Mark Dame's Staging Area

The Flying Pig Marathon is billed as “more than just a marathon because it is. Flying Pig Weekend starts Friday with the expo and a one mile evening race. Saturday has multiple races, including a 10K, 5K, and two kids runs. There’s even a run for dogs Saturday afternoon. The main event, of course, is the full and half marathons on Sunday morning. The course is challenging, but incredible. Start off next to Paul Brown Stadium, then run past Great American Ball Park and cross the river into Northern Kentucky. After a couple of miles, you cross back over the river with a beautiful view of the stadiums and downtown. The course takes through downtown, then up into Eden Park where you’ll get another incredible view of the river. From there, the course makes its way through several Cincinnati suburbs before turning back toward the city. The hardest part of the course mentally is the few miles along Route 50 before settling onto Riverside Drive for the final few miles into the city. The crowd support along the course is fantastic, providing refreshments and entertainment above and beyond what the is provided by the race. Water stops have both water and Gatorade and are large enough that you don’t have to stop to wait for a cup. After the race, the post race party in Smale Riverfront Park is a great place to hang out with your fellow racers to eat and drink while recounting your achievements over the weekend. Whether a first time marathoner or a seasoned veteran, the Flying Pig Marathon should be on your short list of “must run” races.

The course is mostly flat with a couple of small hills. Because it’s on the bike/running path around Lunken Airport, the course is a bit crowded until after the 5K turn-around.

The course starts and ends in downtown Indianapolis, going past Lucas Oil Stadium and through Monument Circle, though the course outside of downtown was less interesting. It’s almost completely flat, with plenty of aid stations along the way. My only real complaint is that the Gatorade was mixed a little too strong. 🙂

Being in the evening at the beginning of September, this is a hard race to run, in spite of the flat course. The 10K is one lap, the Half is two laps, and the Full is four laps.

Not a bad race. Fun theme, but not thing special. Easy, flat course along the Great Miami River — out and back. Good aid station support. Course gets a little crowded. There are several distances happening at once and all the participants are fighting for the same narrow bike trail.