First State Half Marathon

As you have probably read in other reviews, the weather for this race was awful and may have affect some of the race experience but I will try to be as unbiased as possible. I decided to do this race as it worked out perfectly with the Love Run Philadelphia Half which I have wanted to do. This race is about 35-45 minutes outside of Philadelphia so you can’t find a more convenient two state double. I already had both states but I’m trying to get to Sun Level in Half Fanatics and need a few double half weekends to get there. There was very good pre-race communication with the right amount of emails with all the important information. Race headquarters is at a bar/restaurant called Deer Park Headquarters and that is where parking, packet pick-up and the after party are. The start line is a few blocks away and I appreciated they email and had on their website a map to get from the tavern to the start/finish line after getting lost last week. I also appreciated race day packet pick-up at no additional fee as I drove in pretty late last night. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express by the Philadelphia airport. It is just outside of Philadelphia on the way to Delaware and a very convenient location for this double and has very easy parking. The weather was not good. It was basically a downpour all morning. This was not the light to occasionally moderate rain in Richmond 2 weeks ago but a continuous downpour. There was nothing unsafe about the weather and luckily it was a nice running temperature in the mid 40’s so the race was held. Parking was easy either at the tavern or a parking garage across the street. I got my packet which included a neon yellow, tech long sleeved shirt (which tbh is a bit bright for me), a visor which was very useful in the rain and a drawstring bag. I spent most of the prerace in my warm car and walked over last minute. There were only around 200 participants. Typically there is more but I think about half the participants decided to skip because of the weather. The start/finish are the same and are at University of Delaware. There was a corral area but no waves. They did tell people to line up by pace. I knew I’d be slow in the rain and since the race has a 3:30 time limits expected to be near the end. The race was very well organized. It was well-marked and roads were mostly closed or had a large area coned off so it felt safe and there weren’t cars splashing you with water. There were 5 aid stations that had water, electrolytes and fruit snacks. There were not gels though. I was fine with fruit snacks but if you need something like GU you should bring it. It is an out and back course. The course seemed fairly nice starting at campus, then going through neighborhoods with about a mile on a rail trail early on in the race. Nothing spectacular but a pleasant run. it was hard to enjoy anything with the rain. The course was fairly average in difficult with some moderate hills in the middle. The hills were well placed where the start and finish were flatter. There were not a lot of spectators. Not sure if this was due to the rain or usual for the race but the volunteers were very helpful and cheerful. There were also not many back of the packers. Again not sure if the race made the slower runners and walkers who were going to be 3+ hours less likely to come or if this is usual. It made the race a but lonely and I would have liked to have commiserated with someone about the rain but I had no issues being in the back. There was a sweeper who was supposed to maintain a pace of 3:30 but as everyone was at a faster pace she followed a bit behind the last runner which was me for a lot of the race. The sweeper never forced me to go faster or interfered with my race. She just let the volunteers know they could close the aid station when she passed them. I have no idea if the race is strict with the 3:30 time limit or not since everyone was faster. According to the FAQ it sounds like you will get a finishing time but may not have course support if you fall behind the pace. I did manage to pass a few people the last mile so I was not last. The finish line was a bit subdued due to the rain but there were race staff and volunteers handing out the medal and water bottles. The medal is nice size and has glitter but the design is a bit plain. After there is a great (and luckily indoor) party at Deer Park Tavern. I had plans to go to a hockey game in Philadelphia so only stayed a few minutes. They had a buffet lunch. I would have preferred more vegan or plant-based options but they did have vegetarian Mac N Cheese which was delicious and held me over until the game. Overall this was a very solid race. It likely would have been even nice with better weather and more participants and spectators. I wouldn’t call it a must run but it’s a convenient choice for Delaware and works great as a double with the Love Run.