Bradford Goz's Staging Area

I’m am urban runner, but this was nature just about as beautiful as it gets in a road race. Uniquely, almost half the course is on easy trails, soft enough to ease the jar of running, hard enough to minimize any slowdown from the dirt and gravel surfaces. Much of the first half goes through a coastal marshland nature preserve. Much of last 8 miles swings through farmland and a nature trail. Course is almost pancake flat with some small rises and falls to ease the hamstrings

Volunteers were exceptional. Ample water/Gatorade stations. Good guidance re turns/turnarounds. Great spirit at Finish Line and at fun after party with LOTS of food and up to 3 beers per runner! Very convenient t-shirt and award pickup. (I got an award!) In fact, races do not get more convenient. I stayed a three min walk from the start line, arrived three mins before the race and found my pace group right away. There’s some congestion at the beginning, but nothing that affected my race after the first ¼ mile.

I liked the size of the race. Half Marathoners kept things lively the first five miles, then we settled in with our 600 Marathon peers. Looking at past years, weather has been consistently good. No guarantees, but RB runners have been fortunate. This year’s forecast looked cold and windy, but starting temps of 39’ made the day close to optimal. There were some winds from the north and west, but these were broken up in part by trees and bushes along a good part of the course.

Award plaque and medals were great and t-shirt design lovely. Drawback on shirts, Half and Full Marathoners got same model. Otherwise, the Expo was dull and there was no additional swag – gloves, scarf, gel, etc. Free photos, however, were cool.

In short, if you’re not keen on running a major, this is a race I think you are sure to enjoy. Oh, did I mention that Rehoboth Beach in December is a very cool seaside town?!