2011 LA Marathon Medal - Commentary

Last week after reaching 4000 "likes" on Facebook, the LA Marathon organizers gave everyone a sneak peek at this year's medal. The revealing was met with mixed reviews. Some people liked it and some people did not. Some people were mad that they had to wait until 4000 likes on the LA Marathon Facebook page before they could see the medal. People commented on every aspect of the medal including but not limited to the ribbon design/color, medal shape, medal design, front/back of the medal...they analyzed it all. People argued the pros and cons of the medal in ways I've never seen.

As I've mentioned in this post, this will be my 6th year running the LA Marathon and I've never witness a discussion quite like this. Normally, I don't get to see the medal until I go pick up my bib at the expo or when I cross the finish line and they put the medal around my neck. There are a few races now that will preview their medal designs in order to drum up registration. There are pros and cons to doing this obviously. If people like the design, they will sign up for the race or encourage others to do so. If they don't like it, you can be sure they will tell you about it.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the design of this year's medal. I actually haven't liked the medal designs since the new company took over three years ago. I admit that I like the old medal designs. It was reminiscent of Olympic style medals. Nowadays, the designs tend to be more modern, which is not always a good thing. I know a lot of people could care less about the medal aspect of a race. They run because they love running and they toss their medals in a shoe box in the closet somewhere. I get that, I love running too but for me the medal represents an experience. I've had many race experiences and they were all different and looking at a certain medal takes me back to that moment. So for me the medals do mean something and I proudly hang them up because not only do they remind me everyday that I need to lace up my shoes and go out for a run but they also remind me of how far I've come.

And for the record, I do love running the new course and the countdown clocks says that I will get to do so in 19 days!

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