Sometimes The Little Things Matter Most

So I'm sure that if your like me you hate doing the little things, the mindless things, the things that make you want to fall asleep. That was me until a couple weeks ago when I realized the little things are what runs an organization. At my internship at The Flying Pig Marathon I have had to spend alot of time working on registration which to say the least is not very exciting, but I've came to a realization about the registrations. Without those registrations The Flying Pig Marathon is now existent. The registration are what keeps the Pig Flying. So In all reality the little things are actually the big things, and the most important part of what we do. So with that realization I actually desire registrations coming in everyday and understand their importance. Without registrations, which leads to participants, The Flying Pig would struggle to survive as a non-profit organization. With that said I love working at the pig, and the people I work with. I have gained a vast amount of knowledge on how much work it takes to run a 3 day event. With everything involved it takes a whole year just to prepare for the first weekend in May every year. As always I look to see you crossing the finish line at the Pig, and for more information please visit www.flyingpigmarathon.com

The Flying Pig Helps the Local Economy & Charities

While many people know about The Flying Pig Marathon, I don't feel those people realize the importance of the Pig to the local community and economy. The Flying Pig Marathon helps support around 100 charities and groups. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training Program is our main beneficiary for the 11th annual Flying Pig Marathon. A amazing statistic is that The Flying Pig Marathon has raised over $7.2 million dollars since its start 11 years ago. Also another amazing statistic is the amount of money brought into the cities tourism economy by out of towners which amounts to over $10 million dollars. For this The Flying Pig Marathon was awarded the Queen City Advocate by The Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau. Local businesses such as hotels and restaurants benefit greatly from the participants The Pig brings to the greater Cincinnati area. Also with people concerns about the economy running/walking is an inexpensive activity that the whole family can do with out breaking the Bank. Also its never too late to sign up to run The Pig, and yes, Pigs really do fly.

Mount Competes @ Hoosier-Buckeye Invitational

The Mounts men's & Women's teams both competed at the Hoosier-Buckeye Invitational which consisted of all teams from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Men received a strong 8Th place performance in the 400 meter dash from Ben Weidner. Jeff Schroer also turned in a strong performance in the 5,000 with a 8th place finish. The Mounts 4x200 meter relay team took a 5Th place finish which consist of Juniors David Davis, Seth Gilley (myself), Ben Weidner, and freshman Aubrey Carter. The Mounts throws crew had a strong day with Randall Mitchell taking 2nd, Travis Blank 5th, and Sean Janson taking 6th place in the shot put. Mitchell also claimed a 6th place finish in the weight throw. The women's team also had a strong performance with Emily Babel setting the school record in the prelims of the 55 meter dash with a time of 7.97. She recorded a 4th place finish in the finals of the 55 followed by Kristen George in 5th and Amanda Holmes in 8th place. Babel also recorded a 6th place finish in the 200 meter dash. Abbey Modras claimed a very strong 4th place finish in the 400 meter dash competing in the event for the first time this year. The women's 4X200 meter relay team had the performance of the day with a 1st place finish. That team consisted of Emily Babel, Kristen George, Lauren Hastings, and Abbey Modras. Amanda Smith claimed a 7th place finish in the pole vault. The Mount dominated the long jump with Lauren Hastings taking 1st place followed by Kristen George in 2nd. The mount was also very competitive in the triple jump with Hasting claiming 2nd place, George in 4th, and Maria Ruebusch taking 6th place. The Mount will be back in competition at Depauw on March 6.

Mount Athletes Compete @ All Ohio

The College of Mount St Joseph Track and Field Team had two athletes(Randall Mitchell & Lauren Hastings) qualify for All-Ohio Indoor Championship. Randall Mitchell had a stellar throw in the Shot Put with a distance of 52-02. He broke his own indoor school shot put record by over 2 feet. That mark gave him a first place finish in the All-Ohio Indoor Championship. That mark of 52-02 also provisionally qualifies Mitchell for Indoor Nationals in D-III where he is currently ranked 5Th. Mitchell also had a very good performance in the weight throw placing 11Th. Lauren Hastings had a very strong performance in the long jump at The All-Ohio Indoor Championships with a 5Th place finish. Hastings set a season best mark 16-10.75. That mark also broke the schools Indoor Long jump record. Hastings also competed in the triple jump with a strong 12Th place performance. Look for more great performance's in the future out of this freshman jumper. As always remember to "Mount Up".

MSJ Track competes at Anderson University

OK, so I know this blog about the meet is about a week late, and you are all probably yelling at me but I promise it will be fine. The women were very competitive today with the 4x200 meter relay team finishing 3rd. In the 55 meter dash Kristin George had a strong 3rd place finish.abbey Modras had a very productive day finishing 3rd in the 800 meter run and 6Th in the 1 mile run. Amanda Smith had a strong 6Th place finish in the 400 meter dash. In the 200 meter dash Emily Babel once again finished strong with a 4Th place finish. Lauren Hastings showed two quality performances wining the long and triple jump events. The men were also very competitive today with Derick Tabar finishing 6Th in the 55 dash. With a surprise finish in the 800 Zach Shaw in 4Th place. In the 200 Derick Tabar and Aubrey Carter finished 3rd & 5Th respectively. Randall Mitchell won the shot Put while Travis Blank and Sean Janson finished 5Th and 6Th. Travis and Sean also finished 3rd and 6Th in the weight throw. And as always "Mount Up"

The Flying Pig Goes Green

So as some of you may know I just started working at The Flying Pig Marathon and it has been one of the best decisions I've made to accept the Internship. I am still learning the In's and Outs of the organization, but so far it has been a great learning experience. There is so much more work involved with The Flying Pig Marathon than I ever could of imagined. One thing i have been impressed with is there idea to go 'Green'. They have decided to use old awards that were never used and have the replated for this year. Why I had to sort through all the awards, which was a pain I feel this is an excellent idea. I feel good that the organization I am working for in concerned about the environment. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a "tree hugger", but I feel this is very smart of us. Also, considering the economic state of the country this can not hurt. And as always its never to late to sign up to run the Pig.

Back in Competition

So this weekend was the 1st time since my surgery that I have competed, and it felt great. Believe it or not I had my best race ever in the 55 meter dash. I'm not a big fan of the 55 meter dash usually because its not a long enough race for me to get up to speed, but this weekend everything went right. I got out of the blocks fast, and finished strong beating a competitor at the finish line. It really surprised me considering Ive only been back to training for 2 weeks. My 200 meter dash wasn't the best I've ran that race but considering the limited amount of training Ive had I'll take the performance as a good building block for the rest of indoor season and the start of outdoor season. I just love track season. There is just something about it that give me shivers done my spine, in a good way. I feel good about the rest of the season and feel that I am going to demolish all of my PR's. "Mount Up".

Super Bowl and The Winner is....

Yes, I know you are all thinking this is a blog about MSJ Track & Field and The Flying Pig Marathon. The issue is I couldn't resist talking about one of the best super bowl games ever played to date. To start off I must admit that I wanted the Arizona Cardinals to win, but I was very happy with the performance of Santonio Holmes from The Ohio State University. By the way did I mention that this Santonio was a two time state champion in the 4x400 meter relay in the state of Florida, where his team won the state championship in Florida. With the 27-23 win The Steelers won their record setting 6th Super Bowl. At the end of the second quarter James Harrison intercepted the ball and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown where the Steelers would go up 17-7 at halftime. The Steelers then went up 20-7 on a Jeff Reed field goal. The Cardinals then made a brilliant comeback with a 1 yard touchdown catch to Fitzgerald. The then got a safety on a holding penalty by the Steelers in the End Zone. This made the game 20- 16 then Kurt Warner hit Larry Fitzgerald on a 64 yard catch to put the Cardinals up 23-20. That's when the heroics of Santonio Holmes came into play as he caught 4 catches on the game winning drive. The most pivotal was a 6 yard catch where somehow he was able to get both feet in bounds which gave the Steelers a 27-23 lead with 35 seconds left in the game as they went on to win. In all Holmes had 9 catches for 131 yards as he was named the Super Bowl MVP. Even though I wanted The Cardinals to win I was very excited to see an Ohio State standout win the Super Bowl MVP. To me this really shows the talent that Ohio State produces and sends to the league.