The 22nd-annual Flying Pig Marathon, originally slated to take place May 1-3, has been rescheduled for Oct. 9-11, 2020.
In a media statement, the race said:
"We’ve prided ourselves in producing the Flying Pig Marathon as a fun event that rewards the emotions and significant accomplishments of all our participants. With that, we’ve also made the safety of all in the Flying Pig Marathon our top priority. That safety has traditionally been evaluated with adverse weather and terrorism in mind for more than 50,000 participants, volunteers and staff on race weekend. With the COVID-19 pandemic and a participant field that represents all 50 states and nearly 30 foreign countries, our ability to produce a safe event for our Flying Pig family, Greater Cincinnati community and society has been compromised. We have taken the time allowed to monitor and research, discuss with medical, industry and municipal leaders and taken into consideration the input from the running community and our participants. We feel it’s our social and moral responsibility to contribute to the COVID-19 solution and will adhere to the CDC’s updated guidance for canceling mass events for the next eight weeks."
The race, which generally sees 21,000 marathon participants and raises funds for 300 area organizations, is a Boston-qualifier. And it's not just about race. Flying Pig weekend includes a series of events — a health expo, fun runs and pasta pig-outs — which culminate with the 26.2-mile marathon that takes participants from the starting line at Elm Street and Freedom Way through Cincinnati, Covington, Newport, Mariemont, Fairfax and Columbia Township.
The Flying Pig has announced four different ways people can still participate in the Pig (info from the media release below):
- A Virtual Race: "Complete the Flying Pig events on your own this spring with a virtual race and receive your medal and shirt. We are working with our registration partner, Race Roster, and ASICS on providing a comprehensive virtual experience including a free ASICS Studio 3-month membership to support your training, the ability to track your race with Runkeeper and submit your results in a few simple steps on Race Roster while receiving the shirt and medal only from your respective race(s). Registration for the virtual race will remain open."
- Postponement: "Join us for the weekend of Oct. 9-11, 2020 as we plan to co-host the Flying Pig Marathon and Queen Bee events in the fall. This weekend was scheduled for our Queen Bee Half Marathon. We’re working on solutions to include all in this weekend experience and will be reaching out to current Queen Bee participants in the coming days and updating QueenBeeHalf.com with more information on what that will look like."
- Donation: "As we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, you can convert your registration to a donation and receive the tax writeoff as well as 25% off a future registration to any Pig Works event in the next year (2020 FCC3, 2020 Hudepohl Brewery Run 14K/7K, 2020 Queen Bee, 2021 Bockfest 5K and 2021 Flying Pig Marathon). Each year the Flying Pig Marathon’s events raise more than a million dollars for charity and over the last 21 years the Pig has helped participating charities to raise more than $18 million."
- Deferral: "Free deferral to any of the future Flying Pig Marathon weekends scheduled for 2021, 2022 or 2023."
The marathon has no refund policy and if any of those four solutions don't work for you, you can contact [email protected]. The Flying Pig does note, "Before requesting a refund, please remember we are a nonprofit organization that funds a number of other nonprofit organizations. Our funds are vital to the on-going health of our organization and our partner organizations."
Select the option that best works for you by April 1.
To make your selection by April 1, the race says to go to this link and sign in to your Race Roster dashboard, then "Edit Registration" and under the "Registration Questions" tab, make your selection. Save and exit after you make your choice.
