For a part of Sunday morning, I joined with a group of friends at a spot near the Finish Swine at the Flying Pig Marathon downtown, to watch and cheer on runners coming through the chute, at the end of their 26.2 mile run. It was around 11 a.m., so these were not the elite runners looking to qualify for Boston, but those already on the streets for four-plus hours, seeking to achieve a personal goal of simply crossing over and being able to call themselves marathoners.
I saw triumph mixed with exhilaration and exhaustion.
I saw wobbly legs momentarily steady themselves for the final sprint to the finish, the fatigue of the previous miles suddenly gone, replaced with the sheer joy of doing something that few others can or will accomplish.
Runners crossing over the Taylor-Southgate Bridge as the sun rises over Newport on Sunday morning. (Photo by Jamie Grubish)
I saw people so focused on finishing that they missed the cheers and shouts from family and friends. I saw others running past the crowds and grabbing their sons and daughters to run with them across the finish line. I saw one man carry his daughter the final .2 miles.
I saw anxiety and trepidation and fear draining away from their faces, replaced by relief and accomplishment and pride.
“My first half marathon is in the books,” said Amber King of Union. “In September 2014 I couldn’t even run a 5K without walking… and I didn’t stop the entire 13.1 miles besides a few water stops… The support of the community for this race was spectacular, and definitely a day I will never forget. You can do anything you put your mind to.”
This past weekend, downtown Cincinnati was so crowded with runners of all shapes and sizes and descriptions that they bled across the Ohio River into Newport and Covington.
On Friday night, it was the Little Kings Mile, which saw 1,341 people see just how fast they could run a single mile.
On Saturday morning, 4,167 people ran the 10K, (6.2 miles), and another 497 walked that distance. Shortly after that race was finished, 5,618 completed the 5K (3.1 miles), while another 825 people walked it. Many of those doing both races were the same people, starting on the first two legs of their three-way or four-way.
On Sunday at 6:30 a.m., those running the marathon and half-marathon started their trek. Less than a half-hour later, the first runners was crossing through Kentucky before heading back to Cincinnati, up to Mariemont, then back to downtown and across Finish Swine.
The weather was almost picture perfect. It was cool and breezy at the start, although it did warm up a bit as the sun rose and the miles piled up.
David Holtmeier completed his first marathon with his son, Henry, 4, joining him for the final race to the Finish Swine. “He has not stopped talking about how he ran a marathon, and he now wants to run with me all the time,” David said about his boy. (Photo by Kris Payler Staverman)
Of those who started, 3,819 finished the marathon distance of 26.2 miles. Another 11,527 ran the 13.1-mile half marathon. Of those, nearly 700 did the 3-way, meaning they ran the 5K, 10K, and half marathon; 227 completed the 4-way, which included the marathon.
And afterward, while nursing their aches and pains, blisters and missing toenails, they were already planning ways to improve their performances in their next races.
“Well it’s done,” Jeff Martin of Hebron said. “It was warm, but I survived. (My time was) 3:19:26, a new personal best, just missing my (Boston qualifying) time by four minutes. It will come one day — I need to figure out the last four miles or so.”
Todd Spille or Edgewood was discussing what he ate during the race. He said he needs to rethink his nutritional strategy.
“Too much GUs and Gatorade upset my stomach,” he said. “I felt nauseated the last seven miles. (I’ll drink) more water instead of Gatorade, maybe (take some) salt tablets. My first marathon, I gained valuable experience for my next one.”
But the best part of the race was the crowd support throughout the 26.2 miles.
“I was never a big fan of cowbells, but hearing several at once during the race really pumped me up,” said Michael Kwong, who runs with the Tri State Running Company group out of Edgewood.
Chad Davidson and Eileen Villa Marks said the best part of the event for them was not only running and completing their own races, but also going back out on the course to run with others who might have been struggling and who needed the extra encouragement to keep on moving.
“Helping people run through that last mile is one of the most amazing and gratifying things you can do as a runner,” Chad said after competing in the relay race before helping others achieve their goals.
The help was greatly appreciated. Kelsey Ryan, a Boone County teacher, said she was dragging around Mile 15 in Mariemont when two of her coaches, Cameron Simoneau, the owner of Tri State, and Craig Wheeler, an ultramarathoner who works at the store, jumped out to help her along.
Part of the strategy of having a training group is to provide encouragement, and both men — along with dozens of other volunteer coaches and runners — would run a few miles with the runner, then return and pick up some other runners. In doing so, they would wind up running between 20 and 30 miles themselves.
“I never would have done a full if I hadn’t been running with them,” Kelsey said. “Thanks to Cameron and Craig for running with us in Mariemont. It really helped.”
Paul Long, on the road (Photo by Kris Payler Staverman)
Paul Long writes weekly for the NKyTribune about running and runners. For his daily running stories, follow him at dailymile.com or on Twitter @Pogue57
