I flew into Philadelphia and then took a shuttle to Wilmington. It was a quick drive about 20 minutes. My hotel was ready when I arrived. I stayed at the DoubleTree Hilton which is about 15 minutes from the start line. I would suggest you stay there if you run this race. The expo is also at the hotel. It was very small (I didn't buy anything) but definitely convenient to have it at the same hotel one is staying.

The race started and ended at the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park. The race began at 7am. There are no corrals but there are signs with different paces for you to line up prior to the start of the race.

This race is not flat. Well, for about 4 miles it was flat. Then it was all downhill and uphill. We ran in Brandywine Park and that was simply gorgeous. Lots of trees – very peaceful and relaxing.

A little after mile 6 it was up, up, and up. Beginning at mile 7.5 was the Munchkins Mile. Lots and lots of munchkins. It was here that we ran through a nice neighborhood. The houses were beautiful and I remember what seemed to be like a small park/lots of trees in the middle of the two streets.

I remember that after mile 9 someone told me that I had already run the most difficult part of the race. Then it was back to Brandywine Park (more downhill).

I almost cried when I saw the mile marker for mile 12. I was very sore and tired. The last mile was uphill for 1/2 mile and the rest downhill to mile 13.

Overall, I thought it was a great race. The weather was perfect. It was well organized. There were plenty of water stations and the volunteers were wonderful. There wasn’t a lot of crowd support, but the views made up for it. Again, Brandywine Park is gorgeous. What I did not like were the hills which left me very sore. Someone asked me if I would do it again. The answer is “yes”, but I would train on hills. 🙂