Flying Pig Half Marathon, Cincinnati, OH
Review by Robin Paurus, 2009

Race Website: www.flyingpigmarathon.com

If you like big races, and fun, light-hearted events, you’ll like the Flying Pig in Cincinnati, OH. The race pays homage to the days of old, where pigs ran freely through the streets of Cincinnati (at one point the city was called Porkopolis) – and now runners can too during a weekend of races including a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, Marathon Relay, and the Marathon. There were about 23,000 participants in this year’s races, with about 8500 in the half marathon, which is what I ran. The whole event has fun with the pig concept – 30 days out from the race I started getting ‘Daily Squeal’ race update emails, there’s the Pasta ‘Pig-out’ dinner, the little kids ‘Piglet run’ and my favorite – all races end at the Finish Swine.

The races are held the first weekend in May – May 3rd this year for the half marathon. The races start/end in downtown Cincinnati along the Ohio river and there are many hotels in Cincinnati and Covington, Kentucky (just across the river) in close walking distance to the start. The Expo was also downtown and was huge, with lots of freebees and of course - Flying Pig souvenirs to buy. The race shirts were a little disappointing – cotton T-shirts for everyone but the marathoners – but we also got a big Flying Pig poster and a travel bag. The marathon and half marathon started together at 6:30am – right by the Bengals football stadium (so we could use their bathrooms, and stay a little dry before the race….we had rainy weather this year). The half marathon course takes you over the bridge to Kentucky, back to Ohio, through downtown, up to a high scenic point (I could’ve skipped the hill with the view!!), then winds back to the river for the finish. The course is quite hilly, with bridges and the scenic climb from miles 5-8….but it has one of the best finishes – 3 miles downhill to the finish swine.

The whole event was really well done – well organized and everyone (volunteers, spectators, racers) were very friendly, encouraging, and fun. There were water stops almost every mile, race clocks at every mile, and lots of spectators. It was chip-timed, and they emailed your friends/family during the race with your progress and expected finish time. A few bands and a chorus were also out on the course. The finish area had lots of food, warming blankets, and nice finisher’s medals. If anything could be improved on, it might be the start area – it was very congested, but I supposed you can’t get around that too much with a race that size. If you want a big, fun event, and you’re not looking for a flat or really scenic course (it’s scenic enough for a downtown race, but not scenic – like through the countryside) I would recommend the Flying Pig. There’s not a lot of extracurricular activities to do in Cincinnati (Zoo, Aquarium, Horse Racing), but the race was still worth the trip.