It was a pretty straight shot from Louisville to Cincinnati. After a quick tour through the Expo, we headed right to an early dinner, and then straight off to the hotel for some shut eye. Or at least that was the intent – that is, until we both got hooked into watching the new Nightmare on Elm Street. What a terrible movie. We finally got to sleep, but it wasn't for long – the Flying Pig marathon starts at 6:30 am, which is extremely early. So to be at the start by 6, we had to leave by 5:30 and therefore get up at 4:30, which is 3:30 our own time… yikes!
Aaaaaand the morning started off nice and cold and rainy. I dropped my husband off (usually I try to stick around to see him start, but for this race we didn't stay downtown, and I didn't want to have to deal with parking there twice) and then headed to Mile 2, which is where we had decided I would make my first stop. It was still dark, and rainy. And absolutely deserted. Eventually a few more people showed up a little further down the street, so at least I wasn't completely alone. It wasn't long before the runners started to come through, and they all looked completely drenched and totally unhappy.
It's always difficult to figure out where to head to watch, especially in a strange city. I like to pick stops that are at least 10 miles apart – just in case I get lost or it's harder to get there than I expected – and close to a major highway or street. If I can, I like to pick a spot where I can walk to another viewing area, but that's not usually possible. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not so well.
This time I picked a spot that was about halfway which looked pretty easy to get to without having to cross or get too close to the race. It turned out to be a grocery store with lots of parking, and lots of other cheerers, and also a relay exchange spot, so I was in lots of company. I sat in the car until about 5 minutes before I could have possibly expected my husband to come by even if he was destroying his own goal (it was still raining a bit) and then snagged a clear spot and started cheering. About 15 minutes later I saw him and got some kids around me to cheer for him. By then the rain had stopped, so I stuck around for a while longer to cheer on more runners before heading back to the finish.
From there it got tricky. Cincinnati is almost like a little island, and at this point the roads on three sides of it were closed down due to the race. I ended up having to park quite far away, and only after maneuvering the wrong way down a one-way street. When I found the finish line, I realized that I was on the half-marathon side; all the marathon runners were actually coming in on the other side. Too late though – there was no obvious way to quickly get to the other side and I knew my husband would be coming through any minute. I just shouted extra loud for him when I saw him, in the hope I could shout over the other runners!
And then began the longest exit chute I had ever seen! It snaked all the way around the stadium, with the runners on the bottom and the spectators having to cross overhead. It's a good thing that for once we had discussed where to meet up if he didn't see me (we picked the obvious location of the runners' reunion posts – those things do come in handy!). We had just enough time to make it back to the hotel for my husband to take a shower and for us to hit the road for the long drive back to Chicago.
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