This was one of the first marathons I ran 2 years ago. I loved it then, and I loved it again this year. Organization is top-notch and the fans are superbespecially downtown early in the race, the crowds lined the streets in the rain. Cincy has some of the best swag of any race.

I don't mind repeating marathons that I like. I will be back!

I love most things about my hometown race: the medal (an artistic gem), the back-pack giveaway, the fans and bands (thousands who brave rain and lightning), the volunteers (both at the expo and on the course), and the just-plain-frivolity of this race.

BUT & and this is a big but & this marathon could be drastically improved if the race director and her committee would stop being so pig-headed and visit other marathons that dont have the following flaws that plague the Pig each year:

1. For Gods sake, please start the half-marathoners 10-20 minutes after the marathon begins. This would alleviate the terribly crowded start that lasts for 3-4 miles. Yes, the half-marathon elites would have to battle some of the slower marathoners, but you might consider splitting them off at mile three. This race was much less crowded in the years before the half-marathon was added.
2. The Asics t-shirt has a wonderful fabric but the only time I wear mine is to bed on warm nights  to avoid sweating. Your sponsors probably dont like that, but the design and color, as seems to be the Pigs tradition, are awful. I suggest that you allow the designer of the medal (who shows tremendous creativity) to design the t-shirt. And choose a bright color. Gray and white are boring!! This marathon is hardly boring, though youd never know it from looking at the t-shirt.
3. There is no point to having GU provided at mile 23. It takes about 30-40 minutes to be absorbed for energy use. Most good marathons provide GU at miles 8, 12, 15, and 20. After mile 21, fueling is useless. Skip the poster and add another GU station. And post the GU stations about 200 yards in front of the water stops.
4. Provide a map of the finish area in the race booklet (which is well done except for this omission). Identify both where the medical tent will be and where the exit for runners will be - on this map.
5. PLEASE, PLEASE establish an exit next to where the chips are removed so that runners can exit if they want to walk to their cars or to see their families. As it is now, all runners must endure a long walk to exit. You have 3,000 volunteers; so place one or two next to this early exit for security.
6. Consider adding peanut butter and jelly to the tables where the bagels are. Most of the bagels seem to sit, unused and lonely, on those tables and the volunteers stand there with nothing to do. Let the volunteers spread peanut butter and jelly on the bagels and everyone would be happy. And you wouldnt have so many bagels being thrown away.

Not surprisingly my three PR streak ended in the hills of Cincinnati.

The Expo was really quite large for the size of the event (~5,000 for the full & ~12,000 for the half) but they also had a 10k/5k and some kid events on Saturday. It was family friendly; nice swag too; backpack, poster, engraved medal and race shirt.

The race begins at 6:30a on Sunday near the football stadium which was open pre-race for rest rooms but it was also good because of the rain. The route was hilly, especially from mile 6 to 8 or so, very pretty views of the river and downtown (the course crosses into Kentucky at the beginning). There was more downhill than up in the second half but even that was draining (and hard to train for if you live someplace flat). Good crowd support but it was intermittent.

I thought it was a good value for the price; the volunteers and event staff were knowledgeable and friendly.

The race finishes near the coliseum and the immediate post race is under cover. The after race is in a nearby riverfront park. It was huge and managed to be at the same time both family friendly (numerous kid activities in the middle) but also fun for the runners (beer, bands and food around the perimeter).

If was fun once but I'm not sure I'll try that course again.

Awesome best sums up my experience with the Flying Pig marathon. I signed up for the race after reading Runner's World Dec 2010 issue that listed the top 10 marathons and they nailed this one on the head. Every marathoner needs to run this. It's a fun race and challenging too.

What a fantastic experience! Loved everything about the race and the city! Friendly people, great views, fun swag... didn't even mind the rain (or the hills)! :) Thanks, Cincinnati!!!

I was so impressed with this race: the wonderful cheering spectators along every bit of the way, the frequent water and GU and Gatorade stations... EVERY thing was really grand. Thanks so very much.

The Pig is one of the best-organized marathons that you will ever do. The Pig was a great race that continues to get better every year! With over 20,000 runners in the half, full and relays, it still has that small-race feel. This race has 29 water stops with plenty of encouraging volunteers. This year they added "pig pens" at the start, which helped with the congestion in the first few miles. The "finish swine" has plenty of space, food and fun.

Even though it rained for the second year in a row, the spectators, volunteers and entertainment were great. You receive a nice tech shirt, a backpack and a great medal for an early registration rate of $70. The course can be challenging but it is worth the effort to the top of Eden Park to hear the barbershop group. That group has been on the course for all 13 years. We love this race and will keep running it as long as we can.

It was raining, so the weather wasn't perfect; but the temperature was nice considering that it was a wet one. The start of the race was a joke, the corral system wasn't followed, and it was total chaos at the start line. The course was wide enough, so this wasn't too big of a flaw. There were a lot of half marathons running the race, so there were plenty of folks around for the frist 9 miles or so. The water stops were great and my only recommendation would be to have individuals handing water out on both sides of the course, especially at the beginning of the race due to the congestion. The last 5 to 6 miles were sort of lonely as you ran along the highway coming back into downtown. The finish line was sort of plain and they had a good selection of food and drinks. It was a well run marathon and another state off of the list. I would recommend this race for those who dare to run 26.2 miles.

Loved this race. The spectators are the best I have seen and they are constantly cheering for you. Even when the weather was not cooperating they came out and made us feel welcome. Race goodies were great - nice, ASICS, technical shirt; backpack; and poster. The medal is great and of high quality.

Not surprisingly my three PR streak ended in the hills of Cincinnati&.

The Expo was really quite large for the size of the event (~5,000 for the full & ~12,000 for the half) but they also had a 10k/5k and some kid events on Saturday. It was family friendly; nice swag too; backpack, poster, engraved medal and race shirt.

The race begins at 6:30a on Sunday near the football stadium which was open pre-race for rest rooms but it was also good because of the rain. The route was hilly, especially from mile 6 to 8 or so, very pretty views of the river and downtown (the course crosses into Kentucky at the beginning). There was more downhill than up in the second half but even that was draining (and hard to train for if you live someplace flat). Good crowd support but it was intermittent.

I thought it was a good value for the price; the volunteers and event staff were knowledgeable and friendly.

The race finishes near the coliseum and the immediate post race is under cover. The after race is in a nearby riverfront park. It was huge and managed to be at the same time both family friendly (numerous kid activities in the middle) but also fun for the runners (beer, bands and food around the perimeter).

If was fun once but I'm not sure I'd want to try that course again.