Thousands of Flying Pig Marathon runners and walkers have been preparing for the last few months to achieve their dreams, whether that’s clocking a new personal best or simply making a lifelong memory.
Some registrants may have adjusted their training when it was announced that the 2026 event would feature new courses throughout the weekend to accommodate the ongoing Fourth Street Bridge project in Northern Kentucky.
The new Flying Pig 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon routes debuted on March 17.
To help preview this year’s Flying Pig, The Enquirer sat down with PigWorks President and CEO Doug Olberding for a chat about the new routes and additional updates surrounding the Queen City’s premier race.
Can you take us behind the scenes of what had to happen to finalize the 2026 Flying Pig Marathon courses?
“The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet invited us to a session in February 2025 and said, ‘Here’s the plan (with the Fourth Street Bridge).’ So we knew before last year’s marathon that the bridge was coming down.
“People love running over the bridges. (The Marathon) goes into five cities, so that’s five police departments, five road crews, five fire departments, five city councils and two state departments of transportation. Those people, those decision-makers, were never sitting at the same table at the same time.
“The other thing that really confounded it, which we weren’t expecting when we learned about the bridge project, was the construction at (Paycor) Stadium. We always started on Elm Street and could use that plaza. We can’t use that plaza because there’s construction equipment all over. So we had to move the starting line over to Rosa Parks Way. How do you find a place where 22,000 people can queue up for a marathon?
“It’s a pretty meticulous process to certify a course. In late January, we had that snowstorm with a pretty significant snowfall. When they plow the streets and there’s snow on the streets, you can’t measure the course because it requires that you have this special bike with a special front tire calibrated in a very specific way. When you ride the course, you ride the tangents to take the shortest distance possible for 26.2 miles. If there’s snow on the side of the street and you can’t measure the shortest distance, you can’t measure the course.
“We sent everything (to USA Track & Field for certification). We thought we were going to get good news, and then it turns out we were 50 feet long! So we had to cut out 50 feet.
“Then also, certifying a course is expensive. You’re paying $1,000 for every three miles of course that you certify, and we had to recertify every one of our courses.
“We’re very intentional about the Flying Pig course. Our philosophy is that if you’re going to put six or eight months into training for a marathon, you’re going to rearrange your life to do this, then we owe it to you to reward your emotions with an experience that lives up to the training that you’ve done.
“If it was not for John Cappella and Jeanette Kelly, who have such great relationships with all of these cities and municipalities, I don’t know how we would have done it.”
Did you explore any alternative options for the 2026 Flying Pig Marathon courses?
“The first decision that we made was we wanted to stay in Kentucky and we wanted to go into both Covington and Newport. We had some backup plans. One would be to go into Covington this year and Newport next year if we couldn’t use the (12th Street bridge). We did not want to only stay in Cincinnati because we really feel like this is a regional event.
“Everything we did on the Ohio side depended on what we could do in Kentucky. The one option that we had that got shot down late was to come across the Clay-Wade Bailey Bridge and continue straight up Central Avenue to Seventh Street. But the heavy rescue fire department is right on the corner of Fifth and Central, and we’d be boxing them in to where they couldn’t get out if anything happened.
“It’s about the same distance if you turn right on Third Street and go up Vine Street, and that’s nice because you’re going to run by Fountain Square. That’s going to be a great activation place with a lot of people.”
Will the courses return to their previous form after the Fourth Street Bridge is complete in summer 2028?
“I always tell people, ‘Get prepared because this is going to happen again next year.’ There’s going to be changes to the course with the construction of the I-75 bridge and there’s potential work to be done on the Clay-Wade Bailey Bridge. Just be ready for the course to change again next year. It’s probably 2030 before we can have something that we can live with for a couple consecutive years, fingers crossed.
“There’s going to be pieces of the course that we’re always going to keep the same. I think when the plaza is done, we’ll be able to move back to Elm Street and use the start we’ve done in the past.”
How did you settle on the new 5K and 10K courses?
“We were told that we could not close (the 12th Street bridge) on Saturday, and with the 5K we probably couldn’t have done it anyway because it would have been longer than a 5K to get from Cincinnati, over there and back.
“With the 10K, we decided we still want to get into Kentucky, and the only way we could do it is to run that loop in Newport.
“That’s part of being a good partner. We view these cities as partners. The Reds, the Bengals, FC Cincinnati, the University of Cincinnati, they have venues that they’ve built and own. Our venue is the public right of way. We don’t own it. We have to borrow it, so we can’t come in and dictate the terms of our use of these assets. You really have to listen to the people that have sway there. They want to see us succeed as much as we want to succeed, so we want to make something that’s good for everybody.”
There’s been an increase in high-profile names running in Flying Pig events in recent years. Will that trend continue?
“The thing that’s wonderful is, we’re not being very intentional about that. They’re coming to us. Jenny Simpson was a great example. Right before the Flying Pig (in 2025), we got a message that she was in Kentucky and somebody told her that if she’s going to run in Ohio, she’s got to do the Flying Pig.
“Ted Karras, he’s the one who decided to do (the 5K). Tim Spence, who is the CEO of Fifth Third, he does our event. I think part of it is that we’ve got a reputation.”
How important is it for you, on an individual level, to be visible in the community?
Doug Olberding launched a series in 2025 that he called ‘Pig on Tour.’
“It’s the funnest part of my job. I started running on a team when I was in the seventh grade. I joined a track team at my school and then cross country. My love of running came not from being on a team, but being part of a community. Last year in January, we did our training kick-off at Element Eatery and all these groups showed up. I was talking to someone and they said, ‘Why don’t you come and run with us?’ I went out to Little Miami Brewing Co. and I did this run, and (PigWorks VP of Marketing) Emmy (Hartmann) put it out on social media. Every month, she’d fill my calendar up and I would just go and meet with these groups and do whatever they were going to do.”
What is your favorite event of Flying Pig Marathon weekend?
“I think my favorite event is the marathon. I say that, and then I’m going to say, ‘Wait a minute, you’ve got to see PigAbilities.’ If you’re standing there at the finish line and you’re not sobbing, I’ve got to question if you’re human or not.
“People do (the marathon) for all kinds of reasons. If you are at the finish line at that four-, five-, six-, seven-hour point, you witness every range of human emotion.
“I had this woman come up to me last week and say, ‘I was going to run with my friend, but she was diagnosed with liver cancer and can’t do the race. Can I take her number and put it on my back so that when I go across the finish line that I’ve carried her across the line, and can I get a medal for her?’ I said, ‘Yes, I’ll give you two medals!'”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: PigWorks CEO Doug Olberding dishes on new Flying Pig courses
Reporting by Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
