Squeal of Fortune
How to Be a Great Spectator
Make noise to encourage the runners: cheer, clap, play music, or make your own music.
Identify with the runners. They are completing a very difficult task. Praise the runners individually. Many runners will have their names on their bib. (Ex: “Go number one! You’re doing great!”) He or she will truly appreciate it.
Stay positive in your cheering. (No ‘boo’s, please!)
Locate your cheering section on a hill or more challenging portion of the course. These are the places that the runners will need the most encouragement.
Make distinctive signs and move to different locations throughout the course. Believe it or not, runners will remember you and it will encourage them to keep going.
Do something to make runners smile. Laugh, sing, dance, or do tricks such as juggling. It may put the runners at ease for a few moments.
Have a party with friends and/or neighbors if the course travels past your area.
– Flying Pig Marathon website
See a list of official Party Zones!
Running takes perseverance and a strong inner drive, but a little outside encouragement always helps.
“Seeing other people crush their goals is very inspiring and supporting them is a lot of fun,” says Jonathan White, assistant manager of lululemon on Hyde Park Square.
For the past decade, the store, around mile 11 of the route, has been a hub of for supporters, who come out on race day to cheer on runners all along the course. White has been participating for the past several years.
“As a company, lululemon is big on vision and goal-setting,” says White. This year, they will have a DJ and signs to help cheer on the runners.
“Hopefully we can bring a smile to their faces,” says White.
Official spots to cheer on the runners are set up all along the route, from Seventh Street to Delta Avenue. Friends and family who want to catch a glimpse of the action along the course from one of the Official Flying Pig Marathon Party Zones, presented by Culligan.
“Cheering on the hordes of runners is as beneficial to us as it is to them, it seems,” says Blythe Jones, one of the longtime Parrotheads at the Flying Pig Fluid Station at Mile 18.
To keep to their Parrothead Club Charter, they “party with a purpose” by supporting the work of the Pink Ribbon Girls.
Jones is one of the early Cincinnati Parrothead Club members, working the race with the club for the past 18 years. She has been co-captain for about 10 years with her husband, Gary, and Lynda and Joe Rahe.
Together they assemble a crew of 30 to 40 people willing to also clear the site around the fluid station of overgrowth, mark table spacing, and run a hose through the woods on Saturday so they’re ready to go at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.
“Our fluid station is before a very long uphill section, so we bring everything we can to raise spirits and hydrate the runners – a tropical soundtrack, encouraging signs, cowbells, Hawaiian shirts, leis, and crazy costumes,” says Jones.
The Parrotheads, lululemon, and other party zones are a great way for spectators to show their support and enthusiasm.
“We can see some runners pick up their pace to match the music,” says Jones. “Many perk up to thanks us or smile when we tell them they are doing great.”
Both White and Jones encourage people to join their parties on Sunday, or to get out and cheer on the runners wherever they are on the course.
“Having folks turn out for support is important because it’s the people of Cincinnati, not the athletic teams or chili parlors, that leave a lasting impression on the runners,” says Jones.