Road Hogs Race to Promote Pork, Fitness

Finishing a marathon may be one of the toughest challenges in sports, but the North Carolina Pork Council’s (NCPC) Road Hogs are proving how pork fuels peak performance. 

“For the eighth year in a row we’ve competed in the Myrtle Beach Marathon Relay race in South Carolina,” says team member Garth Boyd with CMA Consulting, L.L.C. in North Carolina. “This is such a fun way to show people that pork fits in with a healthy lifestyle.”

All 10 members of the NCPC Road Hogs are affiliated with the pork industry, including a veterinarian, an ag lender, an Extension livestock agent who specializes in pork production, and North Carolina State University staff who lead the Animal and Poultry Waste Management Center.

At the prestigious Feb. 17 marathon in Myrtle Beach, which attracts nearly 8,000 runners, the NCPC Road Hogs won the business team category for the fourth year in a row and took fifth place overall out of 190 teams competing. In addition to their winning time of 2:43:08 (that’s a 6:14 per-mile pace for the 26.2 miles), a running pig and the NCPC logo emblazoned on the team’s racing uniforms attracted attention.

“People always ask, ‘Who are the Road Hogs?,’ and they are very surprised that we represent the pork industry,” Boyd says. “For us, it’s a unique way to tell our story about pork and fitness.”

Winning with pork 
The NCPC Road Hogs started informally nearly a decade ago at a pork conference when a couple of the current team members went for a run and started brainstorming ways to carry on the momentum. Today the NCPC Road Hogs include two women and eight men who range in age from 27 to nearly 60.

In addition to the Myrtle Beach Marathon Relay race, members of the NCPC Road Hogs compete at several races each year and have earned many individual titles.

"We’ve got some fantastic runners, and we all appreciate NCPC’s sponsorship of the Road Hogs, which helps pay for travel expenses and racing uniforms,” says Boyd, who notes that the NCPC Road Hogs will be back in Myrtle Beach for the 2008 marathon relay race. “We’re proud to let everyone know we’re representing the pork industry.”