The 2021 Flying Pig Marathon will be Jack Randall's 13th marathon.
Considering the Flying Pig historically has been a good event for the Pleasant Ridge resident, running No. 13 on Halloween morning shouldn't be too scary.
Randall, 26, is a two-time winner in the men’s marathon. He won in 2017 with a time of 2:33:46. He shaved nearly five minutes off of that time in 2019, winning his second Flying Pig with a time of 2:28:58.
After the 2020 Flying Pig was canceled due to COVID-19, both the marathon and Randall are back and ready to run again.
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The circumstances for this year’s Flying Pig are a little bit different, though. The marathon, typically held in May, was moved to Oct. 31 this year. So, instead of training in the cold weather and running in the heat, Randall and the rest of the runners get to do the opposite. He prefers this setup to the normal conditions.
“I’m actually very excited to have a fall version of the Flying Pig this year,” Randall said. “Preparation-wise, I always prefer fall marathons because you get to train through the heat, and then, typically, in the fall, you end up with the cooler weather, at least in the morning.”
Despite those preferable training circumstances, Randall still had to overcome an injury to get ready for this year’s Flying Pig. For part of the summer, he had dealt with Iliotibial band syndrome or IT band syndrome. This common injury among runners is usually caused by overuse, which causes pain between the hip and the knee.
Randall began dealing with IT band syndrome after running a marathon in April in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“I battled back through mid-July, I would say. I probably should’ve just stepped away from running for a prolonged period of time and let my body have time to heal, but I’m not very good at that,” Randall said. “Typically, what I’ll do is take a couple of days off and then go out and test it and reinjure myself and have to start the whole thing over again.”
Randall got over his injury around mid-July, which still gave him three months to get ready for this year’s Flying Pig. His normal training regimen consists of four- to five-week blocks with a down week between blocks. When his training is ramped up for those four or five weeks, Randall said he typically runs anywhere from 80 to 100 miles per week, while the down weeks cut that mileage in half.
That training schedule seems to have paid off. After shaving nearly five minutes from his times between Flying Pig championships, Randall said he has been able to run nearly five minutes faster than his 2019 time. The Dayton native is hoping to finish the marathon somewhere around the 2:23:00 mark this year, which he said is right around his personal record.
“If I can run in the 2:22’s, I would be ecstatic,” Randall said. “But ultimately, just out there for a fun time. I’ve been training really hard, but at the end of the day, in a running group with all of my best friends and just having the opportunity to get out there and run with all of them is what I’m in it for. The time is just sort of icing on the cake.”
With a win in Sunday’s marathon, Randall would pass Rudolph Jun, who won in 2000 and 2001, on the men’s list of winningest Flying Pig runners. The winningest male in Flying Pig history is Sergio Reyes with five victories. Reyes won in 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. The possibility of moving up the leaderboard has crossed Randall’s mind at times, but he said it’s not his main focus. Randall considers the wins secondary to the fun he has when he’s running in the Flying Pig, or just running in general.
Randall joined the cross country team during his sophomore year at Oakwood High School in Dayton, and he joined the running club during his time at the University of Cincinnati. Randall and Kyle Klinger, one of Randall’s running club friends, went on to start Cincinnatus Elite in 2019, as the two runners shared the goal of wanting to develop a post-graduate club for runners to train, compete and become close friends.
“I think really what drew me to (running) initially was just the opportunity to be on a team with good friends, and I’ve made all of my best friends through the running community throughout my running career,” Randall said.
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