THANK YOU, VOLUNTEERS! I've run races sponsored by Elite and other big name sponsors but I've never seen a city support a race like Cincinnati supports The Pig!! The expo and the swag were top notch. The shirts are good, the ASICS selections were fantastic. The much-neeed water stations every mile were a blessing, made better only by the amazing volunteers manning them. The neighborhoods, EVERY neighborhood, had people cheering; children high-fiving, neighbors handing out drinks and snacks. Course support was top-notch. Hilly? Yes. FYI, read the course tour a day or so before the race. It will highlight many points of interest and break the course down for you so that you know when to go and when to hold back a little. Toe up knowing to pace yourself the first 9, know that a few more hills are to come and you will have a nice, long run. Thank you, Cincinnati - I can mark Ohio off of my 'to do' map.

The Flying Pig totally follows their Pig theme - from the Finish Swine, to the Streakers, to the Hog Washes - it is all about the Pig! Every year this marathon makes improvements and adjustments to make it a better race.

This year they added more corrals and improved the start area to make it less congested at the start. The finish area also has a huge area to recover, get to the food, water and blankets before you have to exit into the crowd of spectators.

Speaking of spectators, this year's Pig had more neighborhood parties, community groups and fans (could I get alittle more cowbell?) then previous years. Add in the 26 aid stations all manned by nonprofit groups, many with themes (loved the Blue Brothers) and the course entertainment and you can't get bored. The miles fly by!

The weather was warm this year, and the race management had added extra water, hoses, ice, wet towels and medical staff. The community came through with even more water, hoses, oranges, candy, etc.

The Pig has some of the best swag (shirt, medal, backpack & poster), plus a good sized expo with plenty of freebies. The website and the Squeal keep you informed before and after the race.

Overall a great race!

This was my 4th Pig and I hope to never miss one. Train for hills and you'll be happy. The expo is organized and fun, the starting line is a bit congested (too many fences and too few potties) but the crowd support makes up for everything. The course is mostly scenic (yes, Columbia parkway sucks, but only for a mile or so), and the finish festivities are as good as any other race. No rain this year!

This was our first Flying Pig Marathon... In spite of the heat enjoyed the experience enough that we plan on returning in 2013.

There are hills but for some reason they did not make a great impression on us

There several things that combined to make this a great event;

A race director focused on doing everything possible to ensure the marathon is a good experience for the runners.

An abundance of enthusiastic volunteers, and competant medical staff.

The City of Cincinnati that allows major roads to be closed to traffic for the duration of the race.

The hordes of spectators who really cheer and offer encouragement...Plus there were many who baked cookies and handed out home made treats... In the later stages of the race spectators were also out passing out ice and manning impromptu spraying stations.

The expo was great as was the swag...

The amount and variety of food and drink at the finish was as good as I have ever seen and that includes 6 Disney races (2 marathons and 4 halfs)

Plus the course is an interesting one.

Great experience on a hilly course. Run concurrent with a half (which separates around mile 8) and a relay, the marathon field feels bigger than it is. Beautiful river valley panoramas in the first half of the course. Pig theme is kitschy, but fun and the medal and swag are among the best. Cincy was accommodating and easy to negotiate.

This race definitely lives up to all the hype!! The cost was very reasonable considering all the swag and the cool medal. The course was hilly, but out of all the marathons I've ran this course had the most spectators and the most enthusiastic water stations, which was highly encouraging. The race was a little crowded at the beginning, but again I have ran much smaller marathons that were much more congested, a race of this size is bound to have some congestion.

I was actually quite impressed with the corral system. This is the only race I've ran where they actually checked your corral number before allowing you to enter. This made getting in the corrals a little time consuming, but prevented a lot of congestion during the first few miles. For me this is a 'must run' race. I have already recommended this to several runners and have put this on my list of 'favorite' races. The spectators along the course were awesome!! Thanks Cincinnati for hosting such a wonderful marathon.

This race was a greatly organized and well put together. The volunteers did a great job everyone should run this one.

Pros:Course is very visually interesting-bridges, old neighborhoods, University, bike paths, both the baseball and football stadiums. Great aid stations and support.Finish area has plenty of space, with mist cooling fans.
Cons: Starting area is bad- too many people in a very tight overly congested area.
Too many corrals coming from several angles, no time enforcement-in corral B (sub 3:30 marathon time) had several half marathon walkers; this is compounded by the narrow first few turns onto a bridge-huge funnel effect for first 1-1.5 miles. Felt that it was more of choke point than even NY. Finish area food provided by Wal Mart-so Food, Inc was the rule-WalMart 'bars', Doritos, chips, precut frozen bagels, room temp prepackaged Dole fruit cups, doughnuts ..only things reasonably healthy were banana and and orange slices-no chocolate milk or other proteins were offered.
With a few tweaks, this could be really good.

This race is very well organized.
Pros: Water every mile from 1.5 on, fun volunteers, many medical tents and bicycle crew to ensure safety, fun expo, nice course through the city, great pasta dinner and party, great crows support for most of the race.

Cons: VERY hill and tough first half. I am from Pittsburgh, so I run hills often, but I found the first half to have some pretty intense hills. Also, there was literally NO shade for at least the second half and it was very sunny. It was 85 by the time I finished... but this isn't really something the event could help.

I would definitely recommend this race! I had a great time!

What a race...Kudos to the race organizers on just about EVERYTHING!!! even the Star-Spangeled Banner was top-knotch!!! Cincinnati is clearly proud of this event and I felt like the entire city was out and cheering...Every inch of the way was covered with specatators. Because the temperature was threatening to go up into the 80's..more water stations and 'hog washes' were added...The maps for my husband were awesome and he easily caught me at various locations...Nothing was left out....An awesome race!!!!