V. 1 #15 Area Marathons that Preceded the Flying Pig (Part 3 of 3)
Here is the final installment of local marathons that took place before the inaugural 1999 Flying Pig Marathon.
Phidippides Last Chance Marathon(s)
1980
In 1980 Phidippides, (named after the early Greek marathoner), a national chain of about 60 franchised specialty-running
stores existed.
Jeff Galloway was one of the
owners of the chain and Bob Roncker was a part owner, with two other
individuals, of the Cincinnati franchise. The original store was located at the
corner of Madison and Edwards in Hyde Park next to the current Hitching Post. A second store was in Cherry Grove on
Beechmont Avenue.
Galloway's idea was to have all the stores offer a Last Chance
Marathon for the Boston Marathon on March 1, 1980. This was the last weekend
that the Boston Athletic Association, BAA, which owns the marathon, was
allowing people to qualify for that year’s event. Due to unusual circumstances,
two marathons were staged on back-to-back
weekends in early March 1980 at Mt. Airy Forest.
Bob Roncker established a fully
certified course in Mount Airy Forest. It started and ended near the Oval on
the left fork off of Colerain Avenue. One full route of the loop, including the
side branches, was about 3½ miles. It was to be repeated over seven plus times.
On the afternoon before, when the
finish line chutes and mile markers were being set up, the weather looked beautiful.
However, a freak storm, which none of the weather analyst
forecast, appeared that evening. Not only did it affect Cincinnati, but this
storm also caught the entire Eastern Seaboard by surprise. Locally it dumped
over a foot of snow and the temperature plummeted to around 15°.
Roncker awoke at 5:00 a.m. to
pick up an out of town runner who was arriving at the bus depot downtown. While
driving down, Roncker saw what the road conditions were like. He was concerned
that anyone trying to arrive at the course might have an accident. He called
the local media stations around 6:00 a.m. and asked them to make announcements
that the race he had been postponed or canceled.
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. Well, he got a phone call about 9:00 a.m. from a group that came
down from Michigan and they wanted to run a race. They were already at the park,
braving the elements, and ready to go. Roncker said that he would come over and set them off.
Upon arriving at Mt. Airy, Roncker
set out the mile and other markers to help guide the runners. Since a foot of
virgin snow covered everything, you could not tell where pavement or earth was
underneath. Ten individuals started, nearly all of whom finished. As a result
of this race, Roncker claims a record in race directing annuls.
Single-handedly he directed and administered
a fully certified marathon race. He served as the starter, gave out fluids
(until the water froze), recorded all the finishers, and passed out awards. We
won’t say that conditions were arctic-like, but during the course of the event,
two separate dog sled teams passed by.
Permission was granted by the
Boston Athletic Association to extend the qualifying period one more week. The
next weekend the sun was out, the snow was gone, the temperature was up, and another
race, with about 150 runners, was held over the exact same course. Some
even had their shirts off. Unfortunately records of this event have
disappeared.
Lee
Hildebrandt during the second Phidippides Marathon
A runner in Mt. Airy Forest
Blue Ash Marathon
1986-1993
In 1986, under the guidance of
Kriste Dick (Lindenmeyer) and the Clifton Track Club, the Blue Ash Marathon
along with its half marathon component began. This event continued for eight
years in total.
Kriste Dick (left) with Suzanne
Crable
Steve Fader and Tim Kling placed first
and second the initial two years of the event. Steve had almost identical
times both years – 2:36:07 in 1986 and 2:36:42 in 1987.
Steve Fader
Tim had times of 2:38:27 and
2:40:35.
Tim Kling
Dianne Rappaport was the female
winner of the inaugural event. The timer stopped at 3:15:36 for her.
Dianne Rappaport
The half always outdrew the full
marathon. Each year around 350 individuals entered the half while there were
never more than 70 who started the 26.2 mile distance.
After eight years, why does a
marathon stop? The final year for this particular event was 1993. Marvin
Thompson, the Blue Ash City Manager at the time, stated that they did not want
to close the city’s recreation facilities for a good part of the day. Since traffic
logistics also became a problem, the decision to terminate the event was made.
That was the last local marathon until the Flying Pig started soaring in 1999.
Blue
Ash Route
1990
Blue Ash Results
