The Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon is an annual race run the first Sunday of May in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. First held in 1999, it is the 3rd-largest first-time

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. 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 ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

and also crosses into

Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky is the third-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, and its cities and towns serve as the de facto "south side" communities of Cincinnati, Ohio. The three main counties ...

. It is a qualifying race for the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

History

The marathon was first held in 1999. In 2002, overall female winner

Tatyana Pozdnyakova Tatyana Pozdnyakova (born 4 March 1955 in Sosnovo-Ozerskoye, Buryatia, Russia) is a Ukrainian, former Soviet athlete, known for her performance in marathons. She is the current W45 Masters world record holder in the marathon. In her earlier ath ...

set the course record with a finish time of 2:34:35. In 2006, overall male winner Cecil Franke set the course record with a finish 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 Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

, with all registrants given the option of either running the race virtually or transferring their entry to a later year.

Course

The race course starts in

downtown Cincinnati Downtown Cincinnati is the central business district of Cincinnati, Ohio, as well the economic and symbiotic center of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It also contains a number of urban neighborhoods in the low land area between the Ohio ...

and crosses the Taylor-Southgate Bridge over the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

into

, 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 . The race course then makes its way east through East Walnut Hills, O'Bryonville, and Hyde Park and ends after 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 . The final leg is to the finish line downtown. The last of the fourth leg follow the Ohio River Scenic Byway (

US 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major United States highway in the central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows ...

) 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 A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

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

Marathon - 2000 - Rudolph Jun — Czech Republic — 2:23:04 Marathon - 2000 - Rebecca Gallaher - Mississippi - 2:49:32 Wheeler - 2000 - Franz Nietlispach - Leimgasse - 1:35:59 Wheeler - 2000 - Holly Koester - Bedford, Massachusetts - 3:17:41

Notes

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official sitePast results and reviews
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