Flying Pig Marathon!

Digressing into the past just a bit to build up to this post. Here it goes. Dave ran the Chicago Marathon four years ago; it was his first! He had run a half prior to it and in November of last year he ran San Antonio's inaugural Rock N Roll half marathon. San Antonio was the host of a full AND half. I was a spectator out in the early, cold November morning cheering him and thousands of others on. After seeing the folks walking the half; I thought to myself that I could do the same in November of 2009 so shortly after the race I signed up. In January my girlfriend Laura asked if I would be interested in walking a half marathon with her in May. She had done the San Antonio Rock N Roll (half) and about three others since then. She likes to do them for the medals and me with my ADD and love of medals and shiny things I said YES! So in January I signed up with her to do the Flying Pig half marathon in Cincinnati, OH. The race was held on May 3. About a week prior Laura had to cancel as her husband Jim has been fighting cancer and his health isn't the best. I felt terrible for her as she was really looking forward to doing the race. Truth on the table...I hadn't trained at all for this race. I have been sloppy and gained some weight but wasn't motivated to train for some reason. It didn't stop me from getting on an airplane and flying out there to do it though. Laura had a friend who was joining us who was running the full marathon. So I spent the weekend with Laura's friend Aline and her son Alex. Aline had her running partner to run the full marathon with who also came in for the race. Alex ran the half as well be we all separated at the start of the race. My goal was to walk/run the race in 3 hours and 30 minutes. As I crossed the finish line at 3:26 and change I was excited that I had beat my goal! I learned later, however, my actual time was 3:20:09! I forgot that the chip I had in my shoe didn't start my actual race time until I crossed the starting line. I was going off of the starting clock. I hadn't really followed the course description or read up on Cincinnati. It was a very difficult city to do a first ever half marathon for sure! Cincinnati is very, very hilly and while I was sore afterward; I didn't really get the full affect of the soreness until the next day! Holy cow...sitting was fine but when I got up to move I felt as if I had been in a car wreck. Thankfully the soreness went away in a few days.

Here's a few shots from that day.

Me and Aline waiting to begin; it started out rainy and dismal that day.



Start of the race!
© 2009 Michael E. Anderson


It's not the finish line; it's the finish "swine". Get it?
© 2009 Mark Bowen


Not the most flattering of shots but hey, I just walked/ran 13.1 miles!


Dave wasn't able to be there for me. He had a meeting in Charlotte, NC and we both flew out on Friday, me to Cincinnati, he to Charlotte. C'est la vie.

Following the race on Sunday, I got a rental car and drove to Powell, OH where I was able to spend a few days with my dear college friend Lisa; her husband Michael and two beautiful boys Aidan and Collin! On Sunday evening Lisa prepared some steaks for Michael to grill and we had a great dinner together.

While driving to Lisa & Michael's house I passed a large river just steps from the road. It looked pretty high as if Ohio had some recent rains. Remember I said that I didn't do any reading up on Cincinnati? Well, I hadn't done any reading up on the Powell/Columbus area either. Later I asked Lisa the name of the river and about the local area. The river is the Olentangy River and just minutes from their home is the Olentangy Indian Caverns!

On Monday Lisa and I took the boys to Easton Town Center in Columbus. It's Columbus's #1 retail destination and it is a 1.7 million square foot urban town center. They have fountains and children's parks and an a train that they boys love to see when they go there. We let the boys play around the train and fountain areas then had a lovely lunch at Brio Italian Grille. Here's some shots of the boys and Lisa.

Watching the train!


The boys playing by the fountain


While we didn't get the chance to take in the caverns, Lisa and I did get away that evening for some one-on-one girl time at a local restaurant in Powell called The Lost Shepherd.

The next morning Lisa drove me to the Columbus Airport where we visited for a bit with the boys as they love to see the airplanes. Check out Aidan's photography skills! Not bad for a four year old huh?



And lastly; I close with a cute shot of Lisa and her boys! Thanks for the hospitality. Next trip; off to the Outter Banks of North Carolina for Memorial Day weekend.

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