4th State in the Books! Only 46 States left in the first part of my Ultimate Running Bucket List. 50 Half-Marathons in 50 States. I finished the race with a time of 1:27:27. That is a new personnel best. It was a great day for a race. The weather was awesome. No Wind. Nice cool morning with the sun coming out as the hours passed. Great weekend for a race.
Expo Review: Well there wasn’t much of an expo. I am surprised there wasn’t an expo since it is the 10th year this race has been going. I picked up my race bib about an hour and a half before the race. With the race being a Boston Qualifier event, I thought there would vendors and companies who would want to showcase themselves and with Rehoboth having local businesses, one would think there would have been more of that. But regardless, I didn’t come there for the expo.
Sneaker Review: Nike Zoom Fly. This will continue to be my running shoe for the foreseeable future. I can’t say enough good things about the shoe. The shoe held up on all the different surfaces I ran on this race. From road, to gravel, to grass, back to pavement it held up great. The responsiveness of the shoe didn’t dwindle as the race wore on. It’s a light shoe relative to the support and comfort it provides.
Course Review: The course was flat. As flat as can be for a Boston Qualifying event. I thought it would take runners more through Rehoboth and “downtown” but I realized how busy of roads Rehoboth has in and out of area. There were two major turnaround points. I’m generally not a fan of turnaround points just because they can get very cramped and tight and cause you to get out of the rhythm in which you’re running.
The biggest surprise to me was how much of the course was on the trails. When you see the map, you don’t think there is much in terms of trails but more than half the race was non-pavement and then to a turnaround point and back down the path you ran on. At first I was thinking, “this is awesome and it’s a great scenic view!” But as the race continued on my hamstrings started to tire out quicker because I felt as though I was using them more because of not getting great footing. Running on gravel and dirt my foot was not getting the solid contact and I felt more hip and knee extension then what I’m accustomed too. (Which could just be a byproduct of the type of training I’m doing). But overall the course was great. There were points I wanted to stop just to take photos and just look out on openness of nature, but I was going to for time.
Closing Thoughts: Super fun course. The after party was awesome with the food. If I’m looking for a Boston Qualifier course, I would pick this course over Philadelphia. I talked to some of the other runners, and they expressed to me that Rehoboth is one of the best races you could do in Delaware, from structure, organization, and race day procedures.
