Flying Pig Half Marathon 2018

Jennifer and I have heard so many good things about the Flying Pig Marathon that we finally decided to give it a try. With no longer having to work every weekend it has allowed us to be able to do many more things that weren't options the last 6 years. Jennifer and I made the trip up to Cincinnati the day before the race and headed over to the expo to pick up our race bibs and swag. I enjoyed all of the flying pigs that they had dressed up in different attire. We also scored all kinds of free samples as well as a shirt, blanket, poster, and car decal.

Jennifer and I with a "flying pig".

The course layout for the race. We started in Cincinnati then cross a bridge into Kentucky and about 2 miles later crossed another bridge back into Ohio. Also we were warned multiple times about the massive hill. I had no idea what they were talking about but there is a huge hill that is spread out over miles 6-9. It was a beast! The only good part about it was that all of mile 11 was the descent back down that hill.

Another decorated flying pig.

We were unsure of where to park the morning of the race with all the road closures. Jennifer said it would be ok to walk over the river to the start line. We stopped on the bridge for a picture of the Cincinnati riverfront on the 1 mile walk from our hotel.

We made it to the start line with plenty of time to spare. We were in different corrals so we said good luck to each other and made our way to each of our starting gates.

I was so excited for this race. I had actually completed all of my training runs and the best part was that I didn't have any injuries during training. Those two things had never happened prior to a race day. I had high expectations for myself and I didn't want to let all that training go to waste.

I am used to taking all kinds of pictures during the race, but I knew that if I wanted to make my goal that today was not going to be a picture day. So, one last picture before I began. These were all the people I was excited about running the streets of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky with.

Just like I said, no pictures until I finished. At times the race was brutal (miles 6-9), but for the most part I felt great. I was keeping track of my times on my Apple Watch and I was doing a great job of staying on pace with my goal of sub 2 hours. When I crossed the finish line I couldn't have been more proud of myself. That was the first time after finishing a race that I felt like I had truly given it all I had.

The data that I got from my Apple Watch got me super pumped. For some reason I couldn't get it to show me the mile split times like it normally did on my training runs. It also showed that I actually ran 0.38 mile more than I needed. I can only think that this was because I was dodging in and out of other runners on the course. This of course was an unofficial time, but it was an awesome time for me!

For those of you that have never ran a longer distance race you may not know of all the different things that people hand out to you along the course. Sometimes it is just random people along the street (would not advise taking food from them) and other times it is race sponsored groups who will give you snacks, water, Gatorade, or other goodies. Sometimes these things seem to be such odd items, but tons of people take advantage of them. I only participated in a few of these this time. I had no idea what to expect when I saw a sign for hugs and kisses around mile 5. I had no desire to get a hug or kiss from a perfect stranger, but I was intrigued. As I got closer I realized that it was actually Hershey's kisses and hugs. Now we are talking. I grabbed a kiss from a perfect stranger and didn't even ask their name!

I was beyond pumped about this time. Not only was it a new Personal Record, but I shaved over 32 minutes off my previous best! This was a pretty neat medal that we got too. It is double sided and the back shows a picture of the back side of a pig.

A little while later Jennifer finished too. She also finished with a new PR and cut a little over 10 minutes off her time. I am really proud of her because she has not only been doing awesome at running in these races, but she has also pushed me to do better myself. She is my biggest fan and I am hers.

First time that I have finished a race and was greeted at the finish line with a slice of pizza. Thanks LaRosa for the slice. It really hit the spot with me after 13.1 miles!

Everybody was taking pictures with the Cincinnati skyline, but not many were giving any love to the other side of the river. Here is our picture with Kentucky - where we ran two of the miles.

Jennifer and I posing with some big block numbers. Never underestimate that 0.1 mile. It can be the most brutal little stretch!

I came, I saw, I flew with the pigs! I was literally on cloud 9 after I finished because I was so happy with my time. Now to work on getting faster for next time!

One last picture together on our long 1 mile trek back to the hotel. I don't think Jennifer was as excited about this walk back across to Kentucky because her legs were tired.

We had been in Cincinnati a few days before the race visiting the zoo and I stopped by Graeter's and I saw these cookies so I picked some up for a post race treat when we got back to the hotel. It was one of the most delicious cookies ever!

Since we had pizza and cookies we decided to go ahead and make the drive back to Lexington before eating something for lunch. Jennifer let me pick and I had been thinking about Wild Eggs for a couple of weeks. It sounded like the perfect post race meal. I think we earned it!

Last year Jennifer and I started getting more interested in running. We talked quite a bit about trying to set a realistic goal for our running future. We have heard other people that are working to accomplish a certain goal and it sounded like a great idea to us. Jennifer and I are going to try and run a half marathon in all 50 states with a little twist. We want to run 50 half's in 50 states before 50. Our progress as of right now is that Jennifer has 4 states and I have 5. We have quite a ways to go, but definitely achievable if we average 2.7 races a year. We will see how things work out, but that is our long term goal that combines two things we have interest it, running and traveling. Thanks for reading and God bless!