The 2019 Delaware Running Festival

The Delaware Marathon Running Festival was held on Sunday, April 28, 2019 in Wilmington, DE. Offering the distances of the marathon, half marathon, 4-person relay, 5k, and kids run, there were options for the entire family!

The Expo
The expo and packet pickup took place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Downtown Wilmington on the Saturday before the race from 10am-5pm. I found some street parking about 2 blocks away and walked to the hotel.

There was a spot for you take a picture before entering the expo. You could also sign up for your free race photos.

Bib and shirt pickup was super easy and it was not crowded at all. There were some race shirts and other clothing items for sale, and I ended up buying 3 shirts (2 short sleeve and 1 long sleeve) and a pint glass for only $10! Score!

However, there were no other products available. I was really hoping to pick up some gels or gummies for the race (as I was not prepared). I had to Google the closest running store and headed to Delaware Running Company about 10 minutes away to get some fuel for the race.

Pre-Race
My friend and I stayed at her friend’s house about 20 minutes away so we drove to the race in the morning. We found parking at an apartment building nearby (not sure we were supposed to park there, but…) and walked the two blocks to the start line. We had plenty of time to hit the port-o-potties and then head back to the car because we forgot to put on sunscreen.

The start line was self- seeded and very crowded since it was the half and full starting at the same time. We headed towards the back and got ready to run.

The course
The course takes you through a lot of Wilmington:
the boardwalk area,
the city,
the not so good part,
past the zoo,
through a park,
and then through some hilly, but gorgeous neighborhoods.

We then headed back towards the finish line where the half runners finished and we continued on down the boardwalk area again towards the Wildlife Refuge.

Next, it was a straight shot for about 6.5 miles over the marsh, past the mountain of a dump, by some horses, and along a tree-lined path. It did rain for a bit, but it was a nice, pleasant rain. And the trees did help with the sun from being too hot!

We then turned around and ran back!

Celebration Village
We finished a little after 2pm. This was well within the time of finishing (it was 7 hours this year). However, most of the park and festivities were packed up. The only food left were some chips and orange slices. There was no more Seasons Pizza, Pretzel Boys Soft Pretzels, Hy-Point Dairy Farms ice cream sandwiches and ice cold chocolate milk and Michelob Ultra beer from NKS Distributors.

There was no music and the gift shop area was being packed up. No one was around. It was like a ghost town. I would have thought that the party would still have been going on. But nothing. It was pretty disappointing to have a big finish with no one there to celebrate with!

At least a photographer was there, so we got our official finish race picture.

To read more about this race and to see my pictures, please visit:
http://adventuresbykatie.com/2019-delaware-marathon-running-festival/