I picked the Delaware Marathon as my 14th race for a couple of reasons. After my 10th state, I applied for the 50 states marathon club. In the first quarterly newsletter that I got from them, it said that Delaware would be a reunion run. And the race also happened to be on my birthday. As soon as I saw that, I checked my schedule and found that it fit well sandwiched between New Orleans in February and Seattle in June. So i signed up. Delaware would be the only non-Rock 'n' Roll marathon I would do this year.
The 50 States Marathon Club has quarterly reunion runs. This quarter it was in Delaware, where 136 members came to run the race. They also gave out finisher tropheys for those who had finished the 50 states since the last reunion run. It was fun to meet others who have a similar goal and interest as I do.
The Race: Delaware Marathon, Wilmington, DE, May 12, 2013.
My Training Plan: I used the Runner's World app training plan. Since Delaware and Seattle are only a month apart, I actually set the training plan up to train for Seattle, with Delaware being a long run along the way.
Weather: The weather was kind to us. It rained the day/night before, but the day of the race was clear and cool. It was a little windy for my taste, which made part of the course harder than it should have been. And the humidity was a little high, but being from Hotlanta, I'm used to that. The race started at 7:00 with a 56 degree temperature, and ended with a temp around 62 and windy. I remember being a little warm running at the beginning, but after I crossed the finish line and cooled down, I was cold.
Who I ran with: I didn't start out running with anyone, and didn't stick with many people. I met a few people in passing, but we really only chatted for a short while before one of us changed pace. I met a woman that had been at the Boston marathon and was able to finish before the bomb went off. I met a guy from the area that suggested some places to eat. Around mile 25, I picked up a relay runner who was running his first race ever. We ran the rest of the way together.
The Course: The course started out flat by the river, and then went into town where all the hills are. We ran near the zoo (could definitely smell the animals), and through a park with a swing bridge and some narrow paths. The course is a loop course, so once you got back to the finish line the first time, you knew what to expect. There were at least three very large, long hills. One was near the park/zoo, one was on one of the roads through some neighborhoods, and the other was coming back toward the finish line through town. Luckily (sarcasm) we got to run them twice! In reality, the course was very beautiful, and it really showed off the good parts of the city: the river, nice neighborhoods, the park, downtown, and an area where we ended eating dinner that night.
Organization: I wasn't really sure what to expect in the organization category when I signed up for this race. I knew the race was small, and it wasn't associated with any big organization, like Zulu or Competitor or anything. I was pleasantly surprised at how well organized the race was. From the responsiveness of the race directors to the amount of information we received to the expo and course, everything exceeded expectations. A facebook page was set up for the race, and questions were answered promptly. The participants really became a community. We received plenty of information in the emails months and days before the race. The race website was very well put together.
The expo was easy to get to and through. Although it wasn't a huge expo, they had some very good vendors attend, vendors that I have seen at much bigger races in the past. I didn't have to wait in line to pick up my race number, shirt, and other swag. The volunteers were very helpful and nice. And the race was the same weekend as the 375th anniversary of the city, so the King and Queen of Sweden were in town to celebrate.
The race itself was well organized as well. I was a little concerned with the number of water stops, because on the map they seemed far apart. But there was really only one time that I wished there was an extra stop. The water stops were well stocked and had plenty of volunteers throughout the course.
This is the first race that I've ever been to where they cater specifically to the marathoners and not to the half marathoners. Being a marathoner, I really appreciate that. We always seem to get lost in the shuffle, since there are generally a lot fewer of us than half marathoners. I never felt that way in this race.
The two things I would say that could have been better: the race map and race marshalls. The race map is very confusing. That could be just because the course is a little confusing. I think it would be helpful to have more road names on the race map.
Additionally, with the many turns in the course, it can get a little confusing if you are running by yourself and there isn't anyone to follow. At one turn, I had to get the police officer's attention to ask him which way to go. He was nice enough to point me in the right direction, but it would have been nice if the turn was more obvious.
Starting Line: Because the race expo was right next to the start/finish line, it was easy to get there on race day. The expo really did serve as a sort of dress rehearsal for finding parking and getting to the start. There were balloons and large signs denoting the start line. It would have been difficult to miss.
One thing I can't forget to mention is that they had a little table at the start with Vaseline and Q-tips. Love that! As the race is pretty small (750 marathon participants), there was no need for corrals or a wave start. They did, however, allow anyone who thought they would finish in over 6 hours start 45 minutes early so that they could finish the race before the roads reopened. As I said before, this race catered to the marathoners. You might expect, that since the half marathoners would have a faster pace, that they would start first. Not in this race. The marathoners started at 7:00 and the half didn't start until 7:20 (I think), which allowed us to get ahead of the crowd I normally have to weave through. It also made the water stops less congested.
Fans: The fans, what little there were, were great. There were a lot of fans around the start/finish line and along the river. Other than that, you were pretty much on your own. There were a few neighborhoods that had some people scattered here and there. There was one corner in a neighborhood near the park where some kids were passing out cut bananas and Dixie cups of water (too cute!).
My own personal fan was great! My dad came to cheer me on this time. I saw him at least four different times along the course, mostly near the start/finish line. He recorded me running and took some pictures.
Finish Line: The finish line was confusing. Not the finish line itself, but the food and hydration items afterwards. They seemed to be hidden. After finishing and getting my medal and bottled water, I walked around for a couple minutes before I was told that the food was in the tent that the expo had been in. They had a lot of food (once I finally found it): cheese pizza, pretzels, bananas, oranges, apples, fruit cups, ice cream, chocolate milk. I never did find the electrolyte drink, although I saw some runners walking with it, so it had to be somewhere.
There were no Mylar blankets at this race. The wind was pretty strong afterwards, and I was freezing once I had stopped running and stretched.
Results: I was hoping for a really good time, and ended up with 3:53. Not my best, but still sub-4. Delaware, check. I'll take it.
How I felt: While training for this race, I've developed some tendonitis (self-diagnosed) in the backside of my left knee. During my speedwork, I would be running normal, and then the tendonitis would act up, and it would cause my knee to want to lock up and cause me to lose coordination in my left leg. It had definitely been concerning. However, in my last speed session, it didn't act up at all, so I was hopeful.
Going into the race, I felt great. I was sure I was going to at least PR. I was hoping for a BQ, or at least closer to one than I've been in the past. And I was on track for that at the beginning of the race. Around 8 minute miles. Until around mile 18 when the tendonitis flaired up. I slowed down a little, but that didn't seem to help. By mile 22, I felt like I had lost all coordination in my left leg. I was basically telling my brain to tell my leg to move forward with every step. Needless to say, my pace dropped drastically. I probably went from around an 8 minute mile to an 11 minute mile. But I refused to stop. I made it to the end, but it was a sad sight indeed when I saw the clock was at 3:53 - 5 minutes slower than my PR and another 18 minutes slower than a BQ. Oh, well. Maybe next time.
Travel/Tourism: For this trip, I flew from Atlanta to DC. My dad picked me up in DC, and we drove to Wilmington, DE from there. We stayed in one of the marathon hotels - the Doubletree Downtown. It was a very nice hotel. I'd give it four out of five stars. Nice towels and separate shampoo and conditioner. The beds were soft and cozy.
Delaware isn't a big state. Wilmington is the biggest city in Delaware. After the race, I asked the lady at the front desk "if there was one thing that someone who visits Delaware must see, what is it?" She looked at me like I was from Mars and didn't have an answer. That just tells me that there isn't too much to do in the state.
While in Delaware, we ate at several local restaurants. When I'm on vacation, I try not to eat at too many chain restaurants, but try to get some of the "local faire," something I couldn't get at home. With my goal of running in all 50 states, this gives me a chance to try some new places across the country.
The night we arrived, we went to Deep Blue Bar and Grill. They call themselves a Modern American Fish House. This is a high-class restaurant on one side (white tableclothes, fancy place settings and $$$ meals) attached to a bar. The bar is on the other side of a wall, but the wall has windows in it, so I had a view of the bar TV from where I was sitting. It seems like they try to have the nice atmosphere on the restaurant side, but the bar almost ruins it. As is typical for a nice restaurant, the plates are very well presented, but the food may not fill you up. Since it was a fishhouse, we both got fish: salmon and halibut. The food was very good.
Between getting my race number at the expo and going back to meet with the 50 states marathon club for the reunion, we ate lunch at Extreme Pizza. Extreme pizza is a gourmet pizza place, which we found out is a chain (but only has about 39 total restaurants nationwide - and mostly in California). You order at the counter, and they bring it out to you when it's ready (similar to Mellow Mushroom). They offered wheat crust, which we got. Dad likes thick crust, so he asked for that. The "thick" crust wasn't very thick - almost more like a New York style pizza. But the pizza itself was very good. We also had a delicious chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
After the race on Sunday, dad wanted to eat someplace that wasn't so expensive, so we looked up fast food in the Garmin. It took us to a Burger King outside of town. When we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed a diner next door, Cosmos Diner. We decided to see if they were open and go there instead. The place was packed with the after-church crowd. The diner is owned by a Greek family, and the menu had a Greek feel to it. I ordered a Gyro with sweet potato fries and dad had a club. The meal was very good. I would definitely recommend this place. It's a little outside of town, but it was reasonably priced and had good food.We went to Rita's custard place for dessert after lunch. Dad was able to get some sugar-free Italian Ice and I got some chocolate custard. Very yummy.
For dinner that night, dad wanted some "normal food" and suggested a steak place. We plugged "Steak and Grill" into the Garmin and found Walter's Steakhouse. When we got there, I realized that we had run right past the restaurant during the race that morning. This was another pricey meal, but it was so very good. I have to admit that a good filet is one of my favorite foods, so it was appropriate that I got one on my birthday (which also happened to be Mother's Day). And their filet was good! Dad had the cheeseburger, which he seemed to enjoy also.
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