By Peggy O'Farrell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Abby Nelson, 9, and Vivian Tong, 7, put on their running shoes before taking part in a running program at Fairview School in Clifton Heights. (Photos by Steven M. Herppich/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Music teacher Katie Hofmann directs a stretching and warm-up session.

Bill Gordon, of Clifton, organized this running program at Fairview School in Clifton Heights where teachers and parents train with the children twice a week as they get ready for the Flying Pig 5K race.

Twenty or so grade-school kids are clustered together on the parking lot at Fairview School in Clifton Heights.

At gym teacher Ellen Pollak's command, they start stretching side to side. "Oh, does that feel good," Pollak says, and leads them through more stretches: Lower back, hamstring, quads, upper body.

Limbered up, the students start trotting down Warner Street for another Monday training session after school. A few more weeks of training, and they'll be ready to run the inaugural Flying Pig 5K and Fun Festival on May 1.

The Flying Pig Marathon, scheduled for May 2, attracts thousands of adult runners from all over the world. This year, organizers want children to start learning the value of fitness.

For Bill Gordon, Fairview's PTA director and the organizer of the Fairview Runs training program, the after-school sessions are a chance for kids and parents to spend time together and for kids to learn the importance of setting goals and staying active.

For the kids, it's a chance to move after spending the day cooped up in a classroom.

Some like the stretches. Some like the time with their friends. Some just like to run, at least as long as they're heading down the hill.

WATCHING THE PIG

Not quite ready to run the Flying Pig Marathon on May 2? Here are prime spots along the new route for watching and cheering on the runners: The start/finish area along Mehring Way. Organizers suggest watching the start from the plaza level of Paul Brown Stadium, then heading to Third and Central, the Taylor-Southgate Bridge and Pete Rose Way just east of the U.S. Bank Arena to see runners as they return from Northern Kentucky. The Eden Park overlook. Hyde Park Square. Join the "street squealers" to cheer on runners. Mariemont. This year is the first the marathon heads to Mariemont. Eastern Avenue, just in sight of downtown for the final, flat stretch. The finish line: Join the runners at Sawyer Point and Yeatman's Cove as they celebrate the end of the race. For a detailed map of the 2004 Flying Pig Marathon route, visit www.flyingpigmarathon.com. Source: The Flying Pig Marathon

"I don't like running uphill," says Marissa Delgado, 6. She is a first-grader.

Her friend, Julia Langenderfer, 7, agrees. "It's harder to run uphill," she says.

It all started a few years ago when Gordon's son, David, now 11, told his parents he wanted to participate in the Cheetah Run - a 5K run/walk that raises funds for Cincinnati Zoo programs - with them.

So Gordon and his wife, Nancy, helped David train, and last year, David completed his second Cheetah Run.

When marathon organizers announced they were adding the 5K run and children's festivities, Gordon decided it was time to set up a training program at Fairview, a magnet school focusing on German language skills.

And so, "Die Fliegenden Schweine von Fairview" (or The Flying Pigs of Fairview) were born.

Students work out Mondays and Fridays after school as a group, and one day a week on their own.

On Sunday, the students ran the Humana Heart Mini-MaraFun, a 2K run/walk.

The May 1 5K is being held in conjunction with Girls!CAN, a youth organization geared toward empowering girls through physical activity.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

All run/walk events begin and end at Sawyer Point, downtown. Saturday, May 1 9 a.m.: Kahn's Flying Piglet Kids' Fun Run starts 11 a.m.: The Flying Pig 5K and Fun Festival presented by Girls!CAN starts 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Flying Pig Pasta Dinner, Atrium II, 221 E. Fourth St., downtown Sunday, May 2 5 a.m.: Flying Pig Walking Division starts 6:25 a.m.: Flying Pig Wheelchair Division starts 6:30 a.m.: Flying Pig Marathon starts 6:30 a.m.: Flying Pig Relay Event (Outback 2-person relay, Ernst & Young 4-person relay and Corporate Express Corporate Challenge Relay) starts 6:50 a.m.: Flying Pig Papa John's 10K event starts 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Michelob Ultra Victory Party at Sawyer Point Information or registration: www.flyingpig marathon.com or 721-7447

Girls!CAN is set up in 18 schools around the area, says executive director Tracey DuEst, and more than 300 girls from the program will run or walk in the 5K.

The Flying Piglets, in cooperation with Cincinnati Walks, are encouraging students at different schools to log one mile of walking for each of the 26 miles marathoners will run.

Iris Simpson-Bush, executive director of the Flying Pig Marathon, says it's exciting to see kids getting involved.

"Part of what we try to do is instill a healthy lifestyle, good nutrition and good fitness habits, and we have a much better chance of getting that message to people when they're young," she says.

At Fairview, Marie Pfeffer and son Tony Heim, 6, have already been running together regularly for about a year.

Pfeffer has run the Flying Pig three times and will run again this year. She'll be on the sidelines to cheer her son on during the 5K.

"I told him training is a big commitment," Pfeffer says.

Tony, in the meantime, is already looking forward to the day he can compete in the Flying Pig.

"That's my goal," he says.