I was reviewing MarathonGuide and taking a look at the reviews for the Lincoln Marathon when I came upon this interesting comment from a runner (B.B. from Texas) who had run the Lincoln Marathon 13 times.

It was a thrill to complete the full Lincoln Marathon for the 13th year in a row. I was excited about receiving my Lucky Thirteen-Club award. The jacket was nice. I had family with me for the award reception, but the long wait and additional discovery of a lack of communications between awards staffers concerning the jackets and presenters was disheartening. After waiting a long time and having staffers dig through a box for my jacket, I had to leave and missed the Lucky Thirteen Group photo op. at the end. I may not be back next year.

This goes back to my previous post, Marathon Finisher’s Medal. It’s obvious from BB’s post that he runs for the swag. The purpose of MarathonGuide is to discuss the marathon, but this poor guy is so disgruntled that he didn’t receive his jacket and had to miss the photo op that he may never run the race again.

Training for a marathon requires a lot of determination, early mornings and a sore body. I seriously wonder if the “Lucky Thirteen Jacket” motivates some people?

This goes back to a point I made before, about finding new ways to celebrate mediocrity. If you can run a marathon you have my respect, but I don’t see the need to have an awards celebration just because you ran a marathon 13 times in a row. It’s a marketing gimick, plain and simple.

I have another fantastic quote from “The Incredibles”:

Helen: I can’t believe you don’t want to go to your own son’s graduation.
Bob: It’s not a graduation. He is moving from the 4th grade to the 5th grade.
Helen: It’s a ceremony!
Bob: It’s psychotic! They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity, but if someone is genuinely exceptional…

I told a friend once that I think a lot of people go after accomplishments that are what I call a “Holiday Party Achievement”. Let me explain my phrase and I will define it the best that I can.

A Holiday Party Achievement isn’t anything that’s difficult, but it often requires a substantial amount of time, money, or it’s an event that most people just don’t want to do. I call it a Holiday Party Achievement because it’s something that you can brag about, something that a lay person will saw “wow” too, it’s something that would be said in small talk, at a Holiday Party.

The general public knows little about running. Let’s say you’re an average runner, but you want to be recognized for your hard work and determination. We can look at two scenarios, a guy that runs a marathon in every state, or a guy that runs 50 marathons but chooses the ones that he wants to run.

My guess is if you run a marathon in every state you will be recognized, perhaps in the paper, maybe you get a shirt, I would even bet their is a website dedicated to people who make this “accomplishment”. It’s a feat that can be bragged about, but the hardest part of accomplishing this feat is time and money, running talent has little to do with it.

However, if you “simply” run 50 marathons, you have nothing to brag about, except egoism and knowing that you left it all on the course!