Question:
1.Having missed registering for Marine Corps yet again (I think
registration must fill up the day after the race!), I'm
considering running the Delaware Marathon (Dec. 5).
I've heard its a flat, windy, 5 loop course. I live in Delaware
so I'm not expecting any scenery to write home about, but would
love to hear from anybody who has run it
2.I was registered to run the Delaware marathon on Dec. 10. Due to health
problems and the cold weather I opted to skip it. Does anyone have any
information on how the race went?
Answer:
1.I ran it two years ago and it was a pretty good little marathon. It was
a small field of participants, and a small group of spectators. There
are some small hills on the course, nothing bad, but you might get sick
of seeing them by the last time you run the loop. The aide stations
were good and frequent enough (for me at least, I think they might have
been about 2 1/2 miles apart). They had a real nice long sleeve (non
cotton) shirt. Good post race food, and awards inside the school gym.
I would do it again if it was closer.
2.I also ran and my experience was very similar to the previous reply.
Coincidentally, I also ran the Atlanta Half-Marathon. I had a 1:36 there
and a 3:55 in Delaware. This was my first marathon in 6 years and I
thought 3:25 was possible. I think the elements made my (and most
other's) time slow. Evidence of that is that the women's winner ran 3:08
and I read that she ran the Army 10 miler in 56.
As you probably know, it was 20 degrees with a strong wind. Only
allsport was available at the first aid stop because the water was
frozen! At other stops the drinks were so cold that I typically got
"Brain Freeze". They had 400+ registrants but the newpaper said there
were 270 finishers. It was pretty flat. I expect that if the weather
was closer to 40 it would have been pretty fast.
2.I ran it.
Cold. Wind chills well below zero. The course was oriented so that the
worst headwinds were on the way out, so that helped. As the course is in
the middle of the country, there's nowhere to hide from the wind. Exposed
skin felt pretty damn cold when running into the wind, but I managed
otherwise. Lots of people ran in packs to hide from the wind. I actually
saw four guys running in shorts. I went with some lycra sweats on the
bottom, polypro and a wind jacket on top, mittens over gloves, and a
facemask. The water/AllSport at the aid stations contained chunks of
ice. It's hard to drink something that cold when you're freezing and
short of breath. I give lots of credit to the volunteers, who were
plentiful despite the weather.
I believe there were between 400 and 500 runners. At the starting line,
the medical director announced that anyone walking (as opposed to running)
after the 5 hour point would be pulled from the course due to hypothermia
risk.
Winning time of 2:3X, I think. I ran my slowest time in 3 years with a
3:15. I don't know if this was due to
1. having run the Atlanta Marathon on Thanksgiving
2. participating in the "Pump and Run" division whereby you could shave
minutes off your marathon time based on hoiw many times you could
benchpress your weight. This was conducted just before the start.
3. burning a lot of energy trying to stay warm
I will not be back next year or any other year.
