CINCINNATI (October 31, 2021) – Alex Gold, who came in third in the 2019 Flying Pig Marathon powered by P&G, and Caitlin Keen, who won it in 2018, were the winners in the Marathon division of this year’s combined Flying Pig/Queen Bee weekend.
The 26-year-old Gold, from Cincinnati, won in a time of 2:26:29. Second in the men’s division was 25-year-old J.T. MacKay, also of Cincinnati, in 2:28:31 and third was 33-year-old Steve Matthews of Evansville, Indiana, in 2:29:30.
“It was beautiful out there,” said Gold, “and the fall colors made it even more spectacular. I told Jack (J.T. MacKay) that it’s so cool to be racing at the place where we train every day. I love this city, and this race is what made me fall in love with running in the first place.”
In the women’s division, the 29-year-old Keen, who grew up in Hyde Park and now lives in Fort Worth, took an early lead and never gave it up, winning in 2:43:45, the second fastest time ever, and besting her 2018 winning time of 2:46:39 by nearly three minutes. Second in the women’s division was 34-year-old Amy Manning of Columbus in 3:00:24 and third was 33-year-old Allison Pitt of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, in 3:01:18.
“I hadn’t raced since the Olympic Trials (February 2020), and last year was really hard for me. I think I can speak for a lot of athletes that it was hard,” said Keen. “It took a little bit more motivation, and a lot more time to get back. It’s been a long time coming, but I needed this.”
In the half marathon divisions, 30-year-old Samuel Montclair from Cary, North Carolina, won the overall Paycor Half Marathon in an event record time of 1:09:53, beating the old record of 1:10:34 held by Zachary Ripley. Second was 29-year-old Eric Gruenbacher of Loveland in 1:13:15 and third was 35-year-old Greg Lemmon of Cincinnati in 1:19:42.
In the women’s division, 34-year-old Daniella Townsend of Cincinnati won in her second Paycor Half Marathon in a time of 1:21:02. Daniella came in third in the 2018 Paycor Half. Second was 25-year-old Christine Frederick of Columbus in 1:21:40 and third was 28-year-old Katarina Smiljanec of Covington in 1:25:41. Katarina came in second in Friday night’s Fifty West Mile elite division.
In the Queen Bee Half, 34-year-old Kelly Fisher from Oregonia won in a time of 1:26:26. Second place was 37-year-old Natalie Leverone from Covington in 1:29:09 and third was 39-year-old Laurah Lukin from Cincinnati in 1:31:48. Leverone finished second and Lukin was third in the 2017 Queen Bee and Lukin finished second in the inaugural 2014 Queen Bee.
Cincinnati’s combined Flying Pig and Queen Bee weekend kicked off its Saturday events with the Toyota 10K, Tri State Running Company 5K, Queen Bee Medpace 4 Miler and Flying Pig Flying Fur presented by Cuddly.
In Saturday’s first event, 23-year-old William Cadwell won the Toyota 10K in 34:07. Second was 38-year-old Evan Bayles and third was 17-year-old Kyle Becker. In the women’s division, 29-year-old Amy Schwarber won in a time of 41:36. Second was 34-year-old Jennifer Reed and third was 23-year-old Haley Holbrook in 44:01.
In the Tri State Running Company 5K, 25-year-old Tristan Tapia from Beavercreek, Ohio, won, covering the course in 17:56.5. Second place went to 43-year-old Raymond Greiwe of Lakeside Park in 18:24:8 and third was Luke Ogden, 30, of Cincinnati, in 18:36.1
In the women’s division, 24-year-old Hannah Tobler, the 2019 winner of the Queen Bee Half Marathon, was fastest in the 5K in a time of 20:23.8. Second was Jennifer Reed in 21:46:2, and third was the Toyota 10K winner, Amy Schwarber, in 22:11.1.
The Queen Bee Medpace 4 Miler saw 40-year-old Erin Reder of Cincinnati win in a time of 27:48. Second was 26-year-old Lauren Wood of Indianapolis in 28:14 and third was 14-year-old Grace Kohls of Harrison in 28:47. The winner of the Flying Fur presented by Cuddly was Michael Farmer, with Mike Canan and Brad Metzger finishing the top three.
In Friday night’s Fifty West Mile, the top three in the men’s elite division were 33-year-old Jake Edwards of Delaware, Ohio, covering the mile in 4:33.9, followed by 23-year-old Wesley Meyer of Nashville in 4:35.4 and 28-year-old William Doering of Fort Thomas, in 4:42.7.
Among the elite women, 25-year-old Jessica Grace was the fastest in 5:24.0, followed by 28-year-old Katarina Smiljanec of Covington in 5:28.2 and 28-year-old Elizabeth Heinback of Cincinnati, in 5:28.5.
The total number of weekend participants this year was 15,833, including 1,979 for the full marathon, 5,420 for the Paycor Half Marathon, 1,277 in the Queen Bee Half Marathon, 2,190 for the Toyota 10K, 2,200 in the Tri State Running Company 5K and 1,155 for the Queen Bee Medpace 4 Miler. Other totals include 252 (63 teams) in the City Dash 4-Person Relay, 221 in the Flying Fur and 1,139 for Friday’s Fifty West Mile.
