Forums >Racing>Race Medals --- Why?
Feeling the growl again
You could mint those out of gold for what it will cost you to get them.
jaxn, here is what is in your future: And eventually:
jaxn, here is what is in your future:
And eventually:
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
I'm a cheap bastard so wanting to do a Rock and Roll is beyond my comprehension. I do however understand wanting to streak a race.
You didn't take that there tired person's bus to the finish line, did you?
Something about this one bugs me. Maybe it is because it represents less of a personal achievement and more of a frequent shopper reward. I guess it makes sense in that completing two 13.1 or 26.2 races in a year is an achievement, but really I will do two marathons and four half-marathons this year - it just happens that two of them were with Rock&Roll.
--
Nashville, TN
If the races are in locations you want to race in, the Tour Pass can actually be a really good deal.
I take the tour pass all the time. It just isn't for the Rock and Roll.
There is a great little Marathon outside of Jackson Hole Wy or another in scenic Corning NY. Lots of little gem 1000 - 4000 person attended marathons out there in some great cities.
I tend to avoid the crowds and like the easier logistics.
What this race needs is more cowbell ...
Cool idea for a finishers medal for upcoming 20k through the Virginia countryside ...
The process is the goal.
Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny.
I used to say that I only want 26.2 medals (8 so far) , and nothing else. I have no clue where my first 2 half medals are. I ran a half recently in my mom's hometown in New Brunswick. That one I'm keeping.
I don't get giving them out for 5ks especially. I think that they should only be for kids, and I won't take them.
Live Free & Run
I used to want a mdeal for every race regardless of the distance. Presently, I feel finisher medals should only be given to distances equal to HM or greater (save for unique circumstances).
I do see why some 5Ks would give out medals because most of those participants will probably not run anything farther.
PRs
1-Mile - 6:18 on 4-4-2015
5K - 21:48 on 10-31-2015
10K - 47:57 on 10-24-2015
HM - 1:52:36 on 3-25-2017
FULL - 4:41:12 on 1-11-2015
Upcoming Races
Tanger Outlet 5K
Disney World 19.3 Challenge
Race the Runways 10K
Earlier this year I ran a 5k that had a much better finishers gift instead of a silly medal. The race was put on by a business and the race was a fund raiser for the girl scouts. So instead of a useless finisher's medal (I wish every race would do away with them and give the money to whoever it was raising funds for or lower the prices) all finishers were given a package of girl scout cookies. The best finisher's gift I have gotten.
I think medals are great--for any distance. I think it's easy to forget after we have been running for a while that running a half-marathon is a lot easier for us than it is for a lot of people to run their first 5K. Running that first 5K (or even any 5K) is a huge accomplishment.
If you don't want the medal, don't take it, donate it, or don't sign up for races that offer medals. There are a lot of cheap races that just give a t-shirt (or even omit that).
“Over level or steep, over smooth or rough, over dry or wet…run, run: always run.”
When you race with friends and/or family, everyone with medals around their necks makes a great photo op.
My sister and I are planning to run a 5K with my 75 year old dad, who's never raced and only started running a couple years ago after dusting out the old treadmill in the basement. I am finding a race that gives out medals. I used to think medals should only be for 13.1K or more, but I now have thrown out all my running "ethics" out the window!
Dream Maker
Look, I have a box with finishers medals and age group awards filled up I could care less about -- many that I did care about when I got them.
I used to still care about marathon or longer medals but I've got over 60 of them and I don't care so much.
BUT
I pace marathons. It might not mean much anymore but have you seen the face of someone finishing their first (or first few) marathon as they have the medal placed over their neck? It's priceless. It's beautiful. And I would never suggest taking that away from someone.
And for some, it's not even a marathon -- it's that unbelievable first half marathon. Or 10K.
The magic is there in it... if you don't think it is, volunteer handing out the medals after a race.
(Plus, my daughter thinks my medals are awesome and shows them off to her friends and plays with them and pretends she's a marathon runner. That makes them worth it in itself to me.)
Oh, and I will be seeking out a 5K with finisher medals when my daughter does her first. She wants her own medal fiercely.
Will run for scenery.
Okay, another (practical!) reason to give finishers medals.
Let's say you finish the Pike's Peak Marathon. The post-race beer has been cancelled due to flooding in town the week before. So you head to The Loop for a celebratory Margarita. Or two. Each one the size of your head. After you leave, you realize your otherwise empty stomach ain't handling things so well. So you (discretely!) barf in the shrubbery and stretch out for a well-deserved rest.
Q) When the EMTs and cops show up, how are they supposed to know you're not just some random drunk ?
A) The finishers medal ! You're a very special drunk !
Stupid feet!
Stupid elbow!
Latent Runner
Hmmm, I guess things have changed in the thirty plus years since I last regularly raced. Back in the late 1970s through roughly the mid 1980s, I recieved exactly one race medal; it was for my first 5K run back in 1979 and somehow I managed to finish third and I got the "bronze" (more like bronze plated tin) medal.
Now as an old fat fart I've only run two races, and both came with a tee-shirt and that's about it; I'm thinking I'm "okay" with that.
Fat old man PRs:
Outside Lane
.... It might not mean much anymore but have you seen the face of someone finishing their first (or first few) marathon as they have the medal placed over their neck? It's priceless. It's beautiful. And I would never suggest taking that away from someone. ....The magic is there in it... if you don't think it is, volunteer handing out the medals after a race.
.... It might not mean much anymore but have you seen the face of someone finishing their first (or first few) marathon as they have the medal placed over their neck? It's priceless. It's beautiful. And I would never suggest taking that away from someone.
....The magic is there in it... if you don't think it is, volunteer handing out the medals after a race.
Absolutely....I plan on finishing my first marathon this Fall (If all goes according to plan)...and I will cherish the medal. I'm working for it....and I see it as one tangible reward for hitting a personal goal. If medals don't excite you anymore - so be it - but recognize that everyone is not like you.
I would do this even if I didn't get a medal - but I won't turn it down...
Watch this video - I really look forward to this...
http://www.chicagomarathon.com/video-gallery/race-highlights/
go to 5:33 and watch to end - this is what I want to feel....remember when you felt that way....?
See how they run...