All for the Medal

Last weekend, on Halloween, my local gym had their second annual Skeleton Run.  Which you may recall I played quite a hand in (via my 2014 post).

Unfortunately, this year I was unable to attend due to work slave driving commitments.  But, I was still able to be involved in one small way:

Ah!  Medals ... they seem to make runs more fun, don't they? 

Speaking of medals, I read an article I read awhile back about race trends in regards to medals.  Unfortunately, now it looks like you have to subscribe to WSJ to read the article.  But if I recall correctly, the article talked about the impact medals have on racing, and the trend for things to be more and more ... bling'd out.  If that's even a word.  Heh.

The article went on to talk about how some races are failing simply because they DON'T offer a medal, and called out specific races that people are drawn to simply because of the medal (and not even for the actual event itself).

Hm.  Nope.  I've never done such a thing.

After I read the article, I had mixed thoughts. 

Really?  Is that all it takes to get someone to run?  A cheap finisher's medal, and not even one you have to really WORK for (since it's not denoting first place or anything like that)?

Is this an extreme case of the delicate snowflakes where everyone needs a participation trophy?

But the more I thought about it, the more I thought ... so what?  I mean, who cares what the motivation is for someone to participate in a race if it means they're being active?  With the obesity epidemic we have, shouldn't we just be grateful people are out there and moving? 

Plus, let's face it.  You run a race and it's fun.  But you run a race and get a sweet medal?  Even better.

Not that I HAVE to get a medal to run a race.  But it does kind of make it fun.  Especially when you start to accrue a collection.

So yes.  I like medals.  And I sometimes run races just to get them.  Get over it.