Gimme the Medal

Participation Awards have really gotten a bad rap lately, and I feel partly responsible for that.  Giving everybody something just for showing up seems like a fast track to narcissism (and God knows runners don't need more of that) and somehow seems to take away from the "real" winners. 

However, I have to say that despite running a "meh" time in the Baltimore Marathon on Saturday, I worked really hard for that medal.  This is the second time in the past two runnings of Baltimore that I have gotten sick after the run.  Throwing up in a port-a-pot in the stadium parking lot is not how I envisioned ending this race, but it does tell me that I pushed past my comfort zone in the last few miles.  That's a good thing.

Define "good"

One of the not so great things about getting older is slowing down, and since I am not really ready for that yet, I have been trying to be more intentional about running a little beyond my perceived ability.  And those few minutes can make all the difference between crossing the line happy  (yet with something left in the tank), and fully spent (and puking on the sidelines).  Let's compare my finish pictures at the last two marathons I did just two weeks apart:

"ah, what a beautiful day for a little run"

"take the f**n picture so I can find a bathroom"

Honestly, there was only a 7 minute difference in time, but those 7 minutes were hard earned, and so was the green ribboned medal in the second one.  (the Maryland Double is fun and all, but I had 5 months between races - so not terribly challenging).

The point here is that I have reevaluated my thinking on awards.  No one will really ever know what it means to those getting the trophy, medal, or  mug - how hard they have trained, how hard they raced, what they might have overcome.  I came no where near placing in either race, but the effort was real, and the determination for a strong finish in Baltimore did give me a lot of personal satisfaction.  I didn't need the medal to validate that, but hey, it sure felt good hanging around my neck.