Bridesmaid no more: Kerry Lee

Shelby Dermer

Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

The 22nd running of the Flying Pig Marathon was postponed until October due to concerns surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Flying Pig races were originally scheduled to run from May 1 to May 3.

Organizers offered three options to participants who were supposed to run this weekend: Run a spring virtual race, postpone to the October date or contribute race registration fees to the Flying Pig Charities.

To date, more than 5,000 are doing the virtual spring races and registration for those is open until May 10.

Registration for the fall Flying Pig races opened up May 11.

To commemorate those participating in the spring virtual Flying Pig races, Pig Works CEO and President Iris Simpson Bush and the Flying Pig mascot (both of whom greet every finisher at the Swine Line of the Marathon) are offering personalized videos with a virtual high five for $22 with all proceeds benefiting UC Health COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund and the Over-the-Rhine (OTR) Chamber Small Business Fund.

In honor of what would've been race week, here are the Top 10 moments in the 22-year history of the Flying Pig Marathon.

10. Flying Pig named best marathon in the country

Earlier this year, the Flying Pig Marathon was voted the No. 1 marathon in the country by RaceRaves, a website dedicated to reviewing races throughout America.

The Flying Pig also took home awards for Top 10 Best Themed Race in the United States, Top 10 Best Weekend Experience in the U.S. and the Green Lion Award, which is given to races committed to expanding and maintaining their sustainability efforts.

9. Amy Robillard dominates the women's marathon

In 2011, Mason native Amy Robillard started a streak where she won every Flying Pig event she entered. Robillard started with wins in the half marathon in 2011 and 2012, then jumped to the full marathon with back-to-back wins in 2014 and 2015. She jumped back to the half marathon in 2016 and won again. That same year, Robillard represented Greater Cincinnati at the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials in Los Angeles, California. "When she finishes a marathon, she (Robillard) can talk as much as I can," Simpson Bush said.

Kerry Lee, Anderson High School cross country coach wins the womenÕs division of the 19th annual Flying Pig Marathon Sunday, May 7, 2017 in Cincinnati. MEG VOGEL/ THE ENQUIRER

8. The Sergio Reyes dynasty

Sergio Reyes is the most decorated runner in the 22-year history of the Flying Pig Marathon. The Palmdale, California, native first burst onto the scene with a first-place finish in 2009 that was just 12 seconds off the event record. Reyes returned to Cincinnati again and won in 2012, 2013, 2014 and in 2016 to become Flying Pig's only five-time champion. "He (Reyes) was always such a professional," Simpson Bush said. "As competitive as he was, I remember one of the years he was running and they were neck and neck. At one point, when the other guy knew he was losing, they shook hands on the course — two competitors running and vying for win shook hands. His (Reyes) professionalism and sportsmanship were always kind of an inspiration."

7. 20th anniversary in 2018 brings in record crowd

The 20th annual Flying Pig Marathon powered by Proctor and Gamble celebrated a record crowd of 43,127 for total weekend participation. The number of attendees was a 13% increase from 2017 and represented all 50 states and more than 20 countries. The event was highlighted by wins from Wisconsin native Aaron Viets and former Hyde Park resident Caitlin Keen.

Keen said she used to watch the Flying Pig Marathon on television when it passed by her house and dreamed about one day winning it. "I'm so happy. It means everything," an emotional Keen told the media after crossing the finish "swine."

6. Fire on Mile 22

On May 4, 2008, the Flying Pig was celebrating the final day of its 10th anniversary when an early-morning fire along Mile 22 of the course forced lastminute changes and created a marathon to remember.

Simpson Bush's "quiet time," where she drives the course early in the morning before the races begin was interrupted when she got to Adams Landing. "This fire vehicle went flying past me," she remembers. "A minute later, I get the call that there's a four-alarm fire on the course."

Originally, the fire marshal told her it would be a four-hour delay, which would've canceled the events. But organizers and police were able to quickly re-route the course through West Peters Street and Schmidt Landing so runners could avoid the fire. The change was made effortlessly and resulted in only a 15-minute delay. "It just came off seamlessly and it was because our police and special events unit worked hand-in-hand with us. They're so invested in the events they do that they'll do whatever it takes to add to the success," Simpson Bush said.

5. Amazing turnout after Boston Marathon bombings

The 2013 Boston Marathon bombing happened less than two weeks before the 15th annual Flying Pig Marathon. Pig organizers didn't know if the bombing would scare people away from participating. The opposite would happen as multiple Flying Pig events reached capacity because of the last-minute rush of registrations. "I kind of get goosebumps thinking about it," Simpson Bush said. "When your two weeks out, if you're not trained for a marathon, you're not going to be able to do one. But people started signing up in droves. We were worried about losing volunteers, but people were begging to come and help any way they could. It was just amazing."

Participants donated $50,000 to the One Fund Boston, wrote notes of support at the Expo and purchased #BostonStrong shirts and bracelets, with proceeds going to the bombing victims.

4. The comeback of Alison Bedingfield Delgado

Alison Bedingfield Delgado won the 2005 Flying Pig Marathon. Five years later, a traumatic head injury from a horrific bicycle accident nearly took her life.

Delgado didn't know if she would live, much less run another race. She recovered from the injury and finished third in the 2011 Tri-State Running Company 5K. Four years later, she would log a third-place finish in the 2015 Flying Pig Marathon and later won the Tri-State Running Company 5K in 2018. "To have her come back and when she came across that finish line, it was just so emotional," Simpson Bush said. "Ali's comeback on a medical, personal and running level was just an amazing story that will always stick with me."

3. Bridesmaid no more: Kerry Lee prevails

Anderson High School cross country coach Kerry Lee finished in second or third place in six straight Flying Pig Marathons before prevailing for a win in 2017. Lee won with a time of 2:53.55 after finishing as runner-up in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. "I have worked for it every year, and every year I think I wanted it more," Lee said after the race.

Simpson Bush added: "Who did not get so emotional when Kerry Lee, after being the bridesmaid all of those years, finally did it?"

2. Cecil Franke sets Flying Pig record

Cecil Franke has been the answer to a popular Pig-related trivia question for over a decade now as the holder of the event's record time. Franke, who had a distinguished high school and college running that included a 1986 Indiana state championship in the 3200-meter and school records at Ball State University, won the 2006 Flying Pig in 2:20.25, which has stood for the last 14 years.

1. Flying Pig debuts in 1999

Softball

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winning a share of the league crown. "It's extremely disappointing, especially since we had six returning seniors, and most of us had been playing together since we were in fifth grade," Caldwell said. "This year we had a strong shot at the ECC title. I thought this could've been our year."

Caldwell, Tori Madden, Ali Madden and Stella Wulker were all vying to set new school records in hits, home runs, RBI, doubles, triples and batting average. Ali Madden and Wulker split pitching duties last season, combining for 17 wins and a 2.49 earned-run average.

All four play on the OFC Heat in the summer and are hoping to get one last chance to suit up together. The summer season has not been cancelled yet, providing some hope. "We're just trying to stay positive," Caldwell said.

Anderson did get in a friendly scrimmage with Turpin on March 13 before spring sports were shut down. "It wasn't about the result but about playing softball against our neighborhood rival and friends, one more time," Anderson head coach Dick Purtell told The Enquirer's Scott Springer.

Williamsburg

Rick Healey’s Lady Wildcats brought most of the town with them to Akron in 2017 when they won the Division IV state title. Winners of the last six SBAAC-National titles, Williamsburg may have been on the verge of another title team in Healey’s eyes.

Instead, seniors Kara Bailey, Hailey Speeg and Jacee Rohne, starters on the state title team as freshmen, miss out on their final swings along with senior Lexi Lindsey.

Fresh off starting his Paycor payroll processing company in 1990, Bob Coughlin, himself a runner, had the vision in 1997 to organize the board of what eventually would become the Flying Pig Marathon. After two years of planning, the board developed the Flying Pig Marathon with more than 6,000 participants at the starting line in May 1999. "I was obviously a little concerned. I was a runner, but had never been, in that capacity, somebody who had helped plan for a first event," said Simpson Bush, who was a board member at the time and the general sales manager at WCPO. "It went off without a hitch."

Runners World Publisher George Hirsch attended the race and called it, "a textbook example of how to start a new race." "That was pretty memorable," Simpson Bush said. "We felt like we were off to a wonderful start. The time was right and we were being welcomes and accepted into the running industry."

The event has grown substantially to more than 40,000 participants from all 50 states and more than two dozen countries and more than $16 million donated to charity.

Healey has tried to keep the team’s spirits up via social media but has kept the stoppages in perspective. He’s also preparing a video for the squad.

“You’ve traveled a rough road and there’s a ton to hold your head up for,” Healey has told the team. “Hopefully you look back at this and say, ‘What could’ve been?’ or maybe in some of their eyes, ‘What should’ve been?’”

Kara Bailey was coming off of a seven homer 65 RBI 2019 and was First Team SBAAC with Speeg. Healey was Coach of the Year and junior Madi Ogden who overcame tremendous odds to have a varsity career was Player of the Year. Ogden hit an eye-opening .700 in 2019 with 15 home runs and 85 RBI. She also pitched 24 victories and struck out 171 in 139.2 innings. She’s had recent interest from Morehead State and had hoped for more looks in a junior year that never happened.

“Sometimes you’re dealt really good hands in life and sometimes you’re dealt really crappy hands,” Healey said. “It makes you better or bitter. It’s how you deal with that hand. I sincerely hope this group of kids graduating are better from it and not bitter from it.”

The silver lining for Williamsburg is the return of Ogden, Paige Fisher (.521), J.J. Thatcher (.446), Brenna Vining (.421) and some promising incoming freshman for 2021.

Mason

The Comets of Liann Muff were 24-4 last season and 15-3 in the GMC. They lost to Division I state runners-up Lakota East twice in extra innings, the last one a 5-4 defeat on May 22, 2019, in the last official game Mason played. Sydney Carter was GMC Player of the Year as a sophomore, hitting.576 with 40 RBI. Seniors this season, Tori O’Brien (Ohio University) was coming off a .511 season with 21 steals, while Carsyn Snead hit .500 in 2019. Sophomore Val Allen would have returned after a .384 freshman season.

West Clermont

The Wolves were the defending ECC champions going 19-6 (13-1) with the one league loss to Milford 5-4 on April 10, 2019.

Kaila Nutter, a West Clermont High School senior softball player had impressive ECC stats at .576 with four homers and 25 RBI but also provided that little extra something for the team that doesn’t appear on the stat sheet. During the 2019 season, Coach Throckmorton literally nick-named her “Clutch Kaila” for always coming up with the game-changing plays when needed most. Her four home runs in 2019 were all game-changers – including her three-run homer in the seventh inning against McNicholas. She also had game-changing or winning home runs against conference opponents Milford and Kings, and again in the postseason against Wilmington, a game-winner that put the Wolves up 3-2. Many of her 25 RBIs in 2019 were game-changers and momentum swingers as well, including a two-run double for the 3-2 win against Anderson to set the team up to win the ECC Championship.

Other seniors missing their seasons include Paige Suggs, Sydney Barger and Kinsey Ventura (.468, .467 and .463, respectively as juniors).

Western Brown

recording a 0.49 ERA with 281 strikeouts. She needed 262 more to reach 1,000 for her career

She also was denied the chance to be the career leader at Western Brown in several offensive categories. She had 33 doubles, the record is 34. She had 137 hits, the career record is 165. She had 100 career RBI with the record being 139. She had 95 career runs scored, the record is 130. She also has 63 career wins as a pitcher with the record at 66.

Taylor

The Cincinnati Hills League has been run by Taylor in recent years as the Yellowjackets have won the last three conference titles outright. Taylor went a perfect 14-0 against CHL foes in each of those three seasons, so they'll take a 42- game conference win streak into the 2021 campaign. In 2019, Taylor outscored opponents 338-32 en route to a 24-4 record and a district championship game appearance.

Taylor would've returned the CHL's top three hitters in seniors Ashley Bucher and Brooklyn Linneman and sophomore Sophia Thoma.

Thoma led the league in hitting as a freshman last season with a .554 batting average with Bucher right behind her at .533. Linneman finished at a .518 clip while leading the conference in home runs (8) and RBI (50). Senior Sophia Reagan was also coming back after a junior season that saw her hit .478 with 27 knocked in and 13 doubles.

Fellow freshman phenom Kylie Burdick hit .463 with seven long balls in 2019. Burdick was 6-0 in the circle with a 1.14 earned run average and a perfect game. Linneman, the reigning CHL Athlete of the Year, was the club's primary pitcher who finished 18-4 with a 0.55 ERA while averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning (225 in 113 IP).