Medical & Safety

No animals, bicycles, skateboards, baby joggers, roller skates or blades, or other wheeled conveyances are allowed on the course.

Personal headsets are also not permitted as these restrict your safety and our insurance considerations require that you be able to hear voice commands, vehicle sirens, and horns.

Our agreement with the City of Wilmington requires that we re-open the streets to traffic at 1:00 p.m. All participants should strive to complete the marathon in six hours.  Back of the pack runners and walkers not keeping pace may be directed to the sidewalks to allow traffic to re-open.

Each race will be led by a City of Wilmington Police Officer on a motorcycle. Bicycle pacers will also accompany the leaders. City of Wilmington Police officers will be stationed at the major intersections; race volunteers will staff the lower risk traffic intersections. Please note that this is not a closed course, so please remain alert at all intersections and heed the commands of the course marshals and police.

Note: at about the 4.2/17.3 mile mark, you will traverse a wooden “swinging” footbridge over the Brandywine River. This footbridge has an uneven surface and caution is advised.

Medical coverage is coordinated by the Christiana Care Health System Emergency Services Department and the New Castle County Paramedics. Emergency medical response throughout the race venue is coordinated by the New Castle County Paramedics in conjunction with contracted ambulance services and New Castle County Paramedic teams on bicycles.  

If a medical need should arise, please contact a member of the medical team, who will be wearing blue safety vests, a Wilmington Police Officer, who are serving as course marshals at major intersections, or a water station captain (wearing an orange safety vest) at each water station on the course.  All of these individuals have the ability to contact emergency medical services personnel and request assistance by closed circuit radio.

Each race bib has an area for entry of emergency medical and emergency contact information.  Our emergency medical services personnel request that you take a moment to provide medical information and contact information on the back of your race bib (in the unlikely event of an emergency).

The main Medical Tent will be located adjacent to the finishing area.  Though it’s not a treatment center, our medical staff will assess each situation and assist in obtaining appropriate treatment for the patient.

Pre and post race massages will be available to participants of the Delaware Marathon Running Festival by members of the Delaware Chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association.  $1 per minute donations are welcomed, of course, to cover the costs of the therapists bringing their own equipment.  As availability permits, massages will also be available for non-participants for a small fee. 

If you need medical assistance while on the course, or see someone who does, please inform a water station captain.  All our water stations are equipped with closed circuit radios connected to our medical team.  Additionally, our volunteer team this year will be wearing brightly colored t-shirts with “EVENT VOLUNTEER” on them