How many pigs does it take to fly up a 300 foot hill?

3:00am: Lightning and thunder outside my window woke me up. I never quite made it to sleep again after that except a few little cat-naps.
4:40am: The alarm officially went off playing my theme song.
5:00am: Uncle Jerry arrived (I can't believe he came out, that was really nice of him) and we went off to downtown Cincinnati. (Did I mention the rain?)
5:30am-ish: I found Deb and got into her car as we watched all kinds of thunder and lightning. (And rain.)
6:02am: I called Jenny and asked her to look at radar. I regretted the request when I heard, "oh, there's a line of storms all the way back to Arkansas, but you're just outside of the red box that means a tornado warning". Oh joy. Deb told Jenny not to come down but we had her to breakfast afterward instead.
6:10am: We got out of Deb's car and started walking to the start line.
6:20am: A bolt of lightning takes out power to all the street lights around Paul Brown Stadium. Runners are promised by race officials there is no severe weather in the area.
6:30am: The race miraculously starts on time. Deb and I were in the rear of the pack, too far back as it turned out.
6:40-ish: Deb and I started the race. Slow Down Deb, it's a long race! My parents and Uncle Jerry were at their first cheering spot. Mom had a bell!
Mile 1: Also hill number one. The bridges here are really tall. How tall could a river boat be really?
Miles 2-4: Ah, Kentucky. After two more bridges we were back in Ohio. I saw my parents again and had my first Gu pack. (Yes, I've made peace with the Gu.)
Miles 4-6: The lower west-end around Longworth Hall was fairly deserted (because who could get over there with all the roads closed?) but downtown Cincinnati was great. I saw my parents for an unexpected third time.
Miles 6-8.5: Deb coached me up the hill that I was totally dreading. She did a great job; told me what to expect, when to rest and when to goose it. I felt as good at the top of that hill as I did at the end of the Amsterdam Marathon. (That's how big a mental block I had about this hill.) At the split point for the half and full I saw Mike and Linda, our neighbors who I also can't believe stood in the rain that long.
Miles 8.5-10: Why are there more hills? Apparently in this race, you're never done going up hill. There was a water stop in here sponsored (staffed?) by the Walnut Hills football team. I cheered for Walnut really loud. They loved me.
Mile 10-11: Ah, the true, glorious wonderful down hill. As a surprise I saw Mike and Linda a second time.
Miles 11-13: The race has this dinky little out and back loop (clearly they needed to make the path a mile longer than it was) so I could see all these runners heading towards the finish line as I have to run away from it, around a traffic island, and back. (Hello mental block.) It was around mile 12 we met another girl named Liz.
Finish line: At this point I was saying, "hey, tell my friend Deb she's doing great, it's her first time". Big hug. Awesome medal.

Big thank you to Mike, Linda, Uncle Jerry and Mom and Dad for coming out and standing in the rain to cheer.

Big thank you to Jenny, Doug and Chris who entertained me after the race.

And CONGRATULATIONS to Deb for running her first half-marathon in under her goal time.

I am thinking about training for the full pig next year but I'm not committed to it yet. Basically it's going to require some serious long runs in the winter months. While that was no problem this year, this was like the 4th mildest March on record so I'm not making any long term plans. Even seasoned marathoners have told me it's a really challenging course (hello hills!) but it's my home town so I really want to do it. I could always try to train and have the Minneapolis Marathon as a backup. Or Gramma's. I guess I should focus on running Twin Cities this year first. (And so I shall.)