Daniel Walz's Staging Area

Seven states into my 50-state half marathon journey, the Flying Pig sits at #1 and I don’t expect it to move anytime soon. I would absolutely do this race again — and that’s something I can’t say about most of the others on my list.

The single most memorable thing about this race isn’t the course or the swag — it’s the people of Cincinnati. The local pride for the Flying Pig is unlike anything I’ve experienced at another race. The crowd energy was outstanding from start to finish, and it never felt like a party for its own sake. There was some of that, but it didn’t define the atmosphere. For me, that’s exactly right. This felt like a community showing up for something they genuinely love.

The course is the hardest half I’ve done — 700 feet of elevation gain, three bridges, two states, and more scenic variety than any other race on my list. It starts in the dark, and crossing the first bridge with the moon in the background was one of those moments where you almost forget you’re racing. I nearly stopped for a photo and kept moving only because I had a race to run. That image stuck with me longer than most finish line photos would have. The difficulty is earned throughout — I kept telling myself to just make it to mile 8, because once the hardest climbing was behind me, the final three miles were a pure downhill reward. I flew. After grinding through the first two thirds, those last miles felt like the course was giving something back. That balance of challenge and payoff is what separates a great course from a brutal one.

The expo was the most professionally executed I’ve experienced — Huntsville and Indy were both solid, but Flying Pig had actual brand presence from companies like Asics that elevated it to another level. Indy had better race-specific merchandise for purchase, but for overall professionalism this one wins. I came away with a race towel, shirt, and poster in addition to the standard swag. The medal is my favorite of any race I’ve done — two-sided and genuinely well-designed. The shirt wasn’t quite my style so I passed it along to my wife, but the rest of the swag package is excellent.

A few complaints worth noting. Like Indianapolis and Huntsville, race photos are not included in the entry fee despite a registration cost around $150 — you’ll pay extra for a photo package on top of that. I’ve come to expect this at larger races but it still stings. I also didn’t get my preferred shirt size because I registered just a week before the race — entirely my fault, but worth knowing if you’re a late registrant. The finish ran about 0.15 miles long, which I suspect is the same issue I noticed at Huntsville — when the half shares a course with the full marathon, the finish distance can be hard to dial in exactly.

The finish itself is a mixed experience. It’s tucked under a bridge with crowds cheering from above, which sounds dramatic — and it is — but I genuinely didn’t realize I was approaching the finish until I was almost there. Lots of turns in the final stretch and no clear visual until the race clock came into view. There was no branded backdrop or logo wall for a finish photo, which was a missed opportunity. On the other hand, I ran a surprise PR and got to ring the PR bell, which made up for all of it.

After the finish, the food trucks are set up along the river with the bridge as a backdrop — it’s a genuinely beautiful post-race hangout spot and one of the better settings I’ve seen for a finish area. Worth taking a few minutes to soak it in before you leave. There is also a stunning river overlook around mile 8 that I noted and immediately ignored because I was racing — something to keep in mind for a future run when you’re not chasing a PR. The post-race food was the one weak point: Kroger-brand snacks and pizza that wasn’t worth eating. After a race this well-run, the spread felt like an afterthought.

What makes the Flying Pig great is the combination of things that are hard to manufacture — a challenging and rewarding course, genuine crowd energy, professional execution, and a city that’s worth visiting. Cincinnati is clean, seems to have plenty to do, and left me wishing we’d had more time. I hope to come back someday and actually explore it properly.

If you’re building a 50-state list and haven’t done Ohio, make this your race. It’s the full package.

This was state number 5 of my 50-state half marathon journey and my fifth half of the year. Having now completed seven states, I’d rank Huntsville #3 overall — and I want to be specific about why, because the comparison to the Indianapolis Mini Marathon is worth explaining. As a race, Huntsville is better. Better finish, better city, better overall experience. I would do it again, and likely will if I find myself back in Huntsville — which is something I’d genuinely pursue because the city is that enjoyable. The Mini Marathon ranks just below it for me not because it’s a better race, but because running the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that’s hard to rank against anything. You do that once and move on. Huntsville is a race you’d return to.

Both races share the same structure: mostly forgettable courses redeemed by one extraordinary moment. Here it’s the U.S. Space and Rocket Center turnaround around miles 6–7. Running through the grounds and literally under one of the rockets is genuinely spectacular. I’d toured the center the day before, and experiencing it on foot mid-race was something else entirely. I have a photo of myself running past the rocket on my fridge. The rest of the course — rolling residential streets, a park that likely looks great at night but offers little in December daylight, and some less desirable stretches — is unremarkable. The elevation surprised me too. No single punishing hill, but relentless rolling terrain that accumulated to around 600 feet of climbing and descent. I didn’t realize how much we’d climbed until another runner mentioned it at the finish.

Now for what I have to address directly, because it’s a serious safety issue: on at least two occasions — near mile 5 and again near mile 10 — cars entered the closed course while runners were actively racing. I have run a number of half marathons across multiple states and have never experienced this. It was alarming both times and is simply not acceptable on a closed course. Race organizers need to treat this as a critical failure and ensure it doesn’t happen again. Someone could have been seriously hurt.

A few other complaints worth noting: the pacers were nearly impossible to identify. No signs, no clearly labeled shirts — one even sprinted past me near the end and I assumed they were just racing their own race. I also ran 13.23 miles despite running the tangents, and I wasn’t alone in noticing. My best guess is that the course is measured to the full marathon finish, which lands correctly at 26.2, leaving the half running slightly long as a result.

What this race gets absolutely right is the finish. I’m not sure it will ever be topped. The indoor finish at the Von Braun Center is everything — warm shelter on what was a cold and windy day, tables for everyone, a massage area, and an all-you-can-eat spread that included hot soup, grilled cheese, chicken tenders, pretzels, and the usual race staples. This wasn’t a grab-a-banana-and-go situation. Runners and spectators alike could sit down and eat a real meal. The swag matched: a quality medal, a finishing towel/blanket I genuinely love, and a tech shirt I’ll actually run in.

A few logistics worth knowing: roughly 4,000 combined marathon and half marathon runners, marathon starts at 7 AM and the half at 9 AM, and they merge around mile 15 for marathoners and mile 2 for half runners. The timing felt unusual on paper but worked smoothly. The expo was functional — not much free beyond race swag, but an outstanding shoe selection and vendors who weren’t aggressively pitching.

Huntsville itself is genuinely worth visiting. Clean, welcoming, with a real downtown and plenty to do. I caught a hockey game, toured the Rocket Center the day before the race, walked the Christmas Tree Trail downtown — one of the coolest things I’ve experienced — and attended a live nativity scene the night before the race. It’s a city that rewards a full weekend, not just a race-and-leave trip.

The course safety issues need to be resolved, and I hope race organizers take that seriously. But if you’re working through your 50 states and Alabama is on the list, this is the race to do it — and Huntsville is a city worth coming back to.

This course has less than 100 feet of elevation gain at about 1,000 feet above sea level. If the weather is cool—which it wasn’t this year—it could be ideal for a PR. It’s an out-and-back route through old neighborhoods with big trees and plenty of shade. One street was like a tunnel of trees, which was beautiful, though the scenery does get a little repetitive. You run through downtown twice since it’s a loop, passing right by the iconic Fargo Theatre.
According to my watch, the half was 0.07 miles longer than it should have been. My wife said the 10K was almost a quarter mile longer than expected. The final stretch is nearly half a mile of straight running directly to the finish line.

The expo wasn’t anything special—no exciting freebies, and I was aggressively hassled by someone trying to sell an overpriced massager. We did not enjoy the expo at all. The finish area was fine, but once we took our pictures, there was no reason to hang around.

The highlights were the flat course, the swag (really cool designs, though not the best quality), and Fargo itself. The light jacket I received has turned out to be my favorite winter running jacket. I ran in 25-degree weather recently wearing a base layer and this jacket, and I was plenty warm. The city was fun to explore for a full day. We showed up Friday and left shortly after the race on Saturday.

I’d only consider running this again if I didn’t have to travel more than two hours, but I’d probably only do it again if I were a local.

This is a great small-town run with a lot of participants. We were supposed to have 6,000 runners this year, but rain forced the race to be moved from Saturday to Sunday. I believe this cut both runner participation and crowd support by about half. However, the production was excellent—especially given the circumstances—and didn’t seem to miss a beat. I’m really impressed with how the production team moved the race to Sunday on such short notice. To be fair, this race might have ranked even higher if it had gone as planned, but even with plan B, it earned a high ranking in my book.

There are 3½ uphills on this course. The hill at miles 2-3 isn’t light, but it’s not bad. Miles 11-12 are the worst in my opinion, and I call this “the half hill.” You don’t realize you’re gaining elevation just by looking at it, but you gain the same amount of elevation in one mile as you do at the beginning of mile 12 (the flyover). This is the worst part mentally because you don’t understand why you feel like you’re going so slow, and then you go right into the flyover hill.

The flyover is the biggest hill on the course and is almost a quarter mile long. Three-quarters of the hill is up a suspended bridge, and the end of the bridge feels like a false summit. Then the toughest part starts after the bridge—two switchbacks that are the steepest section of the hill. After that, you get about half a mile of mostly flat terrain with some rolling sections until you reach the final hill.

The final hill is the toughest for many runners because they don’t know it’s there. It’s smaller than the flyover and has two tiers. It’s not terrible, but if the flyover took all your gas, you’ll hate the final hill. After that, it’s a quarter mile to the finish on flat terrain.

The expo is the best I’ve been to out of all my races so far. The shirts were fine, but you got two—one long sleeve and one short sleeve. Probably because it’s my hometown, but I reach for these shirts every time I run. The medal is the best I’ve gotten so far. It might only be because it was the 15th anniversary year, but it was very large—almost as large as Little Rock’s medal, if not the same size (which is Little Rock’s claim to fame).

My biggest complaint is that I didn’t see many—if any—porta-potties near the start/finish. This is probably because it’s in the town square and there isn’t much room. They might have been on a separate street, but I didn’t see them.
The finish was fine but might be the weakest of all the races I’ve done. My biggest complaint was that I desperately needed a bathroom right after finishing, but they funneled all runners through a very long corral. I joked that I felt like I was at Disney World. It took at least 10 minutes—maybe longer—to get through the corral just to reach a bathroom.

I plan to run this again this year and will be interested to see if it’s even better when they don’t have to move the race day.
This is a great half, granted its only my second half but thinks it worth doing. I don’t love the first half of it because it basically loops on it self and you are basically back to the beginning by mile 6, though you may not know that if you aren’t a local or you aren’t familiar with the course. The first 6 miles has the worst scenery but the last 7 has really good scenery, especially the last 3 miles. Mile 9 to 10, you go down a huge hill, then the real race begins from mile 10 (dog part) to the finish. I will do it again if wife wants to and I still live here. So far this is the best half I have done.

I ran this race in 2024 with 10 other F3 men. I had just started getting back into running, and this was so much fun. I took a lighter load, but it was still very tough—some of those legs were insane. This was before the 2024 hurricane, so I don’t know how the 2025 race compared. I know many areas we ran through, especially Asheville, got hit pretty hard. I’m curious how different the course would have been in 2025.

I loved this race. This is my favorite part of the country, though I’m biased since I grew up around these mountains. I just loved being able to run through them. Relay races hit different than any other type of race—you aren’t running for yourself but for your team.

The race was managed well in terms of keeping runners on course and handling the logistics of so many teams with their support vans. However, there was miscommunication on one leg where our runner was left stranded. This was the race logistics’ fault, not ours. We lost about 10-15 minutes because they didn’t communicate well with us, and this happened to many teams.

This is also a limited support race. There were a spot or two with free food like bananas, but then there were spots where local people were selling food—it was confusing.

The merch was okay. The shirt was a long-sleeve tee that my wife wears now, so maybe I should rank it higher. Instead of a medal, they gave a magnet. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Part of me doesn’t like it, but I also have a box full of medals that I never look at, so I’m on the fence.
Overall, this was my favorite relay (1 out of 2) and I would do it again if there weren’t other relays to try.

This was a while ago, but I remember the expo being average and the support at the finish being great. The race flew by—it was over before I knew it. This was also my best PR time for an official half marathon. I don’t remember the terrain being very difficult. The scenery took you through the city and past the governor’s mansion.

The medal is the biggest I think I’ve received, but I didn’t like that year’s theme, which was candy-themed. Despite its size, I wasn’t a fan of the medal. I remember wearing the ugly tech shirt during the race, and it caused chafing—it’s evident in my finish line photo where I’m wearing a white shirt.

Overall, it’s mid to me. It’s a fine race to do, but I’d choose another Arkansas race over it, like Bentonville.