CINCINNATI (October 14, 2023) – The Queen Bee Weekend championed by Medpace celebrated its 10th anniversary with sold-out fields and familiar faces placing in the top three for its Half Marathon and 4-Miler divisions.
Katie Hallahan of Cincinnati, who came in second in this spring’s Flying Pig Marathon, won the Queen Bee Half in a time of 1:24:45. Second was Colleen Feehan with a time of 1:26:12 and third was last year’s Queen Bee Half Marathon winner, Grace McCarron, in 1:26:35.
“It’s a great race,” said Hallahan, who finished fifth in last year’s Queen Bee. “I love the course. The fact that everyone’s out there to cheer, being out on Cincinnati’s streets, it’s a winner.”
In the Queen Bee 4-Miler, Jenny Benkert placed first in a time of 25:23. Second was Melissa Surman in 25:40, and third was Leslie Karle in 26:35. Benkert was sixth in last year’s Queen Bee Half Marathon.
A sold-out field of some 6,000 participants in the two divisions celebrated the 10th anniversary of Queen Bee weekend, which began in 2014. This year ASICS athletes Abdi Abdirahman, a five-time Olympian, and Diane Nukuri, a three-time Olympian who will run in next year’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, came to Cincinnati as part of the anniversary celebration.
“We are thrilled that we were able to mark our 10th anniversary with a sold-out weekend,” said Iris Simpson Bush, CEO of Pig Works. “It shows that there is a demand for female-focused events that celebrate the moms, daughters, sisters and friends in our lives while giving back to charities that support women and girls in our community.”
Photo: Queen Bee Half Marathon top three, (L to R)
ASICS athlete Diane Nukuri; Flying Pig mascot; Colleen Feehan, second; Katie Hallahan, first; Grace McCarron, third; Iris Simpson Bush, Pig Works CEO; “Honey,” the Queen Bee mascot.
