Tom Palen's Staging Area

A small well organized Half, with an out and back course through Cape Henlopen State Park. 101 Half Marathoners, 20 Half Relay Teams, and 79 5K Runners. The course was flat and fast, mostly paved with some dirt and crushed gravel sections. Other than the hydration stops, there was no crowd support and due to the small field of runners, at most I had a few runners ahead and behind me, and occasionally had no runners in sight. The long shirt is nice but the medal is small and “nothing to write home about”. Easy Parking close to the start/finish. For me, it was a nice Half to claim State No. 32 🙂

The weather was great with temps in the 50’s at race start, mostly cloudy, and low humidity. The course had a few rolling hills but mostly flat along, and a combination of roads [that go past the Falls] and paved trails, along the Snake River. Small field with less than 300 runners for the Half, and less than 100 for the Full. Not much crowd support and a small number of volunteers along the course and at the hydration stops. There were a few spots on the course where it was not clear on which direction to go, and luckliy I guessed correctly. The shirt is nice but the medal was small, and the same medal for both the Half and the Full. Age catagory winners were too broad as I ended up in the 50 – 99 year division, where I finshed 16 of 24 but would have placed had it been most other races. Overall, a nice small town event, a nice course, but low production.

A nice small town no-frills race event with 310 Finishers. The course had a 3 hr limit and with the exception of a few rolling hills, it was primarily downhill. The course was a mix of roads and mostly paved trails with many scenic mountain views. There were no mile markers and not enough cones [or other course markings] causing myself and a few other runners to veer off course at one point, but thankfully we realized it within a short distance, and made the quick correction. The one thing that I was not “crazy” about was having to get up at 3 a.m. to catch one of the 4 – 4:30 buses that transported the runners to the start line, and the long wait for the 6:30 race start. The shirt [although a little short in the length] is nice as is the medal. Packet pickup and the finish line activity [as with most small town race events] was very low-key and non-eventful.

A very nice small town race with less than 200 Half Marathon Finishers. Well run and organized and it was coupled with the Town Fair which was also nice, The course was primary running the two lane country roads, with the one lane lined with safety cones, and thankfully there was minimal traffic. Packet pickup was just that, pickup the Shirt and Bib but no other swag, Nice Shirt and Medal and Awards for the top three finishers in each category.

Chose this race as my original plan to run Buffalo got sidetracked. The course was mostly trail with a mix of packed dirt and packed gravel. The course for me was very challenging with many ups and downs. Thankfully it did not rain as originally forecast otherwise, the footing would have been that much more challenging as there were already numerous muddy spots along the trails

The course was point to point so we were bused from the finish to the start and it was a rolling start, so as the runners arrived at the start, they were able to take off. The race was fairly small so after I started, I very rarely had another runner in sight. A few runners passed me up, and occasionally there were a few runners I could spot in the distance. Otherwise I was out there on my own for the majority of the race and other than the water stops, there was zero crowd support.

Although I was able to maneuver most of the course by following the Path of the Flood trail and road signs, the only other markers were painted markers on the Trail and road but could have easily been missed. There were very few race personnel throughout the course and no one checking on runners as there are at most race events.

My other big concern was being out there for miles without another runner in sight or any other support personnel in sight, if I were to have a problem, sustain an injury, or worse, needed any medical care, it could have been a huge problem!

The Shirt is nice but the medal was disappointing – all one dark gray color! Overall, and after 114 Half Marathons, one of my least favorite events!

A very comfortable, scenic and enjoyable Half Marathon. In my case, the weather conditions were ideal and I would highly recommend this event.