Why do you run a marathon? If your answer involves a tangible object, if you race for the all mighty finisher’s medal, then I have a race for you. In fact, here is an entire thread devoted to which marathon has the best medal, in fact, it’s so important that this guy will make his next racing decision based on this important criteria.

What are the best Marathon medals?

Check out the Little Rock Marathon. I got a laugh when I saw an ad for the Little Rock Marathon, bragging that they have the “ world’s largest finisher’s medal.” Here is an excerpt from their website.

We believe finishing a marathon is a significant achievement and we think a finisher should have a medal that represents their achievement. Each year our medal has gotten bigger and bigger. Our 2007 medal is 5 7/8” tall and 4” wide. It weighed a little more than a pound. According to Maxwell Medals, the average medal size is 2 1/2″. Join us in 2008 to see how big the medal is.

Does the finisher’s medal really motivate you? I’ve received a few finisher’s medals, I honestly have no idea where I have placed them. However, I did find one a few months ago in my daughter’s toy chest, she seems to enjoy them more then I do. If you ever read MarathonGuide, you’ll notice a lot of marathon runners are motived by the finisher’s medal.

They get angry if the marathon ran out, or if it’s not up to snuff. I can only imagine what they do with these medals, probably wear them to their office Holiday party, what better way to show off your bling.

I thought back to high school, track medals and letter jackets. I remember walking the halls and seeing a few of my fellow track teammates with their medals dangling off their jackets. These were generally decent sprinters, who were able to amass a collection of medals by running in four to five relays per meet. I assumed they just loved flair. Once again, medals never motivated me, I raced for the excitement, for the pain and to see who was the fastest on that given day.

Do you think the finisher’s medal would have been as popular in the 1970’s, during the running boom? Imagine Steve Prefontaine, racing the 5,000 meters in Munich, in the last 20 meters he looses the bronze and takes fourth, all because he ran for the Gold. At the podium they bring all the runners up there and hand Steve his precious “Finisher’s Medal.” Unless your Bode Miller, you want to win.

I think it goes back to creating equality in sports, in today’s culture we love to celebrate mediocrity. Marathons now brag about having their course open for 8 hours, or being the friendliest marathon for walkers. At times, I feel like it takes away from the purity of the sport, I probably feel the same way my 8th grade basketball coach felt when he came into the gym one day and saw me working on my half court shot.

One of my favorite quotes, is from the movie “The Incredibles,” it sums up my thoughts beautifully.

Dash: Maybe I could, if you’d let me go out for sports.
Helen: Honey, you know why we can’t do that.
Dash: But I promise I’ll slow up. I’ll only be the best by a tiny bit.
Dash: Dashiell Robert Parr, you are an incredibly competitive boy, and a bit of a show-off. The last thing you need is temptation.
Dash: You always say ‘Do your best’, but you don’t really mean it. Why can’t I do the best that I can do?
Helen: Right now, honey, the world just wants us to fit in, and to fit in, we gotta be like everyone else.
Dash: But Dad always said our powers were nothing to be ashamed of, our powers made us special.
Helen: Everyone’s special, Dash.
Dash: [muttering] Which is another way of saying no one is.

If this trend continues, I’m going to put on a marathon in NE Colorado, in a rural setting, but I will offer medals the size of Flavor Flav’s clock.