Part I - The Warm Up Bridges
In the past four editions of the race these bridges were the “kick
you in the quads and hammies” bridges because they came at the last four
miles of the race. Now they will serve as a simple warm up for the hills
to come. This section is far from flat, and the bridges are not the only
hills, but it should be a good opportunity to settle into a solid pace and
rhythm.
The race starts between the Ohio River and the new Paul Brown Stadium.
This section has many of the coolest things to see, enjoy them as you work
to find your pace. Soon after the gun goes off you will run under the
Roebling Suspension Bridge. The bridge was completed in 1867 and designed
by John A. Roebling, who is most famous for designing the Brooklyn Bridge
16 years later. The next building on the left after the football stadium
is the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. This new building will be
nearing completion at the time of the marathon and we are all looking
forward to seeing the finished product. You will also quickly pass the new
home of the Reds, Great American Ballpark, before turning away from the
river toward downtown.
The very first intersection on the course is a left turn on Pete Rose Way.
This is the first of three course visits to this street. You will be back
after coming off the bridge from Kentucky and again in mile 26, so it
would not hurt here to pay your respects to “Charlie Hustle” and
contemplate the wisdom of naming streets after people while they are still
alive.
After running back along the river side of downtown comes the first bridge
climb over the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge. This is a long bridge that seems
to go on longer than expected. Remember that the Ohio is a really big
river and the highest portion of the bridge is in the middle. Into
Kentucky a quick left on 4th Street (one way the wrong way, by
the way, if you are trying to drive the course) takes you past the IRS
Processing Center and through Covington to the Licking River. The Newport
side of the Licking River Bridge is a nice downhill to tune your downhill
running muscles. Just before you turn back toward the Ohio you will see
the giant, free swinging, Millennium Bell. In Newport you run past one of
our newest entertainment areas, Newport on the Levee and the Newport
Aquarium.
The second major bridge climb is the Taylor Southgate Bridge back into
Ohio. Over the bridge you will turn to the right on Pete Rose Way for a
few blocks heading East. Pay close attention on your right as you run this
section. After you pass a pedestrian bridge (the Purple People Bridge) on
the right you will see a parking lot for Sawyer Point and if you look
across the parking lot you will see them. Proudly standing atop four
steamboat smokestacks, the FLYING PIGS. You are feeling good and it is fun
to be around the 5th mile in such a playful marathon. Enjoy the
moment because you are about to start……..
Part II - The Climb
Strategy. This is the part of the course that takes some thinking.
You will need to decide how hard you want to run these hills. This section
has an approximately 2.5 mile climb to start and then several smaller
inclines and descents. Conventional wisdom would probably say to try to
keep consistent effort, not consistent pace, in this section to avoid
building lactic acid in your muscles. To do that you will probably run
these miles a bit slower than the rest of the race.
The section starts with a left turn on Eggleston immediately in front of
the Flying Pig statues. (You will be coming back past them again very near
the finish). Eggleston is a very gradual uphill grade that serves as the
base of the 2.5 mile stair stepping climb to the top of Eden Park. The
course follows the eastern side of the downtown as it slowly climbs and
then makes a right turn over I- 71.
The real hill, what I consider the “signature hole” of the Flying Pig
marathon, starts when you turn right off of
Gilbert onto Eden Park Drive.
The incline is much steeper in this part and the course stair steps up to
the top of the hill. This is also one of the most scenic parts of the race
with a very nice view of a gazebo overlooking Mirror Lake in the park. It
also turns around the woods a lot on the way up so that you cannot see the
top of the hill until you turn the corner by the Krohn Conservatory
building. A stone bridge spans across the road at the top, so when you see
the bridge, that is the top of this hill.
Just after cresting the top of Eden Park, runners are rewarded with a
short, flat loop around a scenic overlook that looks across the Ohio River
into Kentucky. In past years this has also been a spot for some of the
best entertainment on the course. Enjoy! But, the hills are not yet over,
for the next few miles the course has both inclines and descents, none of
them near the grade of Eden Park.
The next highlight of the course is an easy one to miss. About half a mile
down the
road after turning right on Madison , watch the left side of the
road for a group of nursing home residents in front of St. Margaret Hall.
They have been out cheering and ringing bells for the runners in every
edition of the Flying Pig. Maybe our version of Wellesley College?
Unfortunately, they are on the other side of the road from the runners, so
if you want to say hello to them you will need to be very careful of
possible traffic from the other direction.
Following Madison into the shopping district of O’Bryonville, look to the
right side of the road for Bob Roncker’s Running Spot. Bob is the sponsor
of the Flying Pig Expo and you will probably get to see him in front of
the store in his big red Running Spot outfit with a microphone calling out
encouragement to the runners.
The course continues to undulate
for the next mile or so through O’Bryonville to Hyde Park. On the left
side of the road in Hyde Park you will see the campus of Withrow High
School. It looks like a small college campus with a big clock tower. Many
of Cincinnati’s “movers and shakers” attended Withrow. This section of the
course ends across the street from the high school when you turn right on
Erie and enter……
Part III - The Neighborhoods
The right turn off of Madison onto Erie begins “The Neighborhoods”
section of the course. This section has plenty of up and down grades, but
no major climbs. Some of the best supported areas on the course come in
this section and possibly the very best comes within the first mile, Hyde
Park Square.
The tree lined streets of Hyde Park are used by more runners than just
about any other streets in town. Enjoy some of the nicest older homes in
all of Cincinnati as you run through this area. In past years the support
of the running fans in Hyde Park Square was enough to maintain runners for
miles to follow, I would expect the same this year. If you look closely on
the left as you enter the square you can see a Graeter’s Ice Cream shop.
For the folks from out of town, Graeter’s would be a nice spot to hit
after the marathon for a celebration scoop of some of the finest ice cream
in the country.
Coming out of Hyde Park Square, Erie Ave has a moderate incline until you
reach the left turn on Paxton. Paxton starts with a very short steep grade
that is followed by a nice, rather long downhill. The course winds back
around for a brief visit to the Oakley neighborhood, and two right turns
bring you back to Erie Ave. After turning left onto Erie the course
follows an approximately one mile descent that starts very gently and
becomes steeper as you pass Hyde Park Country Club.
Leaving Hyde Park, the course climbs again for about half a mile as it
crosses Red
Bank Road and makes a right turn into Madisonville. This is
the first time that the course has run through this part of town. You will
notice that soon after you pass the small shopping area that you will go
by Simpson Street. The next street after that is Homer Street.
Coincidence? Turning right onto Settle, you soon enter Mariemont. This
part has some small rolling hills at the beginning, but flattens out
completely in this neighborhood.
If you are driving the course, the part in Mariemont can be pretty
confusing, particularly if you are from out of town. When the course turns
left onto Murray it is a divided boulevard, but actually traffic may go
both ways on both sides of the boulevard. The runners turning left will be
on the left side of the boulevard and will be able to see the runners
ahead of them returning from downtown Mariemont on the right side.
The section in Mariemont probably has the most turns on the course. Just
follow the instructions of the course monitors and be happy with the
variety of things to see. What seems to be turns on every block will soon
be long stretches without a single turn. Also be happy that the race
director resisted the temptation to send the course further east to Indian
Hill. As you might imagine, that direction has some “serious hills” and is
a favorite hill training spot for runners in the area.
The right turn past the Mariemont
Graeter’s Ice Cream into the town square is the east most point on the
course and, in general, for the rest of the way, you will be heading for
home. After leaving the square the course returns to Murray and allows
you to see some of the runners who are behind you. A few more turns and
you are back on a major road, Wooster Pike, which soon turns into Columbia
Parkway, heading southwest for downtown Cincinnati. A short way down
Wooster Pike, behind a chain link fence, you will see on your right
Frisch’s Mainliner Restaurant with the Big Boy statue out front. The Big
Boy statue is the last landmark in the neighborhood section of the course
and he welcomes you to….
Part IV - The Home Stretch
It may be a little early in the race to call this the “home
stretch”, because it is still around 8 or 9 miles from the finish, but
much of the rest of the course is fairly similar. This was picked as the
finish of the race because it is probably the flattest long stretch of
road in Cincinnati. There are some inclines in this section, but nothing
nearly like the first three sections. So….race strategy, other than basic
finishing pace, is pretty much over at this point. If you have planned and
paced correctly to this point, you should be able to finish strong along
this long, comparatively flat part of the course. If not, well…
Unfortunately the flatter land runs beside the Ohio River, so it is not as
easily accessible to spectators as the rest of the course. I am sure that
the race director will try everything possible to make this section
interesting, but in the past editions of the race the miles on Eastern
Avenue were known as the “boring miles in the middle”. Now they are at the
end.
The section starts with over a mile and a half of generally downhill grade
as it passes the Cincinnati City limits signs on Columbia Parkway. The
grade will give everybody a chance to use their downhill running skills.
The course exits the Parkway at the next exit onto Eastern Avenue. Most of
the rest of the course will be on Eastern Avenue as it generally follows
the Ohio River making its way downstream to Cincinnati. There is a three
quarters of a mile uphill grade that begins at the Bella Luna Restaurant
approximately one mile or so into Eastern Ave. This is the last
significant lengthy uphill for the rest of the course. It would be a good
place to hook up with a fellow runner, if you have not yet, to help with
pacing and keep your concentration for the end.
The initial part of Eastern Ave runs through the second oldest settlement
in the State of Ohio, Columbia, which was first settled in 1788. Some of
the buildings are a bit “worn” in this area, but respect them, they are
really old. You will pass through a business district that includes
schools and churches. Toward the end of the business district you will
notice the historic Columbia Baptist Church. Just a few more buildings
down on the right, the second house past Tusculum Ave., you will run past
a beautiful, light yellow house, 3644 Eastern Ave. This is the Morris
House, built in 1804, and claimed to be the oldest inhabited home in
Cincinnati.
The course makes a zig left onto Stanley and then zag right onto Kellogg
which, after a short distance, becomes Eastern Ave again. The largest
landmark to look for in this section is the large red clock tower of St.
Rose Church (1868). This part of town once boasted a world class
shipbuilding industry. But as river transport was replaced by rail and
then roads, the industry declined. Also this area is flat, something that
you will appreciate very much at this point, so it is also very
susceptible to flooding. (On the back, or riverside, wall of St. Rose
Church there is a chart of floodwater heights from many different years.
You might come check it out after the race.)
After passing the church, keep an eye on the left side of the road for the
Verdin Manufacturing Building where they have been making bells since
1842. Soon the course makes a dip under a railroad bridge and then a brief
climb. At the top of the climb you will be in the range of two miles to go
and facing a gentle downhill grade for the next half mile or so. On your
right you can see the trendy Mt. Adams section of town. You were near the
top of that part of town when you made it to the summit of Eden Park
Drive.
As you near the end of Eastern Avenue you will be able to see a big yellow
arched bridge (the “Big Mac Bridge”) span across the Ohio River. That
bridge is not the end of the race, but will be the point where much larger
groups of fans will have better access to the course. On the left side of
the road is the Montgomery Inn Boathouse, world famous for ribs, another
spot to check out after the race. After passing the Montgomery Inn, the
course makes a turn to the right to a short, but relatively steep, uphill
that in previous editions of the Pig was a small blip. At the end of this
race it may come up to bite some folks who are not expecting it. Under the
Big Mac Bridge, with about a mile to go, look to the left and you will be
welcomed back to Cincinnati by the Flying Pig statues.
Eastern Ave turns into Pete Rose Way just before it passes the Flying
Pigs. Did you pay proper respect to the “Hit King” on your first two
visits this way? This time you run the entire length of the east side of
Pete Rose Way, several blocks, until the course does a 180 degree turn
around US Bank Arena. As you round the arena notice the big red
paddlewheel with smokestacks that commemorates the rich steamboat history
of Cincinnati. On the river side of the arena the course quickly turns
into the finish chute. The chute in the Pig is narrow, which allows fans
to be very close to encourage runners for the last few hundred yards of
the race. At the Finish Swine you will be greeted with one of the very
best medals in all of marathoning and an open grassy park.
Congratulations! Enjoy your early memories of one of the nations top
marathons.
Happy trails,
Brian
