Jamie Smith, board chair of the Flying Pig, said race officials expected to lose roughly 10% of runners due to the weather, but he said it didn’t visibly look that way Sunday morning.
He said race officials began watching the weather forecasts Saturday afternoon and they were told to “play it by ear.” He also said that with five minutes until start time, officials still had yet to make a decision.
“For the best part of the runner, we thought it was better to get them out of the starting line and then allow them to shelter in place,” Smith said. “We reminded them all that it was a personal decision to make the run, and so far, every one of them has thanked us for letting them go.”
He also said around 8:30 a.m. that officials had not received any indication of injuries caused by the weather conditions.
Despite the heavy storms, Smith said he wouldn’t change any of the decisions that were made regarding weather.
“We were good to go,” Smith said. “I think we made the right decision, you know, the best we could at the time. We were watching the different systems come in, and we were kind of right in between them, and if we got them out of the starting line we knew we were good to go.”
Not long after the 6:30 a.m. kick off at the starting line, the 25th annual Flying Pig named its male and female division winners.
Jason Salyer and Caitlin Keen was crowned winners after they crossed the “Finish Swine” first in their respective divisions Sunday morning.
Salyer won the men’s division of the full marathon after finishing at 2 hours 27 minutes and 10 seconds. The 32-year-old Tipp City, Ohio native recently finished first in the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon on April 23.
“It’s unheard of to come back (after Glass City) and try another competitive marathon, let alone win it,” Sayler said.
Other than Sayler, 25-year-old Will Cadwell from Covington and 28-year-old Jack Randall — who won in 2017 and 2018 — were finalists in the men’s division.
Here are the top male division runners and times:
- Jason Salyer — 2:27:10
- Will Cadwell — 2:27:38
- Jack Randall — 2:28: 13
Not far behind Salyer, Keen from Fort Worth, Texas, secured the women’s division victory after crossing the Finish Swine in 2 hours 45 minutes and 34 seconds. The 30-year-old led the female racers from the start, race officials said.Following Keen, was Cincinnati native Katie Hallahan and 29-year-old Lauren Mullins.
Here are the top female division runners and times:
- Caitlin Keen — 2:45:34
- Katie Hallahan — 2:59:08
- Lauren Mullins — 3:00:00
Keen made history with the victory has the first female Flying Pig champion to win the full marathon three times. She first won in 2018, and then won again in 2021. In 2022, she ran the Paycor Half Marathon, which she also won.”I may be the first to win it three times but I will not be the last,” Keen said. “I want little girls to see this and know they can do anything they want.”
In terms of the half marathon, 19-year-old Seth Elking, who is a distance runner at UC, won the men’s division, and Aimee Piercy, 25, won the women’s. Piercy came in third last year while running.
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