But who were these elusive runners?

Try Eric Finan, Alphonse Harris, Peter Kistinger and Michael Perry, four high school freshmen who didn't train together, didn't organize a strategy and didn't plan on beating 91 other men's relay teams in 2:45.19.

They didn't even know they were victors. Finan, a 14-year-old from New Richmond, scrolled through the Pig's results online that night and notified Harris, 14, from Sycamore and Kistinger, 15, from Cincinnati Country Day. But he didn't have a phone number for 15-year-old Perry from Winton Woods.

"I was just sitting there at my computer all night, waiting for him to get online so I could tell him," Finan said.

Said Perry: "Team Wings? I didn't even know we had a name."

Living so far apart and attending different schools hasn't been easy for the foursome, which was first introduced at an eighth grade city championship. Middletown High School coach Scott Dalton united the runners on a USA Track & Field Junior Olympics team that competed two years ago in Atlanta.

Since then, some have run the Thanksgiving Day Race, some have competed with the Junior Olympics in Albuquerque, N.M., and all have begun their first high school track seasons. Every runner but Perry competed on a team in last year's Pig relay, in which they were second in the men's open under the name Flying Yaks.

Sunday's Pig was the foursome's second formal reunion. And, at first, nothing seemed to go right.

Perry launched the race's first leg, tackling a team-high 7 miles. The others had deemed him the fastest and agreed to "stick him with the hardest part of the race."

"When we got to the 5-mile mark we passed some hills and I was like, 'I'm glad we don't have to run that,' " Perry said. "Then the next two miles were all hill."

Perry passed the race chip, worn above the runners' ankles, to Harris. Harris was lucky to be at his stop at all. He was waiting to get his number, but the Pig bus arrived early. He hopped aboard and was en route to the second exchange - until the bus driver got lost.

"I was thinking, 'I don't have to run. I hope Michael's up to it!' " said Harris, who grabbed his race number from his father at the last minute.

After Harris ran his 5.9-mile, hilly route, he gave way to Kistinger. The team was going so fast at that point its runners weren't ready at their exchanges. Finan was drinking Gatorade and wearing his warmup clothes when Kistinger showed up for the last exchange.

Finan scrambled to the finish, only to believe the team had placed second in the relay. In reality they had placed first in the men's open four-person relay, second in the four-person relay overall and fourth in the entire relay field.

"We were really surprised. We thought a lot of older guys would beat us," Kistinger said. "We knew we were good, but not that good."

They don't expect to run again as a team until the 2005 Pig. Next year they'll approach the race with a plan in mind.

"We have a goal," Finan said. "To finish first overall."

2515 Erie Ave./Hyde Park

Fort Mitchell resident Mark Wehry nudged running pal Scott McElroy at Mile 6 of the sixth annual Flying Pig Marathon on May 2 and said, "This is the best I've ever felt."

That was before he ran the hills. Wehry felt a sudden sharp, stabbing pain in his right calf as he climbed the course's inclines. When he changed his stride to relieve pressure on his toes, his left hip began aching.

Wehry, 39, was running for Team 7 Fighting ALS on behalf of Edgewood resident Kevin Heidrich, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. But by Mile 11 he found it difficult to work through the pain. Wehry contemplated calling his wife, Teri, to come pick him up.

He veered off the course to use the nearest phone and met a group of people who changed his life.

"I'm thinking of calling my wife and stopping," Wehry told a group of Pig fans at 2515 Erie Ave. "I'd like you to talk me out of it."

The 15 race watchers didn't hesitate. One grabbed Wehry a Gatorade, another gave him $20 for Heidrich and all of them ordered him not to quit. That was enough for Wehry, who said "there was no way" he was going to stop after that. Though he didn't know the Erie crew, their support was enough to steer him 15 miles to the Pig's finish, where he completed the 26.2 miles in 4:28.15.

Wehry said he wouldn't have been comfortable accepting money from his sponsors - which benefit the University of Kentucky's College of Medicine - if he hadn't finished the race. Thanks to the Good Samaritans on Erie, Wehry did.

"2515 Erie Avenue," he said. "I'll never forget it."

Marcus Taylor/Avondale

This junior at the School for Creative and Performing Arts will be representing the United States at the International Rope Skipping Foundation's world competition July 20-29 in Brisbane, Australia. Taylor, a member of North Avondale Montessori's Ropin' Rockets, will join Timothy Martin of North Carolina and Mike Fry of Akron as the country's only contestants. They will compete in four categories: freestyle routine, triple-unders, 30-second speed and three-minute speed.

Taylor, 18, placed fourth in the world championships in Korea in 2001, winning a gold medal for his 30-second speed and a bronze for his freestyle routine. He hopes to take home four golds this summer.

"I could have done better in Korea," said Taylor, who had a back spasm that hindered his performance. "Winning in Australia would be really exciting."

Said Ropin' Rockets coach Chris Emerson: "There are some guys who are good at one specific event, but Marcus is good at all of them."