Shannon Hyde's Staging Area

First, for reference, this was my 16th Half, in the 5th state, so I have a lot of experiences for comparison. The excitement created about the entire Flying Pig weekend is unbeatable. They offer so many opportunities for people of any skill to participate, all through the weekend, so you could bring the whole family. The pre-race communication was excellent. I was never left with questions, they covered everything! Packet pickup went smoothly, and the Expo was packed with vendors and lots of free stuff. The swag for half/full runners was top-notch (I don’t know what the other distances got since I only did the Half, so can’t speak to that). There were also a ton of related events around town with sponsors for runners to take advantage of, which was cool! It’s nice to see the entire city take part! Race morning was super easy in my opinion! We found close parking (in a garage 2 streets up from the start, and we paid $10). There may have been closer, free parking, but we didn’t look for it. There were plentiful restrooms/portapots every where, including all along the corrals at start, which was genius!!! Everything was clearly marked where runners needed to be, and the race started right on time. I am a back of the pack runner, so I am used to water stations being empty by the time I get there with most races, but not the Pig!! Every station, whether water, snacks, or Gatorade, was still up and going, and there was enough for even the very last runner. That alone made the race for me! I’m not going to lie, the HILL was torture! Even better in shape runners that myself claim it was brutal. But it can be done, and 1000’s beat that hill that day, so don’t not do the race if you hear scary things about it, you can do it! The support along the course was fantastic! Cincinnati has some great people, and they were so encouraging! The excitement at the finish line was still going strong when I crossed, and that gave me that extra bump to finish strong! I had the best race experience, no complaints at all. There is nothing I would suggest a change to, it’s a fantastic race!!