Medal(s) Rule(s)!

I am an admitted medal whore. There’s nothing that I like more at the end of a long running or triathlon event than a nice shiny medal. My friend Alva, who has more than 10 marathons to her credit, doesn’t do 5Ks because the distance just isn’t long enough for her. I don’t do 5Ks because most of them don’t give medals. It doesn’t matter how chintzy or how nice the medals are, I just like adding them to my collection. I once did two events in one day because I wanted the medal from each one. Some medals have a very unique design. The medal from the Disneyland Half-Marathon has Cinderella’s Castle and an elaborate ribbon. Others are just a really good story; one of my smallest medals is the one I treasure the most because it’s from my first race as a sponsored athlete.

Needless to say, I have quite a few medals. I have friends that have been running for years who would put my collection to shame, but I can hold my own. When my non-athlete friends see the medals that I have out in my house, their eyes always light up when I tell them, “That’s just the ones from this year; you should see the whole collection”.

After completing the 2007 New York City Marathon, I had dinner with a fellow Toyota teammate, Megan. We got to talking about the marathon medal because I was proudly wearing mine in the restaurant. That’s when I realized that even though medals are very nice and they add to your accomplishment, there are definitely rules for wearing them.

The day of the event is important for you & your medal. On that day, you can wear the medal anywhere you want and I mean anywhere. If your post-race plans involve a State Dinner at the White House, wear the medal. It makes for great conversation and people will surely congratulate you on your accomplishment. It doesn’t seem weird at all to wear it on the day of the event.

This presents a unique problem for me because some marathons (like New York and Los Angeles) have a late start in the day. And since I’m a 5-hour-plus kind of marathoner, this seriously cuts into my medal wearing time. I might get an afternoon out of it, but I’m mostly limited to the evenings. Some people might try to improve their PR to qualify for Boston but I just want to be able to wear my medal longer!

The day after a marathon is still a viable option. This works a lot better if you’re still in the same city as the race since the marathon will be all over the news and people will recognize the medal. I wore my NYC medal on the plane ride home the next day. People at JFK chatted with me about the medal, but once past the Mississippi, I was just the weird guy in 22E with a way-too-short ribbon around his neck. Once I was back in Los Angeles, I looked like a total dork wearing the medal.

At this point you should notice that I’ve been referring to my marathon medal. I don’t discriminate because I like medals from all events! But, the day-after opportunity only applies to marathons. You really can’t wear any other medal the day afterwards. I was pretty proud of my first Olympic distance triathlon finish, but once the day of the race is over you have to put the medal away. You might be able to wear a half-marathon medal the next day, but it’s a risky proposition at best. Of course, the opposite applies too. If I had a medal from a major, life-changing event like Race Across AMerica (RAAM) or Badwater, I would pay a doctor to permanently attach the medal to my chest!

Finally, there is the second day after the marathon. Since most marathons are Sundays, now we’re talking about wearing a medal on a Tuesday. This is a big no-no. If your running club buddies refer to you as “Pops” and you’re in the 75-80 age-group, wear the medal. If you finished first and the mayor is giving you the key to the city (along with a fat check), wear the medal. Anything short of this and it’s time to put the medal away.

So, of course the question arises of what to do with your medals. I used to hang my medals in my cubicle at work. I did about 14 events last year (all with medals of course!) so the collection can get crowded very quickly. Not to mention that it can also get noisy if you ever tap them or otherwise move them. You could pay one of those companies at the race expo that put the medal along with your picture and finishing time in a shadow box but they’re very expensive and nothing screams, “this is my first race!” more than being caught filling out one of those order forms.

My solution is actually quite simple: I have my medals sitting in a big pile on the desk in my bedroom. Actually, I just have the ones from this year there. I’m pretty sure the desk would collapse under the entire collection! While this may seem odd from an admitted medal whore, it’s actually quite motivating. I walk in-and-out of my bedroom, past my desk and least a dozen times each day. Giving a quick glimpse to all of my medals as I pass by reminds me why I get up early in the morning to go running or why I have to launder so much cycling clothes. I think that it’s these quick motivations throughout the day that really get you working towards your goals.

It’s also nice to know that I’ll be adding even more medals to that pile of colorful ribbons very soon.