Delaware Marathon Full Report

Goodies: Excellent! High quality t-shirt in an interesting color with "Delaware marathon Class of 2006" on the back listing all the runners names, a nice Delaware Marathon logo pint glass from Michelob Ultra, a blinking light for running at night, 2 Gus, 1 marathon snickers energy bar, 1 notepad from the desk of a Delaware marathoner. All stuff you will probably use!

Race Day: Race morning was a little chilly while we were waiting around for the race to start but it was just right for running. My only pre-race requirement, lots of porta-potties, was easily met. It looked like they had some bagels and water and stuff to eat pre-race. I know there was coffee too because I actually saw a guy lined up at the starting line holding a full cup of coffee. He was actually wearing a race number and was not a spectator! Can you believe it?

Lap One: The race started right on time with a very loud and surprising Cannon boom (just like Caesar Rodney) and we headed out onto the extra 1 mile loop around the stadium. It wasn't a super fast loop on my watch (10:51) but it seemed like it just flew by and then we were off on the "real" loop course.

Mile two allowed for some window shopping at the outlet malls (by the way – I got some great bargains at LL Bean the night before the race) as it took us along the river walk. I was still feeling really good here. I knew I was probably going a little too fast but I couldn't help it. There was a very enthusiastic water stop as we turned on to section two of the river walk and right past there was a stage with a band playing and a tall skinny goofy guy in a blues brothers outfit and electric blue sneakers doing some kind of lame dance to entertain us. He was fun though.

I tried to slow down and walk around the water but it didn't really make much of a difference. After some twists and turns we were on a desolate stretch with trolley tracks that made me paranoid because of the Broad Street Run fall. I navigated this section without incident all 8 times I passed it but I did walk over the tracks as the race progressed and I got more and more tired. There's another water stop around here, this one had loads of snacks in addition to the water. Then we passed the bagpiper and started up the one hill in the race.

This section was very congested on the first loop. The runners were all penned into one lane of traffic because the other lane was still open to cars. As me and my fellow snails were headed up the hill the leaders were screaming down the hill and we had to share the road. Kind of tricky but never a problem after the first loop. I wound up walking up most of this hill. I probably could have run up it but I knew there was a lot of race ahead of me and I just didn't want to spend the energy.

The next section had a lot of turns as we went through a little neighborhood and then onto the long out and back section that was filled with the signs that the race folks had posted. They had selected 200 of the 600 runners and posted signs with their name and something interesting about them on the signs. None of us got signs though! Boo! It's a cute little touch to the race I thought.

There was a remote outpost water stop and chip mat out here and they seemed to me the rowdiest of the bunch. They must have been really bored out there. Anyway, these folks were the first to notice my Will Power shirt and they said they'd be looking out for me all day. They were true to their word and every time I approached they'd start yelling "here comes WILL POWER" or "WILL POWER is BACK!" and by the end of the day they were just calling me Willie, which I found particularly funny.

It's three miles from the outpost back to the finish area and this part was neat because it gave you a chance to see other runners, in particular my sister and Brian as you passed them going in different directions. I really enjoyed seeing them to see how far ahead I was (not much) and to know how they were feeling (pretty good). This was a big deal for me because I know at my last marathon (Disney 2005) it was Brian's first race and I spent half of my time worrying that he wasn't doing well. It was good to have my mind at ease about that this time.

At the end of the first loop I still felt good but I knew that I was probably going too fast for my own good.

First loop splits:

Mile 1: 10:51
Mile 2: 11:04
Mile 3: 11:01
Mile 4: 10:37
Mile 5: 10:35
Mile 6: 10:38
Mile 7: 10:55

Lap Two: The second lap absolutely FLEW by. Seriously, I can't remember much except seeing the guy in the pink fairy outfit carrying a wand (he finished in less than 3:20). About a mile out from the finish area in lap two I started to feel some twinges in my left knee that felt a little like the IT band problem I had in my right knee. This caused me some real distress because I was worried I wouldn't be able to run at all if it didn't ease up. Luckily I had some Tylenol 8-hour with me so I took that as I approached the end of the 2nd loop.

I was feeling unusually gloomy at the end of loop two. I knew I'd gone too hard so far and that I was only going to get a lot slower. My knee was a little sore and the leader (Chuck Engle who is kind of famous for doing tons of marathons and winning them all) was finishing as I was coming through and heading out on my third loop and I just wanted to quit. It would have been so easy because we literally ran right past the car every loop. There was a very short stretch of road, like maybe 50 yards between the chip mat and a water station. As I was walking that stretch and thinking about quitting a nice teenaged volunteer must have noticed that I looked bad because he came out into the road with a big huge smile, kind of put his arm halfway around me and patted me on the shoulder and said "you're doing just fine – just keep on going" and then he went on his way. That was enough to make me realize how mad I'd be if I quit. So I got some water and trudged onward. This water stop also was giving out pineapple. I didn't take any but it was kind of an interesting thing. I also felt a little better because I saw these two tall, fit looking guys, who were running together and had started near me lurking around the porta-potties. I figured if those guys, who actually LOOK like marathon runners, were at the same pace as me I couldn't be doing all that bad.

Mile 8: 10:26
Mile 9: 10:57
Mile 10: 11:24
Mile 11: 12:04
Mile 12: 11:56
Mile 13: 12:37

Lap Three: This lap was when I started noticing all the relay runners blowing past me. They must have been doing it all along but I guess I was moving faster on the earlier loops so I didn’t notice them as much. The good thing was that they were all clearly marked as Relay runners so you didn't feel too bad getting passed. Plus, I got some satisfaction in thinking that they might be faster than me but I was able to run three times as far as them. I was much tougher than them! When I saw Brian on this leg from a distance as I approached him he looked like a crazy hunchback who was in terrible pain. It turns out he was just rooting in his pocket for some food and he was otherwise doing fine. I had crossed over to his side of the course to see how he was and he shooed me away saying "why are you messing up your time for me?". I guess that makes me a good wife for caring that he was in pain and him a good husband for telling me to get a move on and not screw up my own time. As I was approaching the boardwalk on the return of this leg I had to stop on a bench to take a rock out of my shoe. Very pesky and I'm not sure how it got in there. It didn't seem particularly rocky anywhere. And at the end of this lap – at mile 20 I made a bathroom pit stop. I also forgot to hit the lap button on time so that mile 20 split is really bad – and mile 21 is too fast because part of it is lumped in with mile 20.

Mile 14: 12:40
Mile 15: 12:05
Mile 16: 12:14
Mile 17: 12:08
Mile 18: 12:47
Mile 19: 13:14
Mile 20: 15:37

Lap Four: Once I made it to mile 20 I knew that I could walk the rest of the time in 15 minute miles (much slower than I walk) and still come in below 5:30 which was my main goal for the race so I felt pretty good about things and I was glad I hadn't quit. I was really tired by now and HUNGRY. I'd been taking water and Gu2o at all the stop and I had been eating my gels every 5 miles or so as I normally do but when 20 miles came up on me I was seriously hungry. I ate my chocolate Gel, which was really thick like icing, and the texture killed me. I used to prefer the thick ones but this kind of grossed me out. If I hadn't been as starving as I was I don't think I would have eaten it all.

My friends at the remote water station cheered me into running up to them and back and I appreciated the loudest of them saying something like "I won't see you again today Will Power but I'll be thinking of you all day" or something like that. I know he didn't mean it but it made me feel like I had a fan.

I saw Brian again on this stretch and he looked very strong and fast and I started to worry that he was going to beat me AGAIN and that made me mad because I really wanted to win today! So much for me being a nice supportive wife!

The wind had really kicked up by now and as much as I wanted to keep running as much as I could because I could see my splits getting worse and worse, I was having trouble. I would kid myself that when the wind died down I would run some more, and I kind of did, but I have to be honest – I walked pretty much the whole last 3 miles.

Along the desolate trolley track section, probably mile 23 or 24 for me, a guy going in the opposite direction asked me why I was walking when my fuel gauge (on my t-shirt) was full. I said the Will Power tank was full but the actual fuel tank was empty. And his reply was that it was full enough because I was on track to kick is ass. I thought that was pretty funny and it made me run for about 30 seconds before I conked out again.

I perked up some between Mile 25 and Mile 26 because there was a huge string of cars filled with runners on their way home who were honking and hollering out the windows of their cars at those of us still plodding along. I kind of enjoyed that because I need the excitement and I knew they didn't really resent us the way most of the people in cars did that day when they were being held up.

Approaching the turn up to mile 26 I noticed the guy with the cup of coffee from the beginning of the race walking along the side of the road with a medal around his neck – not a finishers medal but something else. Very, very mysterious. I really had no juice left in me so I couldn't even manage to run the final .2 miles. I only ran when I was in clear view of the finish line.

Mile 21: 11:09
Mile 22: 13:16
Mile 23: 12:41
Mile 24: 13:26
Mile 25: 13:18
Mile 26: 12:59
Mile .2: 2:45

Final time: 5:15:33

My lap splits (not sure where they took these splits) :

1: 1:19:19
2: 1:13:31
3: 1:20:52
4: 1:22:39

Post Race: Right over the finish line was a skinny Santa Claus looking guy who praised your effort, gave you a hug and removed the chip from around your ankle. Just past him a nice lady hung a medal around your neck and then you could get some water.

Then I wandered over to the food tent (which was surprisingly hard for me to find) where I entered post-race paradise. Soft pretzels, pizza, ice cream sandwiches, popcorn, real sandwiches, bagels, bananas, water. It was awesome and they had plenty of it even for snails like me!

I grabbed some food and went back to the finish to see Brian and the walker acquaintance that I wanted to beat. I succeeded in that goal and so did he! She was pretty mad that she didn't break her PR and was taking it out on her family at the finish line. I'm sure that Brian passing her at mile 24 contributed to her being in such a snit since I am not her favorite person and I'm pretty sure that she knows he goes with me. That gave me quite a rush of evil happiness to know that increased the intensity of her snit.

Overall Impression: I'm not sure what I think about the loop course. During the first lap I kind of hated it. I thought the terrain changed too much (regular roads, parking lots, concrete sidewalks of a strip mall, bricks, boardwalk, areas with trolley tracks, etc.) but by the end of the race I kind of loved the loop a little bit. Parts of it were pretty and scenic (the river is beautiful) and parts were smelly and unattractive and surrounded by weeds that grew as high as my shoulders (seriously!) but overall I liked it. I liked that the volunteers and the people watching knew who I was as the day wore on and showed personalized support towards the end of the day when I needed it most. I also liked knowing exactly what I was in for and I could talk to myself about what was coming and how to prepare for it. I liked the fact that there were always a lot of people around because of the relay component. Yeah, if you'd asked me yesterday if I'd be back next year I would have said no, but as I write this, I am feeling like I want to go back.

Next up: New York (I hope) and sub-5 hours (I hope).