D Biernesser's Staging Area

Mostly on trail/ boardwalk…trail can be a bit slippy if dry. Mostly in local neighborhoods and parks. Really flat. Excellent timing on the starts…I didn’t understand it at first, but it made perfect sense later. Hat actually fits, medal was a little scuffed but very nice, pizza and beer in abundance ( with salad and pasta). If I were coming back to Delaware, I’d do this one again.

This race features multiple options – either a full trail marathon (two times round), a full road marathon (same), a trail half followed by a road half for a full, or either a trail half or a road half. Times are exceedingly generous – if I hadn’t had to catch a plane, I would have tried the trail half followed by a road half to put the medal pieces together. No strollers or dogs, thank all – course was really narrow in spots.

Course is more intuitive than the briefing made me think, except for the turn around at the second half of the road section. Nice scenery overall, very well stocked aid stations about 2-3 miles apart. Not a bunch of potty options, although the heated flush option at the start was a nice surprise.

If this hadn’t been my chance to knock Oklahoma off my list, I’d be tempted to return.

Major complaint was that, with so many runners, it took half an hour to cross the start line. I get the feeling that the course director didn’t factor that into the road closures, as I’m pretty sure we got redirected between miles 3 and 5, a couple of music providers had packed up by the time I got there, and they were winding down the festival by the time I crossed the line – and as you can see, I was under 16 minutes/mile average.

Expo was fun, although someone dinged my rental car in the parking lot. Good vendor selection.

Parking at Seacrest was fine, and other than the late start, race course was good. It was net downhill, but not as flat as Salina Crossroads (about 30 flights of stairs overall, with some small roller hills at the beginning and between miles 10-12). Police had to deal with at least two road ragers while I was passing, but they kept us quite safe.

Lots of food available at the end, but I was grabbing and moving to get to the shuttle bus…which took 20 minutes driving time to get back to Seacrest??? Felt like we took the long way.

Anyway, great race if it’s a little smaller. I’m not planning to come to Nebraska again, but if you need that state, this is a good one.

This course is great! Despite the hills you drive over to get there, it is pretty flat – and, on top of that, it’s got a lot of soft flat trail and soft boardwalk. Although there’s some doubling back and sharing with the 10k folks, it’s not bad at all. Even the road lanes were nice and wide and well policed.

It’s well marked/blocked off, though I wouldn’t want to do the forested trail section after dark. The last half is well lit (complete with alien sounds!), but if you know you’ll be on after dark, a headlamp/bodylamp is no-joke required, not just recommended.

The festival was great in that there was food, drink, and swag available before the start (I highly recommend a shaved ice before the start, to beat the heat). I crossed the line at 3:30, and there were still food, medals, and beer/spirits available, though some tents were packing up. The band had just finished.

The *only* beef I had at all was that there were a couple of people (non racer families) who chose to walk their dogs/strollers/kids with bikes while us slowpokes were going around the festival and between miles 7-8. C’mon, y’all – I paid to be on a course with no dogs or strollers. Couldn’t you just hold off until the sweeper goes through?

All in all, I really enjoyed the event. Great job to everyone.

This race course is pretty well designed. Stays on Greenbrier property all the way (mostly on golf courses), so no traffic concerns, and as flat as WV can be…which isn’t very. Nice scenery in almost all the course, doesn’t materially conflict with the 10 and 5k. Post race brunch and band were quite nice. Rocks glass was nice enough, shirt ok. No expo, but worth the price.

This is a nice little neighborhood run. My only complaints were that I didn’t see any porta potties along the course (Not that I needed them, but I tend to look), and, TBH, there were too many cars in the runner’s lane between miles 3-5 and 8-10. Y’all may be comfortable with your neighbors, but I’m not that comfortable.

First time in person (virtual last year). Overall, really nice!

Small marathon series, but well organized and produced. Expo is small, very local, but good selection of stuff nonetheless. Packet pickup was smoooooth. TShirt was actually sized for my size of female.

Race starts and ends at the same point. There’s free parking all around, but I’d suggest getting there kinda early for a close spot. Porta potty line was quick. Very nice wear blue ceremony before the start. Single start after the wheeled/elites.

There’s a fair amount of doubling between the full and half marathon courses, but most (sadly, not all) half marathoners made room for the full runners coming in behind them. This isn’t just a Coast Guard problem, but maybe an announced reminder up front to not walk/run three abreast and not zone out in headphones would help.

I saw one runner complaining about course markings, but TBH, it wasn’t a problem for me, so I’m not sure what happened.

Very pretty neighborhoods, and then we got to run on the runway and by the water at the Coast Guard station. Very nice overall.

If you’re blingy, this medal set is a must add to your collection. And if you’re multiple challenge oriented, this one, the USAF Marathon series, and the Space Force 10 miler all contribute to a Sea, Air, and Space challenge medal.

Post race festival was again small, but really nice. Two beer tents, two food truck/tent options, and a snow cone truck, plus vendors and Coast Guard equipment all over.

Oh yeah – weather was low 60s, maybe about 30 % humidity…but surface winds in excess of 20mph for a lot of the exposed sections of the course. That was …challenging.

Even with my slooooooow time, I liked this trail – but agoraphobes should not do this one. Stick to the out and back road option. See my other comments.

Yá’át’ééh! (Welcome/Hello!)
This is a unique marathon/half, for a great cause. Starting at the Four Corners monument, you have the option of doing a certain number of trail loops on a different trail each day, starting and ending in a different state. Or, you can do one-mile loops on a paved road/flat gravel loop, if you need to. So, invest four days, walk away with a different state’s marathon (or half) completed, seeing different scenery each day.
The good? Most things. Registration is limited, so you won’t be crowded off a trail by hordes of people. An aid station (or two) is on every trail loop so you don’t go unsupported. Since they’re all loops, you also have options to grab your support bag or get back to your car. Courses tend to be well marked (there was very little way to get lost here). Medals are high quality/really nice, and there’s a unique swag item each day. Aid stations are well stocked (water/electrolytes/soda/chips/pretzels/crackers/pickles/candy/etc). Music is located with the aid stations and at the Monument. And if you know the Four Corners area, you know runners/walkers will be pulling out cameras.

Now, the only cautionary factor. This is high desert *trail* in winter, people. If you’re going for a personal speed record, this isn’t likely to be your jam.
Winds were a feature 3 days out of four, and we did have sleet briefly on one day, with some spitting rain on days 2 and 4. Footing could be…umm…cautious in spots. There’s a bunch of sand on one day’s trail, and a second day’s trail could be pretty steep and exposed in spots – but the organizers tell you that up front. And did I mention cold and dry?

BL: C’mon out, it’s a lot of fun, but be prepared to be slower than you think.

Courses were completely redesigned this year – the half marathoners still don’t get bacon, but the hills are less steep. Also, this year the half and full marathoners didn’t have to share a lot of course, so I suspect it was easier for both sides.
Still a bummer having to catch a 0500 shuttle for a race that begins at 0730 – but, OTOH, this year a couple of food trucks opened up earlier, so hot coffee was available – and by credit card, too!
Love the Galloway pacing teams, even if I can’t keep up with them post COVID.
Also love having access to the wear blue section – I felt sorry for the full marathoners, who had to stay on the other side of the road.
Post race festivities were very good – just need a couple of medics on the far side of the freebie food tent. 😉
Finally, one minor complaint. This year for the first time, I did the 5k on Friday, so I got to the pasta dinner pretty late (as did several others). We had to wait on faith for more food (there wasn’t a general announcement), and then for the newbies, there was no explanation that one of the pasta options was gluten free. And they were out of rolls 🙁
Really not fond of getting the same Tshirt for two races. If that’s what’s gonna happen, please give us the option of declining a shirt. Not a huge fan of the medals anymore…they seem kinda laminated/cheap, even though I know they’re not.
Other than that, I meant it – it gets better every year. I can’t make 2023, but am hoping for 2024.

I’ve done a lot of half marathons. Most go through either an industrial section or two, or along/on poorly repaired roads or on concrete. Not this one! Smooth as freshly laid asphalt all the way, and nice and broad. Along the Rappahanock, through the old town, through the neighborhoods – not a mis-step on the scenery.
There are elevation changes on this one – my tracker recorded the equivalent of 110 flights of steps 😉 Be warned, but not afraid.
It would probably have been tougher in full sun, but fortunately the clouds were overhead and there was a breeze for the first 2.5-3 hours.
The neighborhoods were pretty, the crowd support was really extensive (On!On!), the music was uniformly good all the way along (though some on Hospital Hill would have been nice, but I get it, a hospital ;-).
The aid stations were plentiful and plentifully stocked. The finish line food was pretty good, the medal is awesome. My favorite course.

The Cowtown did their absolute best to run a large race during Covid. The course had some rolling hills (though i hear previous years were worse). Going through the Stockyards was great (though cobblestones do worry me), and the park towards the end was really sweet. The music and bands were good. And the bling was the best. My time sucked…but, Covid. Yeah, I’ll blame Covid.

Now, the downside. Due to covid, there were no shuttles or non car transportation to and from the event or packet pickup. I knew that going in, but the reality of walking about 4 extra miles each day in the heat wasn’t much fun. There was no GU in my box, and I ended up salvaging that and a warmup jacket from the side of the road about mile one into the event.

All in all, hillier-ish than I expected, but fun. Cooler would have been better.

To sum:
Expo was fine, easy to get to via public transportation.
Start line a little tough to get to – pay for a shuttle.
Weather was low to mid 60s – maybe a little humid, but not much for this Miamian. Blessedly overcast.
Course was quite nice – no industrial back lots on this half! Some hills, but in my perception, not as many as Nashville. My only course regret was that all the fun block parties were around miles 3-6. I prefer my party towards the end. 😉
Spectator support was outstanding. They were everywhere.
Finish line was nice – but the usual confusing scrum afterward. More signs earlier for the finish festival and activities, please. Us old timers know to keep walking for medal engraving, et al, but the new people get confused.
Snafu with T-Shirts meant that we got them after the race, and the women’s shirts were a violently lime green with pink accents. I and another woman tried to trade the men for their nice blue shirts, but no dice.
Hey, I PR’d on a nice day with outstanding crowd support. Liked it a lot.

With Disney, you get outstanding organization, good swag, lots of entertainment, great shuttles. You do pay for it.

Only complaint is that the course gets way too crowded at many points, with walkers or walk/joggers taking up the entire lane at a multitude of points, including the finish corral. Hint, people – if I’m passing you on the right, you may well be too far over on the left. Even as a walk/jogger, I don’t start walking until I’ve moved to the right.