Just for the medals.....

The other day I was thinking about how I was going to retire from running marathons after I qualify for, and then run, the New York City Marathon. Marathon training can be ridiculous some times. I mean, who does this? I actually know plenty of people who do. As a matter of fact, one of my friends just ran a 50 mile race (I think she won?) and then two weeks later ran the Chicago Marathon (just today).

I used to dream of doing the Canadian Death Race. I've let that go for now. It's a 125km (77.67 mile) race over several summits. I was enticed because of the lore. It has a theme based on Greek or Roman Mythology, I don't remember which. Anyhow, you're given a coin at the start of the race in which you are to pay the ferryman at a river crossing to get you across. If you lose the coin (at least back in the day when I first saw this) the ferryman will take you across but you're disqualified and will be escorted to the finish. So the mythology follows that of having to pay the ferryman of the dead to get you across the river Styx. That's why they put coins on peoples eyelids when they died. If they did not have the coins, they were forever doomed to walk the river bank....which is purgatory. So you give the man your coin and continue on your way. After finishing (the limit is 24 hrs I think) you're awarded with this cool coin...you might have to buy the plaque part.

Super cool.

Anyway, so I was just thinking about cool marathon medals (mine came crashing down last night after hanging them on one of those non-damaging wall hook things that didn't have a weight rating on it). My Boston medal is my proudest at this moment in time, but when I get a NYC one, that one will take its place, mostly due to the much harder work I'm going to have to go through to qualify and get a spot.

But there are such cool medals out there to be had!! And thankfully not all of them are full marathons, so that helps. But it does require some travel which makes it all a little more difficult. So I think after NYC, I'm just going to pick out the races with the coolest bling and go run them. Here we go, in no particular order, the races I want to run just for the cool medals.

Bird in Hand Half Marathon
Amish Country, Pennsylvania.

The Amish use old horse shoes, paint them all nice (or not I guess, depending on the year maybe?) and make a medal of it. Then they hand them to you at the finish line.

Also of note, Amish people are handing out water at aid stations.

I think this medal is super cool because it's hand made.







Richmond Marathon
Richmond, (Virginia I suppose)

Because I think it's pretty.











The Cowtown
Ft. Worth, Texas

Now here is something interesting that I just noticed. This is 5 different medals. I saw another cool one like this that was two medals. The problem with that is to get this whole design, I would have to run a half marathon in Texas 5 times. I'm not a big fan of Texas. Soooo.... I don't know about this one.













Rock and Roll Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach...Virginia I assume? I'm terrible at geography.

Ooooh. Look how pretty!!! I mean, just look at it! And it's only a half!














Rev3 Triathlon
Somewhere in Maine

You gotta admit, they're pretty cool.















A1A Half Marathon
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Dude. Super sweet. That thing opens and closes I think. I also believe they were voted one of the best medals out there.

This is the A1A medal for a different year. Also pretty cool.



Gasparilla Half Marathon
Tampa, FL

My personal favorite. Coolest race medal ever. This one is a must-do. Who wouldn't run a half marathon to get that bad boy?










Spooktacular Half Marathon
San Dimas, CA

I'm a big fan of Day of the Dead stuff. One day I would like to go to Mexico and observe the celebration. So I think this medal is really cool.














Running for the Bay Marathon
Apalachicola, FL

 Again, another pretty medal. Although I have to say I'm a little skeptical about running in Florida. I've been to Florida. In the Winter/Spring. I wouldn't run in it. So I don't know. But at least the Gasparilla one. Totally worth 13.1 miles of misery. I'm not sure this one is worth 26.2 miles of misery.












Wineglass Marathon
Finger Lakes, NY

The finishers "medals" are made of glass. Maybe from bottles, I don't know. Also, there is a wine party post race. You can also do a half marathon.








There's all sorts of boring medals out there. I own a few. But I'm still proud of them and all the hard work and suffering that went into each and every one of them. Each one comes with its own story. Some of them funnier than others.

So if any of these interest you.....Debbie.....Jen..... anyone else....hit me up. We'll plan it.