Brian Cox's Staging Area

This was my 2nd full marathon, the other being the 2022 Flying Pig, in addition to doing the Columbus half a few weeks ago, so my frame of reference is fairly limited.

We drove over Friday afternoon from Cincy and hit the expo at around 4:00 PM. I thought it would be a larger event given the size of the race. Packet pickup was fast and easy. To be honest, the shirt was a bit of a disappointment. I like the looks of it, but it was some generic brand and 100% polyester… there’s no way it will breathe or wick so there’s no chance I’ll ever wear it running. Fortunately, they did have some nice looking Brooks gear in the merch area.

Race morning was pretty simple and straightforward. We walked from our hotel, around a half mile away, entered the convention center and proceeded through and out the other side. From there, getting to the start was just a matter of following the crowd. The sidewalks along the corrals were pretty crowded and slow moving. I arrived back at the D corral about 10 minutes before the start and they were so full that there were lines waiting for start to move up and let more people in, which seemed odd but worked fine.

Once the race started, I really spent most of my time trying to focus on the positives because of the rough weather – rain with winds of 15-20MPH. I’ll start with stating the obvious – this course is FLAT. The biggest “hills” were what I would consider flat, recovery sections of most runs in Cincy, which was exactly what I was hoping for! 😆 The downtown sections at the start were nice – running by Lucas Oil Stadium and winding back to Monument Circle. I liked that the split for the half marathon was around mile 7, instead of later, so it thinned out some after that. Other notably enjoyable parts of the course that I remember were through Butler’s campus, the street of big houses where the Governor’s residence was, along the White River and running through the park (not sure the name) shortly after Butler.

The biggest downsides were the relative lack of crowd support, limited on-course entertainment and running alongside traffic for very long stretches of the course. I would also add the brutal headwinds over the last 6 or so miles but there’s not much that anyone could do about that! I’m guessing the limited crowds and on-course entertainment were probably due to the bad weather so I’d give that a pass. The amount of traffic and cars wanting to cross the course at various points was surprising and disappointing.

I really enjoyed the finish stretch and after party. The crowd support along the fences there was pretty good and a lot of people hung around in the after party area to enjoy the DJ playing music, pizza and Sun King beers. Another aspect about this race that I enjoyed was that it was on a Saturday rather than a Sunday. We spent Saturday night in town as well so that we could visit some local breweries and the city in general.

Overall, I’d highly recommend this race. I’ll almost certainly be back in the future to at least do the half!

This was my first marathon and it pretty much kicked my butt. I’m not sure if I just wasn’t as prepared as I needed to be or if it was the humidity and late morning heat (almost every long training run had been done in temps at or below 32 but it got up to around 60 that morning) but it just wasn’t my day.

I had run the Flying Pig half marathon back in October 2021 and had a great experience so I decided to give this a try. Having run the first half, I knew the hills well so I was prepared for that. Most of my training runs were done in the Mariemont area with a few in Oakley/HydePark, so I had familiarity with what to expect on the back half as well. Regardless, at about the 14-15 mile mark, I knew I was in trouble and spent the next 11-12 miles alternating running and walking.

The course is challenging with a fair amount of rolling hills scattered throughout. The toughest hills are around miles 6-8 as you make your way up through Eden Park but the payoff view makes it all worthwhile. And generally, if you take your time and don’t try to go too fast, those hills really aren’t that bad if you’ve trained in a somewhat hilly area. I found on-course entertainment to be a little lacking. There were a few bands scattered around but not too many but that doesn’t really bother me as I usually have music playing softly through my earbuds.

In many areas, crowd support is phenomenal! The starting area, 5th Ave, Eden Park, Hyde Park and Mariemont are all standouts. There are stretches where it’s a little more sparse, especially around mile 17-18 or so as you’re coming out of Mariemont along Columbia Parkway as well as parts of the final 6 miles through Eastern Ave and Riverside Dr.

The expo is huge and swag is great. It usually includes a shirt, magnet, poster and some type of bag (not a plastic one, but more like a backpack). After finishing, the after party along the river is wonderful. Smale Riverfront park is large enough that even with the stage for the band, several beer trucks, multiple tents, etc., there’s still room to spread out, crash in the grass and recover! I’m sure I’m biased since it’s my hometown race but I’d highly recommend it!