Down near the bottom of Ohio, in Cincinnati they have a spring marathon every year. “The Flying Pig Marathon” also billed as “The funnest marathon in North America!” race in Cincinnati Ohio. This year I ran the Flying Pig half marathon for the first time.
Some scenes from the race.
With almost 9,000 people it is crowded at the start, they were lined up far behind me…..
…. and I was not close to the starting line! Far off in the distance ahead of me was the starting line.
“At the end of the race everyone got their finishers medal, which you can see in the photo album”, and then an insulating blanket to keep the chill off while you were cooling down. I disposed of mine to early! A 3/4 mile walk back to the car from the finish line while I was still sweaty did get a little cool, but not all that bad either.
I am not sure why everyone else lined up to get their sneakers shined after the race, but I started to bypass this activity, then noticed they were also cutting off the timing chip. I decided I would go ahead and let them do it so I would not have to chew it off with my teeth later.
Some stats for the race:
a) 13.35 Miles, not just 13.1 (see text)
b) finished 3002 out of 8577 overall
c) finished 58 out of 162 in my age group.
d) finished 1674 out of 3120 men.
e) had a 9:56 pace, 2:09:57 total.
f) had a split time (6.8 mile mark) of 1:08:50 so did a “negative split”.
g) You can see the full details on the running stats web page.
h) had a great time – which is always the goal right?… is spite of the legs of lead at the end
During a race I periodically check the distance and pace on my Garmin FR 305. Several miles into the race I noticed an “error” show up between the signs on the race course and the distance shown on the watch. Every mile was marked with a digital timer beside the road, and ever mile on the half mile were the water tables. Suddenly the watch started showing the mile half way between the water stop and the digital timer. I couldn’t figure out what happened, but assumed the watch someone added some distance. After I noticed the change it stayed very consistent through the remaining miles. When I returned home and was looking for the results I found the following announcement!
Mystery solved, the accuracy of the Garmin remains unquestioned.
The course starts at the stadium in Cincinnati, crosses a bridge into Kentucky, then back into Ohio before winding around the local streets.. The “hills” are bridges and overpasses, except the one street which seems to grind on and on for a mile or more before there is a long down hill relief.
Until the final “Never ending Grade” is conquered,
George
