I Hightailed It! (Flying Pig Marathon, Marathon 11, State 9)

This little piggy ran all the way
 to the Finish Swine!

Sometimes I think I obsess more about the 10-day forecast before I run a marathon, than the fact that I am getting ready to run 26.2  miles again.  So was the case for the Flying Pig Marathon.  Ten days before the marathon, the weather forecast showed a 60% chance of rain.  The percentage didn't change, until midweek when it was 80%, then it went back to 60%.  As my trip to Cincinnati drew nearer, it was pretty clear that I would run my first rainy marathon.  It didn't matter if I went to Weather.com, Accutest.com, NOAA, or any local channel.  It was going to rain.

On race day, 20 minutes before the race start, the skies opened and it poured.  And poured.  By the time I started the race, the rain had lightened a bit, but I dealt with it the first 7 miles or so, and then again between Miles 15 and 17.  When it wasn't raining it was humid, but it wasn't cold so I fared better than my running comrades in Oklahoma City (where it was cold, rainy, hailed/sleeted, windy, etc.).  The only repurcussions of running in the rain ended up being one big blister on a toe and some serious belly button chafing.

Overall, the Flying Pig Marathon course is very scenic.  I don't recall any ugly (aka industrial) areas along the course.  However, I seemed to have overlooked the part of the course description describing hills.  (Perhaps this is why pigs fly in Cincinnati - to avoid the hills.)  The first half of the course has a pretty big climb between Miles 6 and 8.  The view at the top of the hill of the Ohio River and Cincinnati skyline makes the work worthwile.  It should be noted that the big hill(s) in the first half really offset the scale for the second half of the course.  There are lots of little short, steep hills.  With all of the ups, and steep downs, my knees really took a beating on this course. 

I had intended to take my camera with me along the course, but due to the rain I left it it in the hotel.  This was the first marathon that I ran in costume, if you can call pig ears and a piggy tail a costume.  Oink! Oink!  (If you need a random pig costume in April/May, Party City is the place to go!  Thanks for the tip, Pritha!)

Wee! Wee!  Wee!
Crossing the Finish Swine

Event Highlights:  
* Fiberglass pigs at the Expo (you know I love my fiberglass animals!)
*Dinner with the Marathon Maniacs at Rock Bottom Brewery on marathon eve (Thanks, Stephanie!)
*A person in a gorilla suit at the Half Marathon/Marathon Split (Mile 9) holding a sign saying "Run Human Run"
* Local churches handed out orange slices.  One church group had even peeled the oranges so they were easy to eat.
*Seeing other Marathon Maniacs along the course
*The view of the Ohio River after the long climb in the first half of the course
*The Hog Wash.  An aid station after Mile 20 somewhere handed out wet towels and would spray all the running pigs down so we could cool off.
*The finish line is called the Finish Swine.  The starting corrals are called pig pens.  The cuteness just makes you want to squeal, doesn't it?
*I made it to 13.1 miles in 2:22 (a 4:45 pace) without a pacer and without a pace band.  The hills on the second half of the course slowed me down a bit.  I took walk breaks up the hills to save energy, and planned walk breaks at mile markers.  I finished in 4:59:29, which is not a personal record but is only the third time that I have finished in under 5 hours!
*I got to wear my pink Marathon Maniacs Diva shirt for the first time.  (This was only my second marathon as a Maniac).  A little before Mile 26, while I was walk breaking it (hey - I knew I wouldn't PR and I knew I would still beat 5 hours so it was okay to walk) a few spectators starting cheering for the "Diva."  "Go, Diva! Go!" they said.  When I started running agin, they went crazy with excitement.  It was quite entertaining for me.
*The pig medal (which was really the entire reason I did the race except for....see next bullet item)
*All the cute clothing at the Expo with the flying pig logo.
*Glazed donuts at the finish line (and plenty of other sugary food including Ho Hos!)

Finisher Gear

*The two women that I rode to the Cincinnati Airport with after the race.  I had asked the hotel valet for a taxi and he asked two women (fellow runners) if I could ride with them.  I didn't realize that one of the gals was taking her friend to the airport in her own car.  However, they still insisted that I ride with them.  I made two new running friends.  (Oddly, they had met in NYC when seeking transporation after the NYC Marathon...)

Ohio joins Missouri, Tennessee, Minnesota, Arkansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas, and Florida as states where I have completed marathons.  Up next:  Montana!  Until then, I have a double half marathon weekend to look forward to, as well as my 5th running of the Hospital Hill Half Marathon.