Janelle over at Mile Twenty Eight’s question of the week is about bling. She asks:
“What has been your favorite race award?”
Other than the usual medals, trophies, plaques, gift certificates and even cash, I can’t say I’ve ever gotten anything truly unique. I’m still holding out for a pint glass! And I want that damn Warrior Dash viking helmet!
The most beautiful medal I have, imo, is this one from Fort2Base 2011. It was run on 9/11/11 and goes 10 nautical miles from Fort Sheridan to the Great Lakes Naval Station. I loved this race and I think the medal rocks.
All looks aside, a very simple 10k AG award holds the most meaning for me.
Most of these are AG awards. The medal with the most meaning is the very first flag one on the left.
I went into this 10k with a goal of 8:15 minute miles. I thought that was a stretch. Running under a parking garage in the first half mile threw my Garmin way off so it basically lied to me the rest of the race, saying I was going slower than I was. I was too new to running to know Garmins lie sometimes. According to Garmin, I surpassed my goal with an average pace of 8:13 miles. But the finish line clock read 47 something as I approached. I was positive the time clock was wrong because I was incapable of running sub-8 minute miles for a 10k. When they called my name for the AG award, I explained this. The race director laughed and assured me I indeed ran well sub-8 and won the age group. That’s when I realized I was holding myself back in my head and I needed to just run. I also realized then that I was holding myself back in other areas of life as well.
What’s your favorite race bling? Have you gotten anything unique?
I love the F2B medal! Probably my favorite medal, based on looks alone, is the TCM medal from 2011. It is gorgeous with an orange and yellow stained glass leaf in the middle of it.
I laughed when I read your story about the one that holds the most meaning though, because my story is almost the same! That one is the fox cities half medal from last month, where I went sub-2. Like you, it made me realize that I was capable of so much more than I believed…
I love your story about the medal that holds the most meaning. I think all of us have held ourselves back mentally, getting too roped into a time goal without realizing what we are truly capable of! I LOVE those America medals. Can I ask what race that was from?
I’m still working on my collection…they’re my reason for running! 😉 kind of…
I was just looking at my medals the other night. I think my favorite would still be my first half marathon (Philly). I wore that thing all day and might have even slept in it. It’s really well made. The nicest one is a toss up between the last one from the Iron Horse with the train on it or my Ky Derby Half. That race was crappy as far as put together but they sure got the medal right! The unique ones are medals made from tree trunks from my trail halves put on by Planet Adventure. Which wouldn’t really make them medals at all now would they? 🙂 The take wood from fallen trees along the trails and drill a hole through for leather to go around your neck. Pretty cool stuff.
Aww, I love your 10K story! Silly Garmin! Silly you! It’s hard not to rely on those things, and so nice to know when they are wrong in the other direction!
The Oct Thriller in Schiller gives you a pint glass! http://www.muddymonk.com/thriller-in-schiller Not sure when that is compared to MCM though. The later race, in Dec, gives you a coffee mug for the 5K, and I think a mug and shot glass for the 10K!
Love all your bling! I often question the clock when I see my results. I shock myself that I can run so fast (for me) sometimes:) Love that!
One cool thing about Ultras is that they give away a lot of “unique” bling. I think my favorite award was my first pair of Montrail trail shoes. I had won other shoes in other races, but I had never owned a pair of Montrails. Winning those in a trail race made me feel like a true trail runner. I promptly proceeded to bite it on the trail the next day, but I still love those shoes 🙂
My medal from my first half marathon is pretty special to me because that was the race where I surpassed my A goal. Really didn’t think it could happen, so it was a fantastic surprise. My favorite “bling”, though, are the awesome mugs I’ve gotten from the Skippo trail race. I’m excited about adding to my collection in less than a month. 🙂
That is awesome Marcia…congrats to you…what a great race and special meaning that medal has! I think it’s common for us to have self-doubt or underestimate our capabilties and when we surpass them…it makes that event/accomplishment, all the more meaningful. My favorite bling is my first marathon medal and my recent 50 miler silver medal…like you, I had under-estimated what I could do and ended up running that race 2 hours faster than I thought I would…I’ll never forget that day. 🙂
I love that 10K story! I wish it would happen to me! My favorite race is the Disneyland Half Marathon. Disney always has the cutest medals and I always PR this half every year so there is some kind of Disney magic going on. I have ran this half three years in a row and I will be back for the fourth time in 2013!
I am not a race bling person, I’ll admit. I’d be happy with nothing, really, other than an acknowledgement for AG awards. But if I had to pick, my crab trophies from Balt. Marathon relay wins are probably my favorite! They’re tacky, and yet they are Baltimore, and they represent something my friends and I did together.
I like race bling but I don’t really have one that speaks to me yet. I guess I should say my first marathon medal, but we all know how that went.
I have gotten a pint glass. Unusual? My memory is failing. I like medals and trophies. I loved my first marathon medal for obvious reasons. I was recently thrilled with my first triathlon medal that I didn’t realize I was getting! I just like bling, lots and often.
Most of my medals are age group too. I did most of my racing in the days before they handed out medals for every distance just for finishing. You used to have to run a marathon to get such a thing as a finisher’s medal.
I have a couple kind of cool ones. One year I got an award for the Tram Road Race in Palm Springs (3.7 miles almost straight up, my wedding race). It was a hand made pottery vase, small, but very cool. I still have it (of course :-))
ooh, don’t know if i could ever pick just one- i think big sur and wineglass marathons for coolness factors. meant the most? AG award from the 1/2 in mobile, al, my hometown.
Nothing super unique, though I do have a pint glass! My favorite’s are my Disney World Half Marathon medals, which are shaped like Donald’s head!
My favorite medal from a race is the Disney Marathon medal I have from 2008. Huge Mickey Mouse ears, biggest medal I’ve ever gotten. Of course, any bling is great bling…except when a 5K race I ran gave out finishers medals left over from another race…