CINCINNATI -- Most marathons don’t welcome streakers, but the Flying Pig has always been unusual.
It helps that its streakers aren’t the kind that probably first comes to mind. Instead, they’re the 94 runners who’ve kept up an 18-year streak of running the Pig every time it rolls around.
That’s a beast of a long time to continue running the same marathon, but that consistency means something special for streakers like Billie Jo Mendoza.
"I’ve gone through divorce, name changes, medical issues with my family members," she said. "The Pig is my solitude. It’s my therapy."
No matter how much their lives or the world might change, the Pig stays the same. For others, like Rick Lukin, it's a memorable day they share with loved ones.
"We got engaged at the Flying Pig in 2013," Lukin said. "And my daughter was born a year ago, two weeks before the Flying Pig!"
For experienced marathoners like Harvey Lewis, hitting the ground running is a day-to-day activity as they prepare for the Flying Pig year-round.
"I'm going to do this till the day I die," Lewis said. "I'm amazed as to how many people are still hanging on because it's very hard to run this consistently and be healthy on the day of the event."
