Flying Pig Marathon Trip and Race Report

Photo by joseph a. Some Rights Reserved.

Saturday:

Drove down to Cincinnati around noon. I dragged my nieces Caitlyn and Khari along for this race because they had never been to a marathon. It ended up being a beautiful drive down.  The sun was shining and the leaves were really starting to fill in on the trees. We stopped by the expo first because it was still too early to check in to the hotel. My nieces loved the expo, but really what child doesn't love it when they get a bunch of free stuff? Of course, we also stopped by the NF Endurance Team booth for a few minutes to talk to everyone working there. We then headed to lunch at Subway over on the Kentucky side of the river near the hotel because I had forgotten to eat breakfast and I was hungry!

By the time we finished eating, it was time to check in. Once we got settled in the room, we used the three hours to relax until before the team pasta dinner to relax. My nieces were a bit restless at first. They thought it would be a good idea to go swimming at first, but thankfully ended up being content watching Hannah Montana and all those other new-fangled Disney shows the kids like these days. (It was too cold to swim.)

I dozed off on the bed for about 2 1/2 hours and used the last half hour to go over all the details to make sure I had times and locations correct for the race. I also went ahead and did the old ritual of setting out my clothes and shoes for the next morning. By that time it was time to head down for some good food, and team fellowship.

The pasta dinners are always a great experience. It's really the best opportunity to connect with everyone else racing to cure NF at a race. You meet parents who have had to put two kids through chemotherapy, but at the same time are always looking to the positive side of things. You meet NF heroes like Jesse Markland who deals with severe pain in his young life, but still won't turn down a chance to be in the spotlight. Hearing everyone's stories of the trials they have been through, but the hope they have for a better future is one of the things that keeps me coming back again and again to race for a cure. 

I also invited my friend Caroline from my summer job to come with her parents. She had been really helpful keeping me at least somewhat accountable for my training this year which I consider to be a donation of her "expertise". Turns out she even had a family member who had NF. (I think it was her grandmother's cousin. Apparently she dealt with a lot of social stigma because she had significant tumors on her face.) It just goes along with my theory that just about everyone in this world has some sort of connection to Neurofibromatosis whether they realize it or not. The food was good as usual, and Caroline even donned an NF singlet during the race to help raise awareness! the videos that are shown always hit me in the gut and remind me why we need to keep running for a cure.

18 Wonderful Years

After that, I dropped a room key off at the front desk for my parents. They were at a wedding on Saturday and wouldn't be in until late. I didn't want to have to get up to let them in since I was going to be getting up at 5 am. Back to the room. My nieces fell asleep before I did.  I finally fell asleep around 11 PM. Luckily my parent's didn't wake me up when they came in after midnight.

Sunday:

Woke up at 5 AM with no problem. First thing I did was get on the computer to check the weather. It was 8 degrees warmer than the weatherman had said it would be! Glad I double checked! I changed my base layer up, then headed downstairs to meet everonethe rest of the team at 5:30. The hotel created a buffet style line of food leading from the elevators to the lobby. Nice! Grabbed a banana and a gatorade, took part in a few photos, then we made our way across the river. There was a light sprinkle, and after a few minutes of walking I was comfortable. (The nervous energy I get before a race always seem to make me shiver at least a little bit.) Once we got to the corrals at the start, I split off for a last minute bathroom break. I had been planning on starting with the 4:45 pace group, but when I came back out of the porter potty a mass of runners had made their way into the corrals and I couldn't get close. No worries though. I could always catch up with them later...

Photo by Michael E. Anderson. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission. http://www.flyingpigmarathon.com

The firing gun went off, and we were on our way! I saw Steve (our team Director) and Amy Kast (Gigi's mom who was coaching too) around mile 1 on the first bridge over the Ohio River. I also kept "running into" someone from the team off and on those first few miles.  I'd offer words of encouragement every time. (I think it was her first race.) Ran through most of Newport and Covington on my own, but as we were approaching the bridge back over the Ohio I managed to catch up with the 4:45 pace group. 

Photo by Michael E. Anderson. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission. http://www.flyingpigmarathon.com

I pulled back a bit since we'd be approaching the hill in a couple of miles and I wanted to make sure not to push myself too hard on it. 

Photo by sonofgunn25. Some Rights Reserved.

After doing all my training in Brown County, the hill in Cincy felt more like a gentle incline. I felt strong the entire way up, but not strong enough to leave the 4:45 pace group behind. (I was planning on finishing somewhere between 4:30 and 4:45.) I started to get a series of mild side stitches beginning around mile 13. I could run through it, but it isn't exactly my favorite way to run. The 4:45 pacer Judy kept me motivated and going strong. I knew as long as I didn't fall too far beind her, I was going to land within my goal range. 

Past mile 18, I was in the zone where my body was fighting me. From that point on, I did very little without talking. I was using all my energy to focus on the run. I stayed strong, kept my pace up until we were about a mile out. That's when I saw Steve again. Ran alongside me to see how I was doing. Told him I was pretty exhausted but I was going to keep it up. he broke off to catch someone else with the team further back, but at that point I was coming up on Amy and Paul. (Paul is the guy who ripped his collar bone in December but still did the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge at Disney World.) He wasn't running for time, so he waited for me to catch up and then helped run me into the finish. I really appreciated that. Overall a 4:42:45 time. (Edit: No negative split. Not sure how I got that idea.) A new personal record though!

Photo by sonofgunn25. Some Rights Reserved.

A big thank you to everyone out their to cheer us on along the course which was really appreciated.  A big thanks to "Pacer Judy" and everyone else in the 4:45 pace group. Thanks to the Flying Pig Marathon staff and volunteers for putting on a great race! (And letting me use their photos.) And of course the biggest thanks goes out to everyone racing with or supporting the NF Endurance Team. You are the ones who are helping make a cure possible for all of our NF Heroes.

Thank You!

(P.S. More photos can be found on the Flying Pig website, and you can see pictures of me crossing the finish at www.runphotos.com.)