Organizers of the Flying Pig Marathon say they expect 38,000 participants across all the races this weekend. There's a one-mile race Friday night, followed by a 5k and a 10k on Saturday, and the half and full marathon on Sunday, with many other events sprinkled through the weekend. Board member Doug Olberding says about half of the entrants are from outside of the area.
“This year we were named the No. 1 marathon in the country. So, I don’t know how much of an impact that’s going to have this year, because it was just announced three weeks ago,” he says. “But we’re going to run with that, and hopefully, we’ll get that up even more.”
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Five thousand people are expected to do the full marathon. Olberding says that's back to about pre-pandemic level.
He says you might not think a marathon is a spectator sport, but it is. “There’s a lot of really good places to watch it. O’Bryonville is obviously really good. Hyde Park Square is really nice. Fulton Yards out on the East End… that’s a great place to watch. Mariemont is beautiful because you get to see the turn right there.”
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The full 26.2 mile race goes through several Cincinnati neighborhoods, as well as Newport, Covington, Mariemont, Fairfax, and Columbia Township.