Flying Pig Marathon

The start and the river are the low ground. The course sits between 149 m and 169 m for the first 9.4 km, then climbs from 164 m at km 9.4 to 250 m at km 14.0. That is about 86 m (some 280 ft) in 4.6 km. The organiser’s FAQ puts the climb at 300 ft between miles 6 and 9, to a park with “a panoramic view of the river and downtown Cincinnati”, and says “the hills are in the first nine miles”, the first two being the bridge into Kentucky and the one coming back.

From the top the road drops to 217 m at km 17 and 185 m at km 21. After km 22 the course stays between 146 m and 180 m, and the last 11 km stay within 18 m of each other, ending at 146 m by the river. The organiser’s FAQ says from mile 19 to the finish “it is pretty flat”. In all the marathon climbs about 170 m, 120 m of it before km 15. A watch that adds up every short rise will read higher.

Measured

The organiser describes a course that “flies” along the streets of Cincinnati, Covington, Newport, Mariemont, Fairfax, and Columbia Township. The first part of its turn-by-turn list is the river: down to Pete Rose Way, right over the Taylor Southgate Bridge into Kentucky, along 3rd Street, then “over the Girl Scout Bridge into Covington”, and back across the river on the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge.

On the course, the three bridge decks run km 0.8 to 1.5, km 3.6 to 4.0 and km 6.3 to 7.4. That is about 2.3 km of the first 7.4 on bridges. The directions are the 2026 course, the one on the organiser’s marathon page for the 2027 race.

Measured

The organiser’s 2027 schedule puts the marathon start at 6:30 am on Sunday 2 May. The organiser says the course “will close at a continuous pace of 16:00 minutes per mile” and that anyone who cannot hold it “must move to the sidewalk as the course closes to allow regular traffic through”. Its FAQ puts it as “a 7-hour pace” and adds that runners who want to enjoy themselves longer can move up to the sidewalk and obey pedestrian rules. Runners who have not reached the checkpoint between miles 17 and 18 by 12:15 pm are bussed to the Eastern Avenue section.

The FAQ calls the course certified and “a Boston qualifier when completed as a live event”. Marathoners must be 18 on race day, and there is no race-day packet pickup for the marathon: packets are collected at the expo on Friday or Saturday. On the weather the FAQ says the start is normally in the mid 40s Fahrenheit (about 7 C), rising to the mid 60s (about 18 C) by afternoon.

Sourced

The organiser’s list ends “Turn right onto Columbia Parkway”, “Take Eastern Ave exit ramp on right”, “Continue onto Eastern Avenue”, then Stanley Avenue, Kellogg Avenue and Riverside Drive, and “Turn left onto Mehring Way”. The finish is “at first crosswalk west of Roebling Bridge overpass”.

From the Columbia Parkway deck at km 29 to the line, the road stays between 146 m and 164 m, so the finish is about 8 m lower than the start.

Measured