Flying Pig was my first marathon, and I LOVED it! I'm afraid my next marathon will never measure up!
You start by going into Kentucky for a bit, then you come back through downtown Cincy and you run up hill for about 3 miles until you get to a really pretty park. I'm really not good on hills AT ALL (I'm living in central IL and I have a bum hip and bad back) and thanks to the crowd support and positive energy of this race, getting through the worst of these hills wasn't a problem for me. There are rolling hills throughout the rest of the race, with the worst IMO between 17 and 18. The crowd support wasn't as intense on certain parts of the course, which was nice because it was quiet in the parts of town that it just somehow felt right to have it be a little more peaceful. There were far more aid stations and pit stop potties than I was expecting (like one every mile), and that gave me peace of mind.

The Flying Pig app was super great, and directed us to Race Joy for runner tracking, which meant my family and friends back home could follow my progress and even send words of encouragement that I could hear once I plugged in my bluetooth headphones. My partner's mom who actually attended the race was able to navigate Cincy easily thanks to Flying Pig registering with Waze and letting people know what roads were closed. She saw us 6 or 7 times along the course, which I thought was awesome! The whole atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and even without a familiar face in the crowd I would have felt supported by the race volunteers and other runners. It was great.

The race expo was the best I've ever been to. Cincinnati was way cool. The course was challenging but fun and so well supported and well organized my mind was blown. I would highly recommend Flying Pig to everyone whether it's your first marathon or your 50th! (also the medals are adorable!)