First State Half Marathon & 10K
Newark, DE
- Half Marathon, 10K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Join the annual First State Half Marathon. Set in the iconic town of Newark DE, you will run/walk through the town, neighborhoods and paved trails. Don’t miss this opportunity to log some miles and celebrate your accomplishment with friends at the famous Deer Park Tavern. Friends of Fusion Foundation is … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Mar 21):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 63 | 55 | 44 | 63 | 66 |
| L (°F) | 46 | 40 | 28 | 30 | 39 |
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Yea morning of PPU!
My flight was delayed and I didn’t make it in time for the PPU the night before the race. They had morning of fortunately which was super helpful. Low key … MORE
My flight was delayed and I didn’t make it in time for the PPU the night before the race. They had morning of fortunately which was super helpful. Low key production number (warning! Not many porta potties at start line, long line). They line you up verbally by pace and people seemed mostly honest. Running on the streets of towns, through neighborhoods, not really any traffic. Out and back so you hit water stations more than once, tiny Dixie cups so plan for that. Some narrow choke points when you double back. Small field but fast one (I only got second place AG with that time which shows how fast it is). Medal changes color in the light which was neat, good AG medals that you don’t have to wait for, you just go claim them and you’re on your way. Shirt and a hat with registration, another (different) hat with AG win. Looks like I got lucky with the weather, was raining the night before but sunny and clear the morning of the race.
Hometown race
This is my hometown half marathon - the race literally begins minutes from my house and I run parts of the course during my everyday training! This is a smaller … MORE
This is my hometown half marathon – the race literally begins minutes from my house and I run parts of the course during my everyday training!
This is a smaller half marathon but the community comes out and shows its support! I recommend doing packet pickup the night before (I always volunteer for Friday night packet pickup) just because it does get busy during race morning.
Parking is easy – it is pay to park in a garage directly across from Deer Park Tavern (where the after party is) and directly behind the start/finish line.
The course is fairly easy going through Newark neighborhoods and along a paved trail. There are some sneaky hills in the neighborhood!
Swag for the half marathon includes a long sleeve shirt and a hat – the hat is my favorite part!
The after party at Deer Park is nice with complementary breakfast food, 2 drink tickets, and a DJ. Pre-race, race, and post-race pictures can be found on the Fusion Racing page and they are free 🙂
Rain rain go away
Even though it rained the entire time, this was a fun race. Very well organized. Nice out and back course through town and down a paved running trail. The tavern … MORE
Even though it rained the entire time, this was a fun race. Very well organized. Nice out and back course through town and down a paved running trail. The tavern was perfect for pre race and post race gathering. The food was the best I’ve had at a race with pulled pork sandwiches and macaroni and cheese and meatballs. The AG awards were nice. I earned a medal and a hat. Everyone got a long sleeve tech shirt, medal, and drawstring backpack.
Rain, rain go away!
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 … MORE
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.
Rainy run through Newark neighborhoods
Flew into Philly, picked up rental car and drove 40 minutes to Newark. Packet pickup was at Courtyard Marriott and also my hotel for the night. 20-minute walk to race … MORE
Flew into Philly, picked up rental car and drove 40 minutes to Newark. Packet pickup was at Courtyard Marriott and also my hotel for the night. 20-minute walk to race start and it was already raining hard. The rain never stopped. Race began on Univ campus and was out-and-back thru neighborhoods and parks, with some hills but nothing too bad. Couldn’t really enjoy it because of the miserable weather, but the race staff and production was great. The volunteers and police were out there in the rain and cheered us on. Post race party was at Deer Tavern bar, but I walked straight to the hotel in yup, you guessed it, the pouring rain. In summary: production and staff were great, swag was a glitter medal with a visor and yellow long sleeve running shirt, easy race morning parking/exit.
Raining and Huge Puddles the Whole Race
Very rainy day, so this will influence my opinion of race. Smaller race, starts at the University of Delaware, runs through some paved trails and mostly residential streets. Volunteers were … MORE
Very rainy day, so this will influence my opinion of race. Smaller race, starts at the University of Delaware, runs through some paved trails and mostly residential streets. Volunteers were great, medal is pretty good, and shirt was a long sleeve tech, which was also nice. There is a bar/restaurant where they had post race food and drinks. It looked good but I did not have time to partake. Race day packet pick up and parking garage right near starting line. Everything is pretty good other than the course. Out & back with some hills, mostly flat, pretty boring. If you are local it’s a good race. I think there are others in the state I liked better. No fault of the race, but the weather sucked.
Cute!
Very cute little race! Did this as an easy training run to grab Delaware on my 50 states. Such an adorable little town with very friendly people. The course itself … MORE
Very cute little race! Did this as an easy training run to grab Delaware on my 50 states. Such an adorable little town with very friendly people. The course itself was very lovely. Quaint and inviting. Not too difficult, just right. A nice enjoyable run.
I no longer think Delaware is flat
For some reason, I always thought of Delaware as a flat state. This course made me think again. While much of it was fairly flat, there was a neighborhood or … MORE
For some reason, I always thought of Delaware as a flat state. This course made me think again. While much of it was fairly flat, there was a neighborhood or two that required some hill climbs. The course was along city streets, a greenway and through neighborhoods.
Runners received a long sleeve tech shirt and a truckers cap. The finisher’s medal was a little plain but had a spinning middle.
Great Course
This was a great course and they provided a great meal. I also appreciated that fact that they had same day race packet pickup. That is always a plus in … MORE
This was a great course and they provided a great meal. I also appreciated that fact that they had same day race packet pickup. That is always a plus in my book!!! However, I think the gear should be gender specific. My shirt and hat is EXTREMELY big and I will not be able to wear it.
Great, small race
Course wasn't super scenic, but overall fairly flat and well marked with plenty of volunteers to direct you. Not a ton of people cheering along the way, but the aid … MORE
Course wasn’t super scenic, but overall fairly flat and well marked with plenty of volunteers to direct you. Not a ton of people cheering along the way, but the aid stations were full of supporters. Communication leading up to race day was great, and the swag was nice too – nice medal and a long-sleeve dri-fit. After party was fun as well!
Some of the nicest people
Runners are nice, but these runners had to be some of the nicest people I every ran with. The race staff and volunteers were off the charts. It was the … MORE
Runners are nice, but these runners had to be some of the nicest people I every ran with. The race staff and volunteers were off the charts. It was the first time City workers helped with traffic control as volunteers band let the police handle the major intersections. all around a really nice run