I LOVE this race!! I did it kind of on a whim in 2012 and did it again in 2013. Cincinnati isn't necessarily my dream city to do a race, but it's a fun place, the people are nice, and the crowds are AMAZING.

Registration is easy. It's a popular race but there's other distances (half marathon) that sell out quicker.

The expo is awesome. The volunteers are nice, helpful, and knowledgable. The booths are awesome - lots of free swag at this one. They really, really, REALLY play up the whole flying pig motif. It's just FUN.

The race itself is well organized, well managed, and again fun! The start line is within walking distance from most hotels in downtown Cincinnati. Your loved ones can stay with you pretty close to the start. They enforce the corrals, which is a big deal for me.

The course is not exactly what I would call beautiful and it's not easy either - there are definitely more hills than I was expecting. However...in 2013, I qualified for Boston at the race! I beat my best time by more than 13 minutes. There are a lot of factors to this (my training was probably part, haha), including that the course is not super crowded, so you can run your race. The crowds are absolutely amazing and supportive. You go through neighborhoods and people are having huge house parties to cheer on runners and just enjoy being outside on a beautiful May day.

They have bands throughout the course and the best aid stations I've seen - they have water every mile during the race, they have vaseline stations, cool wet towel stations, tissue stations, candy, etc. The aid stations are sponsored by local community groups and at the finish swine (get it?) you can vote for your favorite.

That's right - when you are done, you cross the Finish Swine!! The medals are amazing (so are the t-shirts!) and the post race snacks are great.

I love this race and can't wait to do it again! I was going to do 2015, but it was too expensive. I had already registered and they were so nice about letting me defer to 2016. See you in 2016 Cincinnati!