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Flying Pig Marathon
Flying Pig Marathon logo
Date	Generally the first Sunday in May
Location	Cincinnati, Ohio and Northern Kentucky
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon - 26.2 mi
Course records	2:20:25 - Cecil Franke - 2006 2:34:35 - Tatyana Pozdnyakova - 2002
Official site	flyingpigmarathon.com
Participants	36,000+

The Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon is an annual 26.2 mi (42.2 km) race run the first Sunday of May in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded by Robert J. Coughlin, it was first held in 1999, it is the 3rd-largest first-time marathon in the United States. The marathon had nearly 5000 finishers in 2008, and total participation for all weekend events exceeded 30,408 in 2011. The race starts and finishes downtown and also crosses into Northern Kentucky. It is a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon.

History

The marathon was first held in 1999 when Elly Rono of Kenya and the University of Southern Indiana (and a future 2:10 marathoner), won in the men's division.

In 2002, overall female winner Tatyana Pozdnyakova of Ukraine set the course record with a finishing time of 2:34:35 (achieved at the age of 47).

In 2006, overall male winner Cecil Franke set the course record with a finishing time of 2:20:25.

In 2011, legally blind runner Amy McDonaugh won the race in the women's division without a guide and with a time of 2:58:14.

In 2020, the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the option of either running the race virtually or transferring their entry to a later year.

The 2023 race has been called “The Floating Pig”, due to the thunderstorms, torrential downpour, and flash flooding that took place during the course of the race. Controversially, the race was not cancelled despite lightning strikes within the first hour.

Course

The race course starts in downtown Cincinnati and crosses the Taylor-Southgate Bridge over the Ohio River into Northern Kentucky, where it travels through Newport and crosses westward over the Licking River via the Fourth Street Bridge into Covington. From Covington, the route takes the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge back over the Ohio River into Cincinnati. After looping westward the first leg ends east of downtown in Eden Park, a distance of 6.84 miles (11.01 km). The race course then makes its way east through East Walnut Hills, O'Bryonville, and Hyde Park and ends after 5.16 miles (8.30 km) at Richards Industries on Wasson Road. The third leg goes east to the village of Mariemont before looping back to head towards the river; it ends in Linwood, having traversed 7.67 miles (12.34 km). The final leg is 6.55 miles (10.54 km) to the finish line downtown. The last 7 km (4.3 mi) of the fourth leg follow the Ohio River Scenic Byway (US 52) along the Ohio River, heading downtown toward the finish line.

Other races

In recent years, the Flying Pig has included a 5K race, a 10K race, and a half marathon and a 2-mile "Flying Fur" event for dogs and humans. The 5K and 10K are held on the day before the marathon. The half marathon starts and finishes at the same locations as the full marathon, and is held on the same day as the full marathon.

Winners

Key:    Course record (in bold)

Winners by year

Year	Men's Winner	Time	Women's Winner	Time
1999	Elly Rono (KEN)	2:21:15	Sommer Settell (USA)	2:58:10
2000	Rudolf Jun (CZE)	2:23:02	Rebecca Gallaher (USA)	2:49:30
2001		2:27:59		2:50:41
2002	Cornelio Velasco (MEX)	2:31:10	Tatyana Pozdnyakova (UKR)	2:34:33
2003	John Aerni (USA)	2:27:42	Lisa Veneziano (USA)	2:57:52
2004	Thomas Lentz (USA)	2:38:07	Pamilla "P.J." Ball (USA)	3:05:52
2005	Tim Rieger II (USA)	2:30:24	Alison Bedingfield (USA)	3:03:40
2006	Cecil Franke (USA)	2:20:26	Norah Shire (USA)	2:56:19
2007	Isaac Barnes (USA)	2:33:36	Leah Peelman (USA)	2:55:56
2008	Andy Martin (USA)	2:30:40	Michelle Didion (USA)	3:05:18
2009	Sergio Reyes (USA)	2:20:37	Autumn Ray (USA)	2:52:23
2010	Brian List (USA)	2:31:55	Cynthia Arnold (USA)	2:55:00
2011	Kieran O'Connor (USA)	2:28:02	Amy McDonaugh (USA)	2:58:10
2012	Sergio Reyes (USA)	2:22:04	Rachel Bea (USA)	2:54:38
2013		2:21:49	Rebecca Walter (USA)	2:53:56
2014		2:27:19	Amy Robillard (USA)	2:55:50
2015	Adam Goloyeske (USA)	2:32:53		2:53:07
2016	Sergio Reyes (USA)	2:26:03	Anne Flower (USA)	2:55:46
2017	Jack Randall (USA)	2:33:43	Kerry Lee (USA)	2:53:47
2018	Aaron Viets (USA)	2:29:36	Caitlin Keen (USA)	2:46:39
2019	Jack Randall (USA)	2:28:58	Anne Flower (USA)	2:49:17
2020	Race canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021	Alex Gold (USA)	2:26:28	Caitlin Keen (USA)	2:43:44
2022	Zac Holtkamp (USA)	2:27:18	Grace McCarron (USA)	2:50:00
2023	Jason Salyer (USA)	2:27:10	Caitlin Keen (USA)	2:45:34
2024		2:26:01	Olivia Anger (USA)	2:43:23

Repeat champions

See also

• Big Pig Gig
• Flying pig

Notes

1. McDonaugh was "completely blind in her right eye and her vision 23/100 in her left eye with no peripheral sight".

References

1. "Certified Courses search results for Course ID OH08014PR". USA Track and Field. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
2. ^ "Kieran O'Connor, Amy McDonaugh win Flying Pig Marathon". Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on 2011-05-04. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
3. ^ "Legally Blind Runner Wins Flying Pig Marathon". 2 May 2011.
4. "Legally blind runner wins the women's Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati - GO AMY!". New York Daily News.
5. "Blind ambition". June 2011.
6. "Flying Pig Marathon".
7. "Marathon Course Description".
8. "Flying Pig Marathon Weekend Previous Results". Flying Pig Marathon. Retrieved May 7, 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Past results and reviews
• Photographs of winners (1999 to 2018)

• Marathons in the United States
• Sports competitions in Cincinnati
• 1999 establishments in Ohio
• Recurring sporting events established in 1999
• Annual sporting events in the United States
• May events