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Watch Flying Pig women’s winner Tori Parkinson cross finish line
Tori Parkinson finished in first place at the 2025 Flying Pig women’s full-marathon in 2:40.10, second-fastest all-time by a woman at the Flying Pig.
Utah native Tori Parkinson won the 26th Flying Pig Marathon on Sunday in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 6 seconds.
“My training wasn’t exactly what I wanted it to be, so I was really happy to feel strong when the later miles kicked in,” Parkinson said
Parkinson took the race by storm, opening up a sizable gap by the time she came off the Clay-Wade Bailey Bridge at about mile 4. By mile 16, she had opened up an eight-minute gap on Sophie Bolich and Daniella Townsend.
In the early miles, she mistook some of the female half-marathon leaders as her fellow competitors. It wasn’t until the split in Walnut Hills that she realized she was all alone. Despite running by herself for the majority of the race, she clocked an even split of 1:19:41 for the first half and 1:20:25 for the second half.
“I would channel some of the runs I’ve done at home and pictured what those felt like. I reminded myself the hill does end, you do recover. Playing the mental games through it really helped me the most,” Parkinson said.
Parkinson raved about the energy on the course, saying it “might be my favorite marathon I’ve ever done.” Her first win at 26.2 miles may have contributed to that feeling.
A graduate of Utah State, she has run six marathons including the 2021 Boston Marathon, the 2023 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, and the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Orlando. She also won the 2023 Salt Lake City Half Marathon and the 2024 Hobble Creek Half Marathon.
“There was so much woman support. Everyone kept me going with, ‘Go girl! Go first woman! I love seeing the little girls cheering,” Parkinson said.
Dayton native and 2024 champion Olivia Anger was considered a pre-race favorite to break the tape, but she dropped out the day before the race.
Parkinson’s time is now the second-fastest women’s winning time in race history. Anger previously held that title with a time of 2:43:22. Three-time winner Caitlin Keen has three of the top six winning times, all since 2018. The current trend suggests that Tatyana Pozdnyakova’s course record of 2:34:33 could be broken in the near future.
“I think women’s marathoning is making huge progress right now. There’s been a lot more research on what women need. Even for my own training, I feel like I’m understanding recovery a lot better and seeing improvements in my own running,” Parkinson said.
Parkinson turned her attention to her favorite post-race meal of street tacos, taking recommendations in the post-race huddle. She is also focused on qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Trials marathon. A site for that race is to be determined, but the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad will be in Los Angeles. She also has her eye on the New York City Marathon, which would be her third Abbott World Marathon Major after previously completing the Chicago and Boston marathons.
“I have been dying to do that one day. I love east coast races,” Parkinson said.
Cincinnati native Daniella Townsend was the runner-up while Emma Bell, a recent high school graduate from Demotte, Indiana, took third place.
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