Flying Pig-May 1, 2016



Ever contemplate a Back to Back Race Weekend? Well, this is the one to consider! The Kentucky Derby Mini (or marathon) and the Cincinnati Flying Pig (half or full). I completed both half marathons in one weekend and had a blast doing so! 

For the past 5 years I have been running a half marathon a month as well as trying to complete a half marathon in each of the 50 states. When I realized Apr 30 and May 1 fell on the same weekend, I knew I had to find 2 states close together for a back to back race weekend (aka only one airplane ticket!!) The Kentucky Derby Mini and Flying Pig worked out perfectly being only an easy hour and half drive apart!

So if you read my Kentucky Derby Mini recap, then you know I arrived Cincinnati at 9p the night before the 630a Flying Pig race start! I, of course, had to stay for the Opening Night of the Derby at Churchill Downs  in Louisville KY to see my first horse race! In order to do all this, I had to drive the hour and half each way to the Flying Pig EXPO in Cincinnati on Friday, run the Kentucky Derby Mini in Louisville on Saturday, then drive back to Cincinnati Saturday night. Yes, I am crazy. And YES, it was worth every minute of it!

I'm going to start off with saying, this was one of the most fun races I have ever experienced! Everything about it made me smile! From their unique flying pig theme (which has a true history lesson behind it), to their clever piggy terminology for everything they do, to their cute pig decorations, to their persistent organization, to the very clean and pretty downtown river city, to their overly excited and never ending volunteers, to the wonderfully creative spectators, to their endless supply of giveaways. Even their ridiculous hills made me laugh when I realized how massive and neverending they were!

ABOUT
This was the 18th Annual Flying Pig race weekend. The weekend has a race distance for everyone in the family and if one race isn't enough, pick your challenge and run multiple to earn extra bling! This year was a record breaker of 40,000 total runners for the weekend, with approximately 4,700 marathoners and 12,000 half marathoners. There are tons of charities that participate in this race weekend, so make sure to check them out and follow them (some even gave registration discounts!)

HOTEL
I met up with another DONNA Babe who was running the Full and we stayed at the Westin just a few blocks from the Expo and half a mile walk to Start and Finish. I chose the Westin because it offered a travel agent discount, but also because Westin beds are always so 'heavenly!'  The hotel is a very business like downtown hotel attached to other businesses. It suited our needs well enough for a place to crash. We did have an issue with the elevator not working, but we were quickly escorted to the service elevator once we brought it to their attention. The Westin is known for being health conscious and held a shake out run before the race for those who wanted to join.

EXPO
The two day Expo held at the Convention Center was pretty huge. Be prepared to pay $15 for event parking if you are not walking from your hotel. Packet/Shirt pick up was so confusing, as they were on complete opposite sides of the building. I walked in circles before I realized they were making you walk through all the vendors before you got to pick up your shirt. Make sure you plan for plenty of time for this Expo as this is not a quick in and out.

The swag for this race is amazing! Besides the shirt, they gave an embroidered duffle bag, race sticker, and official race poster! P&G was a main sponsor and gave away about 8 samples of their products.  I've never seen so many people stand in line before for detergent, tissues, deodorant and pads!

There was also a scavenger hunt to win prizes, but since I was in a rush to get back to Louisville I didn't have time to investigate.

There was a ton of piggy decorations and chances to take free photos. I picked up a limited edition of Run Cincinnati and headed back to Louisville.

COMMUNICATION
The Facebook page is very active to keep you pumped up leading to race day. Emails were coming at least once a day jammed pack with information. If you couldn't find it in the email, their website was just as useful and up to date.



COURSE
Technically this is an A to B course with a different start and finish, but they are so close you could walk. With the half and full marathon running together until about M9, the course takes you through the very clean downtown city of Cincinnati and beautiful surrounding communities.

We started at the Stadium and right away headed over the bridge to Kentucky. (where else can you say you ran from one state to another?) After grabbing a quick snack of bacon, petting the pig in the wagon, and running down Purple Mile for Alzheimer and Leukemia charities, we were headed back over another bridge to return to Ohio. Through downtown we went and then up, up, up to a beautiful cliff side view of the river from Eden Park. From then on, its all downhill back to downtowns Finish Swine! (with a random incline here and there, of course, just for fun!)

If you want to perform well for this race, you are going to need to practice hill running!














RESULTS
And of course I did not. I went into this back to back halfs weekend without much training. In fact, I had not run much after running the DONNA Marathon, Gasparilla Ultra Challenge, then Treasure Coast half all within 4 weeks. I needed a break, so I knew these races were just going to be for fun. And Flying Pig did not disappoint in that department!

I felt good despite having just run the Derby Mini the day before. It had rained overnight so the ground was wet and the humidity was thick with a few drizzles in the air before we started. The clouds made for an awesome view as the sun rose over the river and a full rainbow even popped out and made me smile! It warmed up quickly after the sun rose and the hills were brutal in the humidity. All I kept thinking is 'I cant believe my friend is doing the full. I am only doing the half, so I can not complain!' I tried to do a 1x1 wog, but quickly realized I would just need to concentrate of speed walking the hills and running the downhills.

STARTING LINE
Because my DONNA friend likes to sleep, we pretty much have it timed out perfectly to arrive to a race just in time to enter our coral and take off! So unfortunately I don't have much feedback on the Starting Area, except it was overly congested in the narrow walkways to get into the corrals with only one entrance and no one manning who goes into what corral.

What was different about this race is they had porta potties located INSIDE each corral (pig pens). This is both good and bad. Yes, its good the porta potties are right there in case you have a sudden last minute tingle after you are in your corral. Or even if the race is delayed, you don't have to walk too far. But it can also be bad for the 'fasties' as people were still standing in line after their corral had long taken off, blocking the area for the runners to get started.

They had a dj playing some Prince tunes as we started our journey.


SPECTATORS
The spectators are a huge part of what make this race exciting! They join the Piggie theme and come up with some creative signs such as 'I love Pig Butt and I can not lie!" Some even dressed up in pig ears, noses, or full blown costumes!

A special part was a group that had come out of their retirement home that had signs made as well such as 'Keep up the pace or ill hit you with my cane' or 'Hurry this sign is heavy.'

A hysterical point during the course was a guy at the bottom of the largest hill. He was holding a megaphone, passing out F stamps, and shouting at us to 'Get the F up the hill' or 'Its just a F-ing hill'. Yes, this was the hill that I literally stopped in my tracks and my jaw hit the ground. It was never ending and seemed to go straight up.


FUEL/HYDRATION
This race really comes up with everything! You will be provided a complete buffet of snacks to keep you energized throughout the race. The full marathon definitely had most of the goodies, but the half marathoners didn't miss out on
-Bacon!
-Twizzlers
-swedish fish
-oranges
-Cliff blocks
and probably much more that I missed

And to combat the sweating, they passed out tissues and had the sprinklers out to cool us down!

However, I was highly disappointed that two of the stations water was SO BAD I literally had to spit it out. I am not sure if they were using hose water, but it definitely was not drinkable. I panicked and worried about an upset stomach, especially if the gatorade drinks were mixed with it too. I later saw a woman who actually did have an 'accident' in her pants and I couldn't help but wonder if the water played a part in that.


FINISH SWINE
The Finish Swine was so cute as there were two huge dancing pigs waiting for you!
After receiving your medal, you were given a wide option of snacks....chips, trail mix, candies, fruit.
There were so many options, you couldn't hold it all.

However, I would have enjoyed real food at the finish, as I still had to wait for my friend to finish the full.

There was a truck giving away small bacon patties (which ran out before the marathoners finished)and Skyline Chili was selling (over priced) chili dogs (not sure what the big deal is on Cincinnati chili).

Michelob Ultra was the Sponsor for the After Party. There were 3 spots for beer and wine, but all were for sale. Only the marathoners received a beer tab for one free beer.

The race provided shuttles that went back to the hotels. I never saw the actual buses, but our hotel was in a walkable distance anyways.


SHIRT
I love the shirt design, but I think it would stand out better on a different shade than this blue.... even the dreaded white.


MEDAL
The medal is double sided and is consistent with the theme. Marathoners medals were similar but larger.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Like I said at the beginning of this blog, this is definitely a race to experience! I feel like I truly am 'oinked for life' as the theme says. This is a must do race, even if you hate hills, just so you can experience the pig excitement! This race definitely deserves a 99.9% in my book. What did they miss? The free beer at the finish. Was that disappointing? Yes. Was there a chance to buy beer? Yes. Would I rather have a free duffle bag instead of a free beer? Oh heck yes! So, I guess I will survive in that aspect. Also, real food instead of just snacks would have made this long day top notch!




13.1-2:47
State#27
HM#62


I am currently running a half marathon a month and also running a half marathon in each state all to show support and raise awareness for breast cancer via The Donna. Please consider showing your support by making a donation today! DONATE