Why Not Take the Medal?



Being a volunteer at any race gives you a different perspective on the whole race experience. Especially if it is a race you  haven't ran before.  It is amazing, especially when you get to be at the finish line. You get to see runner's experiencing so many emotions as they cross that finish line. Some are crying, some are fist pumping, some are high fiving everyone in sight, and some are just trying to make those last couple steps across. Regardless how they come across the finish line, they've done it! They have accomplished something to be proud of!

                                                              Photo from Run Disney

The premise of this post was inspired by our friend Patty that blogs at My No Guilt Life. She had recently posted a picture of the Donald half marathon medal and we were discussing the design of the medal and what we liked and what we didn't really like, but in the end, it's a medal, it symbolizes an accomplishment so no matter what it looks like, we'll take it!

This brings me back to our volunteer experience. While we were volunteering for the Donald Half Marathon last year, we were fortunate enough to see those runner's cross the finish line as we handed out the lovely Donald medals!  There was one runner in particular that I won't forget. Let me preface this by saying that no matter when you cross the finish line, it is an accomplishment.  And should be something to be remembered by. Anyway, this one runner comes  crosses and walks down the chute where we are handing out medals. I try to give him a medal and he declined. it. Okay, I thought maybe he just didn't want the medal from ME. Maybe he had a friend or someone else that was going to give him his medal. I get that, I would be presenting my sister with her marathon medal the following day. But as my sister and I watched this runner, he declined the medal from every single volunteer. Thus leaving the WDW marathon medal-less.

This definitely had us wondering, why didn't he want a medal? I know, I know, many of you are thinking "You run the race for yourself, not to get a medal" which we know all to well to be true, but if someone is going to offer you a medal for your accomplishment, why not take it?  It didn't cost anything extra.  We've recently heard of races charging extra if you wanted a finishers medal. we think this is just wrong.

Maybe this runner has way too many medals as it is, and he didn't know what he would do with one more. Maybe he wasn't proud of his time and felt he didn't deserve it ( although he did cross very early in the race, I think anyone would have been happy with the time he had).


The next day I was volunteering at the Marathon and as I was waiting for my sister to cross the finish line, I noticed this guy who had crossed.  As he walked by, he tore off his bib and threw it in the trash can right beside me. I couldn't believe it.

 1. Was that really the first thing you want to do as soon as you cross the finish line of a marathon, tear off your bib number. I guess he won't be getting any post race pictures taken from Marathon photo because they will not be able to identify him now.

  2. Don't you keep that kind of stuff?  Even if you don't keep bibs from other races, wouldn't it be nice to keep the one from a Disney race. It was Disney, it was a marathon, and it was the 20th anniversary. In my mind, that was a big deal. I definitely would have kept the bib. My sister kept hers.

  Again, I thought maybe this was a race that he didn't want to remember. He finished in less than 4 hours, so of course I thought he made good time. Maybe he didn't agree!

In any case, what we may find as abnormal race day behavior, my be another persons norm.

38 comments:

  1. Wow that is strange! I feel no matter how bad I run a race I still want the medal because it proves I stuck with it and finished! And if it is a Disney race I would have taken the medal as well just because I feel some of the cost of the race is actually the medal! :)

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    1. You are right! We have an appreciation for All our medals we've earned!

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  2. I certainly wasn't happy with my time at WDW this year, but I kept my medal and bib. I still crossed the finish line so that's good enough for me.

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    1. Absolutely Lesley! It's yours, you earned it no matter what your time!

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  3. Those are two very abnormal behaviors from runners, especially at Disney World. But again, as you said, what might seem abnormal to one person is another person's normal. At least he didn't go and sell the medal he didn't want on eBay, which seems to be becoming a more frequent trend with larger race medals (I don't understand why though!).

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    1. I couldn't imagine selling my medals on ebay and I don't understand why someone would buy a medal they did not earn. Unless of course they lost theirs, or maybe they put one in a shadow box or something and they wanted a spare. I guess that list could be just as lengthy as the reasons why some one wouldn't want the medal in the first place.

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  4. There are as many different reasons for doing things as there are people who do them. Maybe he's a minimalist person, and having "stuff" around doesn't appeal to him. Maybe he lives in a small apartment and has no room for clutter. Maybe he doesn't like the design of Disney medals. Maybe he only keeps the medals for his PR runs. I could sit here all day and speculate.
    People get so upset when they see medals up on ebay but the fact is there are people who don't want them and ebay is a reasonable place to offer them to someone who DOES want them and get back some of the money you spent for them. At one point, Competitor sent me two of their heavy medals for doing multiple races. I would have declined them if they were handed to me, but they mailed them, so it wasn't a choice. I already had medals from the actual race. I put them up on ebay and got some of my race expenses back.
    I often don't pick up my race shirt. Someone might see that as abnormal, but if it's a man's cotton shirt, it's not going to fit me. There's no reason to stuff it in a drawer just because it's a memento.
    At the end of the day, objects are just objects. We decide whether or not to give them importance.

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    1. Yup, those are all valid points Jennifer. Everyone runs for a different reason and what may be a memento for one person may be insignificant for another.

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  5. I have a friend who will rip off her timing tag during a race if she feels she's not racing fast enough. Strange behavior to me, and I will never understand someone not taking the medal (especially DISNEY??? isn't that one of the main draws, their super fancy medals?), but I guess if you get enough people together for an event, you're bound to see some interesting reactions.

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    1. Hmm, maybe your friend doesn't want her time to be recorded if she doesn't feel it's a good time. Once we cross the finish line our times are on the interest forever..haha!

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  6. Glad our chat inspired a great post! My only response is - people are weird. Gloriously awesomely weird and we all have our reasons for things we do. As for me- give me my medal! Even if I am last and crawling. Lol

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    1. I agree Patty! Even if you crawl to the finish, you've still made it. That medal should be yours!

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  7. Maybe they were race bandits that just wanted to run the race...hmmm... I've heard of people declining the event to shirts but never a medal.

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    1. Very good point! I never thought of that. In that case, I commend him for not taking a medal!

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  8. I know lots of people who decline or donate their medals. Some are just not into racing for the bling. I know it seems weird but it's true. I don't save my bibs unless they're very special (hello Boston). I'd have hundreds. It becomes too much. For me anyway. The races that charge extra for a medal do that because some would rather have the race more reasonably priced and skip it. When I started running, there were no medals for halfs or less and marathon medals were tiny by comparison to today.

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  9. I don't know why he wouldn't have taken a medal, but it's a shame he didn't take it and donate it, as others have suggested, instead of declining it. It could've meant a lot to someone else (like a kid struggling with cancer) even if it didn't mean anything (positive) to him.

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  10. Verrrrrry interesting. I sometimes don't care for the race shirt- like if the entry price is less if you don't get a shirt, I will opt for that. I don't need a shirt from every random race I do, you know? But I would still want the medal! Maybe he feels the same about medals as I feel about shirts!

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    1. If race shirts are an additional fee, we usually don't get them either.

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  11. What is wrong with these people? Did you read my last race recap where I crossed & freaked out because I didn't get my medal fast enough! haha!!!
    I keep every little snippet from races for memory sake. I even saved the bib of the race I wasn't able to run in :)
    (Maybe I'm learning I'm a hoarder)

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  12. I definitely think that behavior is different, but then again, without being able to ask the person what is going through their head, maybe they have a rational (to them) reason for it? Personally, I always take my medals, but they all (with the exception of my new Boston medal) are in a box and I never look at them. I don't do the race for the medal, shirt or pictures, I do it for the challenge and sense of accomplishment, but again, those are just my reasons.

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  13. Very strange... that guy who didn't take the medal, I find this surprising. Even if he didn't want the medal, there are other things to do with it than keep it, like give it to charity or even someone in his family.

    As for the guy who ripped off his bib, this sounds like a temper tantrum, which shouldn't be happening at Disney! It's the most magical place on earth!

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    1. Now that people have been responding, I am thinking maybe one or both of these runners may have been race bandits. Maybe.

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  14. Not everyone wants the medals and actually, when both my sisters ran races back 25-30 years ago, no one got finisher medals. My sister ran a 3:19 for her first marathon, Marine Corps and she left with an awesome time and great accomplishment and no medal. Times and changed! Our society has children programmed for the trophy at the end of soccer season, etc and while this is common practice now, it wasn't always. I suspect that the runner who did not accept the medal was unhappy with his performance and the medal may have made things worse. While I love the medals myself, there are only a couple that really matter to me.

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    1. I know the "everyone gets a medal" thing has become more popular in the recent years but maybe this is a good thing. Maybe it encourages more people to get off the couch and come participate, or even gives them the incentive to finish. If I didn't get a "finishers" medal, I would probably never get a medal!

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    2. That is certainly a possibility Meranda. If the medals get people off the coach, make more is all I can say!

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  15. I suppose if you ran a lot of races (I know some people run races practically every weekend) you might not want all of your medals. I am not one of those people, I love my medals and can't wait until my boyfriend hangs up my medal hanger! They remind me of my races and make me proud and happy.

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  16. I keep everything!!! I love having little pieces of my running accomplishments to look at ;)

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  17. I know there are a few runners who don't like to keep their medals. (I am not one of them, I love mine!) But I have heard there is a Special Olympics or other special Ed program, that takes medals runners don't want, they accept them as donations. Then when they host their races or other events for these kids, they give them the donated medals. Which I think is a great thing to do with your medal if you don't want it.
    Now the guy with the bib, that just sounds like bad manors. I mean we all have bad days, but to make a big public display of it, kinda bad sportsmanship in my opinion!

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    1. I don't think the guy tearing the bib off was trying to make a public display of it, but I do think it was odd.

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  18. Hmm that's interesting. I understand not wanting to collect things unnecessarily, but it does seem like bad sportsmanship to not take the medal from the volunteers. Kind of reminds me of those athletes refusing to wear their silver medals because they are disappointed with second place. Not a good look. I love Runaway Bridal Planner's suggestion!

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  19. When my mom ran many years ago, they only gave awards for the top finishers. Only certain races gave finisher's medals to everyone. The ones she did receive she saved, and they are tiny compared to today. I think giving medals at most races is a partly from our society believing they need a physical reward for every thing they do as well as (hopefully) enticing people to start running. Having said that, I do enjoy receiving a medal at the end of a race. After a bad run, I can look at it and remember that not all runs are bad. My husband ran WDW marathon with an injury. He ran the first half and walked the second half. He didn't want to display his medal because in his head he didn't really complete a marathon. I think he did since he kept going and crossed the finish line. Everyone always has a different opinion about what is a good race.

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    1. He started and he finished. That's all that matters! He should hang that medal with pride!

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  20. I do love all my medals and I keep all my bibs. The medals are on the wall and the bibs are all in a little folder. I write the race name and date (if it's not already on there) and my finishing time. I'm leaning towards the bandit theory too. Especially declining a runDisney medal. On the other hand, I have no problem with someone selling their medals on e-bay. It's yours, you earned it, if you want to sell it, more power to you!

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  21. I love all of my medals, even the little 5K awards that don't have the race name on it. I cherish them all, and love looking back through them. AND, I have EVERY single race bib! I know the act of running is the important part, but if you don't want the bib, medal, why not just save your money, and run at home?

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  22. When I first started running races, I was all about the medals. Now I've got a bunch of them and the medal isn't as big of a draw- I'm more interested in an awesome tech shirt or unique experience- but I still keep them all along with every race bib.

    I see nothing wrong with putting medals on eBay - to each their own, right?- but it seems like if you're going to refuse, why not donate it to an organization that can give it to a child that would really like it?

    I know a lot of people are against giving medals just for finishing but before I did my first half, I couldn't fathom running 3 miles let alone 13.1 or 26.2. It was a REALLY BIG DEAL for me. I wore that race shirt to bed just about every night for an entire month! So I think the medals are a great momento to remind myself just how far I've come!

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  23. odd just very odd- who doesn't like a little bling? even if you save it for charity. I save all my extra bling stuff I don't want and by Christmas it makes a nice addition to my gift for Operation Shoebox. The longer I am alive the longer I realize that there are just a lot of strange people. Sounds like fun to be a volunteer I would like to do that one day at Disney :)

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