I had only run about half of this route prior to this attempt, so I had to use my phone for navigation. I did not use any support along the way - only the Tailwind water and gummies that I brought in my water pack.
I was dropped off on the side of Route 13 at the DE/PA line, water pack on, and started my run from there. My goal was to average under 8:00/mile, so I started out at around 7:30-7:40 on the first 4 (relatively flat) miles. The Northern Delaware Greenway greeted me with a 200-foot climb, which I took at my own pace, still feeling good. This ~8-mile section is notorious for its rolling, relatively steep, paved hills - so I had to be strategic with when to slow down. I was extremely lucky with road crossings on this section. After descending to the Brandywine and turning left, I was surprised to see that even the creekside trail had its own rolling steep climbs. Following the Brandywine, I had to get off the sidewalk for less than a quarter mile, to avoid a closed section of sidewalk.
Entering Downtown Wilmington at mile ~13, I still felt good. Crossing roads was relatively time-consuming on this section. I knew that the rest of the way would be extremely flat, so my worries about hills were minimal - but I was anticipating it being mentally difficult. The Wilmington Riverfront and the JAM trail were "pleasantly boring", providing great views of Delaware's wetlands along a straightforward boardwalk trail. I arrive at New Castle at mile ~20, run the Battery Park Trail along the Delaware River, then exit to begin the long road section. I imagined the next 10 miles would be mentally difficult because of how boring the roads were. Road crossings were quite difficult on this section, especially Hares Corner - on which I got a very lucky green light and only had to stop for a second. Surprisingly, I was still able to hold ~7:30 until just past the marathon mark, where my body finally caught up to me and my chest started hurting. My guess is that it was that I wasn't drinking enough fluid.
Mile 30, I started slowing down into the low 8's, but still felt motivated to keep going to the finish. I enter the city of Newark, which I knew extremely well (having graduated from University of Delaware), hoping that the familiarity would help me motivate myself to get through. My pace didn't suffer too much, I was confident I could still average well under 8 at this pace.
I turn onto the sidepath parallel to Elkton Road, excited to run on the newly completed section of ECG! A few more road crossings later, I finally crossed into Maryland as my Dad stood behind the "Welcome to Delaware" sign taking pictures. I was so happy to be done pounding on pavement!