This was my 5th marathon. I admit after driving the course Saturday afternoon, I was a bit apprehensive about the race. I just decided I had trained harder for this one and it couldn't be worse than the Pgh. marathon 2 years ago. The weather was perfect! A cool start and some challenging hills made it a favorite for me. I beat my PR and got to celebrate with my best friends at the end. Cinci volunteers were great-Pig medal was pretty cool too! The bridges at the end of the course were a surprise though. All in all, I had a great time!

This is my second marathon and I found it to be a great experience. Overall, I think there was strong crowd support and, yes, the medal is cool. The often mentioned hills are of no consequence. I thought the 2 and 4-person relay events were a nice touch although at times I thought the relay participants outnumbered the marathoners.

That said, there is room for improvement and some of the previously mentioned negative comments are correct such as there being long stretches with no spectators and the last 5-6 miles going through a less than scenic part of town. While I appreciated the handing out of gels (2 stations), they weren't frequent enough to help me so I carried my own. It's been a number of days since the race and there are still no chip times available. On top of that, the split times that are posted are very incorrect. I enjoyed the expo, but the t-shirt was of lesser quality than I expected (very thin) and I could have done without the odd fanny pack they gave us ... although I did see some wearing it during the race.

This is a hometown race for me and one which, negative comments aside, I'm very proud of.

This is a pretty hard course with several hilly sections. It's very well organized and has lots of fan support. I'd do it again. Great Expo on Saturday.

Flying Pig was my 7th marathon and I enjoyed my experience very much. The comments I have are friendly suggestions. If you are from a northern climate, the hazy humidity and unprotected course in the sun will throw you for a loop. It is pretty hilly at the beginning so it isn't as easy as it looks. The course from miles 16-20 were in a very quiet area with no course marshals or spectators. Someone had moved the course cones and many folks toward the end didn't see that the course veered to the left and they inadvertently took a shortcut, kind of sad for us who did go left to see people streaming down the hill. Also, somewhat surprised by the lack of marshals in the later parts of the race. If someone had gotten sick or injured, it would have been difficult to alert someone. I know it is difficult, but hard to run on the same road as the tons of traffic. Other than that, it was a good time: Wonderful folks in Cincy and the marathon team is top notch. Fabulous folks at Expo and pasta feed and I loved the pig cookies. Water stops were great with water and gatorade at each one. Keep up the great work!

This was my 4th and favorite marathon. The course was beautiful and the early hills, though tough, were manageable and out of the way by mile 8. However, I was most impressed by the organization. Water stops every mile made a tremendous difference for me, and I'm certain kept me from cramping late in the race. My only minor complaint is that I wish chip times were already posted alongwith the gun times, but that certainly doesn't take from the overall quality of the event. I highly recommend this one. Hats off to the city of Cincinnati and the Flying Pig organization.

I ran this marathon in 2002 (my 3rd) What a great day to run, a little foggy but kept the temp down. Great organization and logistics. The course starts out little hilly but after mile 7 it is mostly down hill, as a result my legs were pretty shot by mile 20. All in all a fairly fast course. The best part of the course is the first 17 miles and then through some industrial areas, but still great fans. Wonderful music long the course. The whole race seemed to fly by, I was very entertained. The ending was a little crowded and there was no changing tents but otherwise and excellent experience.

This is one of those Marathons that you simply expect to be great. It consistently gets good reviews from the press and from the participants. This year was the second year I've run this Marathon and I would say it has just gotten better. Fan and volunteer support was better this year (not that last year was bad).

The only bad parts are the long stretches of roadway without shade in the mid and later stages of the race.

It would also be nice to have a little more room at the start. It was a little crowded this year with the runners and family and fans.

This was my first marathon and I'll definitely run it again. The course was challenging without being overwhelming. The waterstations were absolutely fabulous, but the people made it wonderful. Crowds, music, costumes, everwhere. I don't think I ran more than a half mile without running into some fans cheering the runners on. It felt like they were cheering for me. Maybe they were. All in all an excellent race.

Marathon #8 for me, and a new overall favorite. Perfect weather - cool (not cold) and misty at the start, which burned away to sunny and still cool (low 60's, I think.) The course was terrific - the hills were early enough not to matter much, the scenery stayed interesting, and the gentle downhills kept the pace moving. Enthusiastic spectators almost the entire way along the route, and more/better music than at Rock 'n' Roll!! Well-serviced water stops almost every mile, M&M's at just the right time near the end. Only problem - only 2 gel stops (10 & 17); I carried some, so didn't notice. Great expo, too, and gorgeous medal (plus a classy t-shirt, beautiful high-quality race poster, and runner's water belt!) I recommend this baby for first-timers as well as veterans - it's brilliantly planned and executed, and the whole town seemed to be out there volunteering and/or cheering.

Was not real impressed with this Marathon. The lack of bathrooms was a major downfall. I saw more runners taking care of business along the course than my past three marathons--all in different cities. The lack of spectator participation was another major shortfall. I appreciate the ones that volunteered, but the course was empty.