2018 Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon
Cincinnati knows how to throw a party! The Flying Pig Marathon is a spectacular pig-themed tribute to the city’s roots as “Pork-opolis”, aptly named because in the 1800’s Cincinnati was the largest pork producing city in the world. This year marked the 20th Anniversary of the Flying Pig Marathon.
Weekend Schedule
The Flying Pig Marathon is not just a Marathon but includes various race distances in this three day, six event weekend series. The party starts Friday night with the 1 mile and continues on Saturday with the 10k, and then 5k events. On Sunday a half marathon, full marathon, and 4-leg relay are run. There is also an option to complete multiple races as part of a 3-way (10k, 5k, half marathon) or 4-way (10k, 5k, full marathon) challenge. You can add “extra cheese” to either challenge by adding the 1 mile on Friday night. The 3-way, 4-way, and extra cheese combinations all include additional shirts and medals. Extra Bling!
Accommodations
We stayed at the Renaissance hotel Saturday night, within walking distance to the Marathon Starting line. The hotel was decked out with Pig balloons, Obi the Pig welcomed us and posed for pre-race pictures, and we received a gift of pig shaped chocolates. The hotel staff were extremely kind and helpful, taking our pictures, and offering late checkout for Marathon runners. 
The Expo
The Expo, which was held at Duke Energy Convention Center in Downtown Cincinnati, was a party in and of itself. This Expo and packet pickup featured plenty of free swag, pig themed gear and goodies for sale, vendor booths to check out, and 20 years of race history and memorabilia displayed.
I grabbed our race packets, then headed through the huge expo. Once we got around to the back we picked up our cute race tech shirts and gifts. Flying Pig is known for it’s great race swag, and this year our registration included a high quality blanket and a cute pig themed poster. The Expo was decorated with Flying Pig balloons and props for plenty of neat photo opportunities with Pig backgrounds and props. I also received tons of free magnets and snacks from generous vendor booths.
Pre-Race Dinner
For dinner we took a short walk to the nearby Wahlburgers, famous for their burgers made with Government-issued American cheese slices. The burgers were quite good, although we did swap out the processed American for cheddar cheese.
In keeping with the Pig theme for the weekend, I also had a side of Mac N’ Cheese topped with smoked bacon and garlic panko breadcrumbs , which was absolutely incredible. This is pig powered carboloading at its best!
The Start
The race is a wave start with athletes lining up in different corrals or in this case “Pig Pens” based on projected finishing times. I started in Pig Pen D, for those expecting to finish the Marathon between 4 hours and 4:10.
The Race
The Marathon starts at 6:30am with the National Anthem. The Pens are released in staggered starts, with the torches and snares at the starting line. The party continues and runners continue through the streets of downtown Cincinnati, crossing the bridge into Kentucky and then back to Ohio.
This race attracts awesome crowd support, spectators, and numerous aid station volunteers. There were frequent water & Gatorade stops along the course, and various pig themed aid stations.
Various aid stations also included the following food: Hershey kisses, cookies, Swedish Fish, pretzels, potato chips, gr”ham” crackers, GU gels, and of course the Bacon.
The Finish
After crossing the finish line which at this race is affectionately referred to as the “Finish Swine”, I received my finishers medal, Mylar blanket, and more photo opportunities.
At the finishers area I received fruit cups, banana, granola bars, pizza, and bottled water.
I made my way through the finishers post race party to pick up my 20th anniversary finishers jacket, included in this years Full Marathon registration.
Overall this is an amazing event. As one of my absolute favorite races, I definitely recommend Flying Pig Marathon!
Post Race
After each Marathon I make an omelet. As someone who does not usually eat pork, my omelet did not include any bacon, but this omelet was delicious and I had my pig shaped chocolate for dessert.
Run Cari 