Friday, May 07, 1999
THE BEGINNINGS
A first-rate marathon did not come easily
BY JOHN ERARDI
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When pigs fly. Cincinnati marathoners have heard that saying more than once in response to their dreams to stage marathons here. But it hasn't stopped them.
And now that the biggest (by far) marathon ever is being held here on Sunday — named, appropriately, the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon, a reminder of the Queen City's roots as the former hog capital of the Midwest — those who have staged marathons here have a history to tell.
Bob Roncker, who runs a running store — The Running Spot — and is a sponsor of a station at the 10-mile mark (O'Bryonville) of the Flying Pig Marathon, is among those pioneers.
“The first marathon here was (in 1971) and it was put on by Mike Boylan,” now the Flying Pig marathon's executive director, Roncker said. “At the time, Mike was an English teacher and cross country and track coach at Roger Bacon. About 25 people ran in it.”
Roncker, who used to operate one of a chain of stores called Phidippides, (named after the early Greek marathoner), staged two marathons on back-to-back weekends in early March 1980 at Mt. Airy Forest.
But, why back-to-back weekends in Cincinnati?
“The night before the first of those marathons, it started snowing and by the time morning came, there was a foot of snow on the ground,” Roncker remembered. “At 5 o'clock in the morning, I picked up a guy from Detroit at the bus station. I called the radio stations to cancel it.”
But, you know how runners are.
If hell and high water can't stop them, a foot of snow surely won't. And it didn't. Ten runners showed up to brave the elements.
On the following weekend, by which time all of the snow had melted, about 150 people ran.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Wade YMCA held “three or four” Pacemaker Running Club marathons, Roncker said.
Another marathon Roncker recalls was late in the year of 1978. It was operated in the Lunken area by the Clifton Track Club.
“It was a certified marathon, a qualifier for Boston,” he said.
The City of Blue Ash held the last marathon in Greater Cincinnati. It was eight years ago, said Blue Ash City Manager Marvin Thompson.
Why did it fold?
“We didn't want to close our recreation facilities down for a good part of a day,” said Thompson, noting traffic logistics became a problem.
So why has it taken so long for a marathon to return?
One reason is because there were other marathons that aren't that far away to which Greater Cincinnati marathoners could travel. (Columbus is an example.) Another reason? So much work and vision is required for a big-time marathon, Roncker said.
Bob Coughlin deserves the credit for having the original idea behind the creation of the marathon that ultimately became the Flying Pig, Roncker said. Coughlin is vice president of the marathon board. The company he started from scratch — Paycor Inc. — is a major sponsor of the Flying Pig, along with Cincinnati Bell, Ohio Casualty Group, Procter & Gamble and Mercy Health Systems.
“Bob's the godfather,” director Boylan agreed. “When I got involved in April, 1998, Bob had already been working on it for two years. He had already recruited race director Rich Williams from Columbus and had major sponsorship in place. I wouldn't have had the initiative and faith to start something like this.”
Coughlin was running in a marathon in Portland, Ore., and attending a conference of race directors, when his dream began to crystallize.
“It took somebody who could figure out how to work the business side of it,” Coughlin said. “I knew there was a runners boom, that it was a great demographic.”
Coughlin knew business and he knew marathoning.
Paycor put up the seed money (“tens of thousands of dollars”). The total sponsorship dollars Coughlin raised are $450,000.
Most dreamers would have been scared off as soon as they heard that the total costs of police, engineering and services that would have to be paid to the cities of Cincinnati (mostly), Newport and Covington, would approach $55,000.
But the man who started his own business wasn't scared off.
That is why Boylan calls Coughlin “The Godfather.”
“People have been saying for 25 years, "Let's have a marathon,'” Boylan noted. “But nobody had the initiative to do it until Bob came along.”
Sunday, pigs will fly.
Flying Pig Marathon Guide
