This was only the second year the race was put on, but it was fantastic and you would never know it. (My fiance was shocked when I told him afterwards!) I was a little worried the race would feel too similar to the Myrtle Beach Marathon, since they both are in beach towns, but this race was beautiful and showcased the unique scenery of the area.

We stayed across the street from the host hotel (the Hyatt Place), which was much cheaper, but was still close to the shuttle to the start and the finish line. We found the whole strip to be very walkable, so there are lots of hotel choices within easy distance. Parking is available at the start, with a shuttle back from the finish, but we opted to leave our car parked at the hotel and take the shuttle to the race start. We went a few minutes after the shuttles started and only waited about 2 minutes to get one.

There were a ton of port-a-potties available at the start, and the line only took about 10 minutes. There was no line for gear drop-off, and we were able to wait to line up until about 5 minutes before the gun.

The course was awesome and varied, showing off a lot of cool features in the area. The start was in Delaware Seashore State Park, and we ran an 8 mile section through Cape Henlopen State Park, which included a cool part on an elevated boardwalk. We also ran about 2 miles total on the Rehoboth Boardwalk, which was right on the ocean. It was pretty crowded and stressful in the second half of the race - a few volunteers around to help indicate there was a race going on would've been nice. There was the almost required section through subdivisions in the second half, but we ran on a couple different bike paths, which was a nice change. My calves were quite tender afterwards though, since I'm not used to running on all the uneven surfaces.

Aid stations were at regular intervals, with water and Gatorade. Cups were still really full at the later aid stations, so I think they had plenty stocked. I believe gels were offered twice. It would've been nice if fruit or something other "snack" had been offered a few times. There were a couple parts without aid stations because of course restrictions, but there were aid stations immediately before and after these parts. It might help to carry your own fluids if it's a particularly hot day, as these sections also are very exposed.

The finish line was very fun and right on the beach. This might seem like a weird nit-pick, but water bottles were handed out in the finisher's chute, but they didn't give us the caps. I ended up having to abandon mine so that I could carry my gear bag and food. I don't know what the rationale behind this was, but it left me very thirsty!

The post-race food was a fun buffet, with pulled pork, chicken, pasta, etc., as well as fruit and cookies. I would've appreciated a few more traditional items as well, like bagels, but I was definitely a lot less hungry after the race than usual since I could eat a real meal! Staff kept the buffet full and hot, even for later finishers.

The medal was large (but not overly heavy) and featured the towers that are in the area. However, I didn't like that it was a square with corners - I kept scraping my legs whenever I sat down while wearing it at the finish! We also got short-sleeve tech shirts at packet pick-up (women's was an orange v-neck and the men's was a black crew-cut) and a Tervis tumbler with the race logo, which I will use a lot!

Other than the couple recommendations I made above, there's nothing I would change about this race, and my complaints are totally nit-picky. I highly recommend this race!