I can’t put into words how incredibly happy and proud I am of myself and my friends who ran in the Cincinnati Flying Pig events over the past weekend. I’ve been talking about running the Flying Pig since working at DocuStar and I finally completed this goal on Sunday May 5th. I ran 13.1 miles in 3 hours with my very best friend and cousin, Kat Ottopal. It feels like I’m now part of an elite club but of course that club has thousands upon thousands of members and even some that have run this race every year since inception, 15 years ago. 

If the shoe fits, wear the damn thing

The experience was like none other starting with the infamous Flying Pig Expo on Friday afternoon. Kat, Lisa (my health coach), Ryan (Lisa’s boyfriend) and I (Lisa and Ryan were in from Oregon) were checking out all that the expo had to offer plus we picked up our sponsor swag and bibs. Kat and I both had personal messages on our bibs and I had completely forgot what mine said, oopsy!

{Highlights from the Pig}

• My husband, mom, dad, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew, aunt, uncle and other friends cheering us on. NOTHING can top the feeling of seeing your family as you run towards them. Especially when you need that little oomph of encouragement which I did when I saw CJ, Sarah and Henry right before the finish.
• Hilarious signs from spectators including my favorite one that had an image of Ryan Gosling and it read, “Girl, you look hot in your tutu!” Of course I was wearing a tutu and I wore it the ENTIRE time. 
• Text messages throughout the run from various friends and family. My mother-in-law actually sent me a text just as I was passing the start line, very good timing on her part!
• Starting the race was COOL! The energy, the music, the crowds already cheering you on, the sunrise, the rainbow, my friends starting with me, being surrounded by other runners and the general sense of hope that this was going to be a great experience all hit me at once. I had goosebumps! I actually looked at my friend, Andrea, and told her that I had goosebumps and I was so pumped up.
• Random little fun fact, I saw so many people from my high school at the Pig and four of us were running. Shout outs to Jordan Flay (who did the 3-way challenge), Amber Potter and my girl Andrea Gontkovsky – Good Job fellow Falcons! 
• The spectators were incredible! It is a hard job to run the race but it is also a hard job to get around the outskirts of the course to cheer on the runners. I was so proud of Cincinnati and those that support the running community.
• Seeing and running with the Sharonville Mommy Runners. I’m so excited to meet these moms and join them on their weekend runs, they were all so adorable and inspiring.
• OWNING the hill, enough said!
• Last but not least, my medal is pretty much bad ass and I wore it around the rest of that day and to dinner at the Moerlein Lager House, why not? I earned the thing!

Just like a fellow Pig runner warned me, I’m looking forward to running the half and working on beating my own time. The experience was so incredible that I honestly can’t wait to run the half marathon again next year! I was actually reminding Kat during the race (can’t remember which mile this was) that I really only wanted to run the Flying Pig 10K but she insisted we do the half, “I’m not doing anything less than the 1/2,” is a direct text message quote! I can’t thank Kat enough for pushing me and helping me to run and show that hill who was boss.

{Other Pics from the Expo}