Delaware Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

This race was alot of run and I feel that the RD and town did an excellent job. When the race started, it was a nice and probably in the 70's; perfect race weather. The gun went off and me and Jenna started in the middle of the pack. The goal was to start off slow and run like an 11 minute mile pace just to save some energy and set a good pace. Once we reached the first mile marker, we ran it in 9:20 so our plan was over before it actually started. The frist 3 miles were flat and took us around the Wilmington Riverfront area. We passed through some shopping areas but mainly stayed along a path by the water which was real nice. This area was also decently shaded but did expose us to some sun. At mile 4 we made our way into the Brandywine Zoo area. This area was completely shaded and crowd support was nice. There was a guy who was on the side of the road playing drums for us and alot of people cheering. The roads were paved well but this is the section where we started the hills. I really like going through the Zoo, it was quiet but really nice with the shaded roads and all the water. After a few miles in the Zoo, we made our way out and ran up a very large hill that I thought would never end! this section took us into the town and we ran through some neighborhoods. At this point, the sun was out in full force and it was not as shady as the Zoo. People in the neighborhoods were friendly and some posted some pretty funny signs on their lawns. After that we went through the "Little Italy" section of town (or lack there of, I am from Baltimore and we have a nice Little Italy part of town, this was maybe 3 pizza places and it wasnt that great). Up and down a few more hills, back into some neighborhoods and then we made our way up another really long hill into the downtown area where we went up another long hill and then all downhill to the finish on the river front. What was really cool to see was that when we were about 5k out from the finish, the cops on the motorcycles came by us and were escorting the Marathon leader by us. So even though a guy finished a marathon before I finished a half, which can be a little demoralizing lol, it was cool to see. I would say that this course was very nice, scenic and pretty well shaded but it was definately HILLY! When I did Annapolis in November I thought that was bad but this was way worse then that race. Crowd support was great and the Volunteers were amazing!! This race had plenty of water and gatorage stops, splits at miles 1, 5 and 10 and just alot of athlete support.

The weather for this race was about 40degrees hotter then the last time I raced a Half (November) so I think I needed to drink more water during the race because I felt pretty dehydrated afterwards. I think my nutrition was spot on (Gu's at miles 6 and 10) and gatorade every other water station. I think I would train for hills more if I were to do this race again but overall I am super happy with this race and my performance and I scored a 7:00minute PR on a tougher course!

Crossed the finish line and got my medal, met up with the girlfriend and we got some cold water and found a shady spot of the park to sit in and stretch. I then hit the food tent and got some pizza, pretzels, chocolate milk and turkey sandwiches which we scarfed down and then headed home. My legs definately felt alot better afterwards then they did last time and I am grateful for that.


I feel that I had a great race and set a PR by 7 minutes! I have not ever really run long distance in heat like this and most of my training for this race was done in more milder climates. I think I need to run in the heat more and also learn how much water to drink during a race like this because I know I felt pretty dehydrated after the race was over. For the most part I think I did a good job and I am happy with my results.


My first Half marathon was last November and while I was training for that, I was not training for a triathlon so I knew that I only had to focus on my run. This time around, I am training for a sprint race next month so I didnt feel that I got in as much run training as I would have liked. I was sick for a week, injured for a while and then I moved and all of that took time away from training. Nevertheless, I have lost 25lbs since my last race in November so I was hoping that would help me set a PR and it did. I also never felt like I hit "The Wall" during this race because I was able to run the whole race without having to stop numerous times due to being fatigued, like last time. I would like to thank the RD and town of Wilmington for an amazing race experience. This was one of the most organzied races I have ever attended, everything was on time and the SWAG was great! I had no probelms parking, PPU was quick and painless, for the money you got a nice pint glass, hat, tech shirt, medal, and some stationary items that I can put to use in my office. The post race activities were pretty good too and they had a ton of food and drink (Pizza, all types of sandwiches, chips, bananas, soft pretzels, chips, soda, chocolate milk, water, beer Tent and a Champagne tent, etc.) Also, I cannot say enough about the volunteers as they were amazing and the water stops were everywhere and plentiful. Over this was a great race and I highly, Highly recommend it to anyone looking for an early season Half or full.