More than 1,700 runners, walkers and relay team members crossed the finish line at the spring 2012 running of Wilmington’s Christiana Care Delaware Marathon Running Festival, which in 2013 will mark the 10th annual running of the event’s marathon, half marathon and four-person team relay for the full marathon. Sponsored by Delaware’s Christiana Care Health System, the race is the state’s oldest road marathon event — the Trail Triple Crown Race is 6 years older — and takes runners on an out-and-back loop course that starts and finishes along the city’s historic riverfront.
All races in the event begin at Wilmington’s Tubman Garrett Riverfront Park, located downtown near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, right next to the Wilmington Amtrak train station. From there, those running the half marathon follow exactly the same course as the full marathon, along a loop that runs through the city’s Brandywine and Wawaset parks, along the Bancroft and Kentmere Parkway roads, and through Wilmington’s “Little Italy” district. Those running the 13.1-mile half marathon make the course loop a single time, while those running the full, 26.2-mile marathon run the loop twice.