delaware Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 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! |
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