Posted: May 11, 2006

Athletics: Event Record and Record Field Set at 2006 Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon

CINCINNATI - (May 7, 2006) - Cecil Franke of Dublin, Ind., won the 8th annual Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon on Sunday morning in an event record time of 2 hours, 20 minutes, 25 seconds in only his second marathon. Franke, a cross country coach at Centerville High School, just outside Richmond, Indiana, shattered the previous marathon record of 2:21:15, set in 1999 by Elly Rono, as he dueled most of the way with runner-up Chris Reis, a native of Delhi Township, who ran a personal record of 2:23:23.

A record 14,911 were registered for the weekend events, including 4,919 in the full marathon, 4,937 in the half-marathon presented by National City, 200 in the Corporate Express corporate relay and 1,892 in the Ernst & Young open relay. In the Saturday events, 973 competed in the Toyota 10K, won by T.J. Lentz and Kerry Lee, 1,405 in the 5K and 585 in the Piglet Fun Run. Forty-eight states and fifteen countries, including the United States, were represented in the field.

"I was just trying to hang on," said the 38-year-old Franke. "I hadn't planned on going that fast, but Chris pushed me faster than I wanted to go."

Franke, who was raised in Osgood, Indiana, and ran at Ball State University, didn't have a strategy to sprint toward the end. "By mile 19, I felt good, so I picked up the tempo. My splits for mile 18 and 19 were right around 5:09."

In the women's division, 36-year-old Norah Shire of Hyde Park easily won in a time of 2:56:19. "It's a fantastic marathon, a great course," said the Washington, D.C., native, who is now living in Cincinnati, finishing her Ph.D. in viral epidemiology at the University of Cincinnati. "When you go thru the neighborhoods, it's so much fun. It's such a popular race - I mean, it's called the Flying Pig."

Second was 22-year-old Lindsey Yourman of New York, in 2:59:32 in her debut marathon.

In the Flying Pig Half Marathon presented by National City, 26-year-old Tilahun Abebe of Western Hills, a native of Ethiopia, won the men's race in a time of 1:14:07 after getting off work at midnight and getting little or no sleep before the race. He worked the second shift at the parking garage at Tower Place, one of two jobs he holds, then was at the starting line at 6:00am.

In second place was 32-year-old Omar Nash of Cincinnati in 1:15:35 and third was Shaun Pawsat, 36, of Fort Thomas, Ky. in 1:15:59. All three are members of the same Cincinnati running club, Earth Drummers.

For the women, Tanya Thatcher, 35, from Mason, Ohio, defended her title, finishing in 1:23:18. "There was a little more pressure because of winning the year before," she said. "I led thru four miles, then I hung back until mile nine, then I took the lead again. The downhill stretched pushed me home."

Second in 1:24:35 was Nicole LaSelle, 28, of Dayton, a former runner at Chaminade-Julienne High School and at the University of Notre Dame.

Returning to the Cincinnati running scene after two stress fractures is 27-year-old PJ Ball, who finished third in 1:26:10. The women's winner of the 2004 Flying Pig Marathon said she was just happy to be back running.

8th Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon - Cincinnati, OH, Sunday, May 7, 2006

MEN
1) Cecil Franke, IN, 2:20:25*
2) Chris Reis, OH, 2:23:23
3) Brian List, OH, 2:33:55
*event record (previous record, 2:21:15, Elly Rono (KEN), 1999)

WOMEN
1) Norah Shire, OH, 2:56:19
2) Lindsey Yourman, NY, 2:59:32
3) Betsy Armentrout, NC, 3:01:40

For complete results, visit: FlyingPigMarathon.com.

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.

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