When Everyone's a Winner, Is Anyone a Winner?

What's wrong with this picture?

I downgraded my Monumental entry to the half-marathon and I was just getting OK with the fact that I was going to run it for fun. Then, I got to catching up on my emails today and let's just say the Monumental Marathon peeps done pissed me off...

I will be the first to say that I like receiving awards and hardware just as much as anyone. My issue, especially of late, has been all the participation "awards" that everyone gets.

When I was a kid, I played Little League softball. At the end of the season the team that had the best record was deemed the league champion. The team got a trophy that they gave to the business that sponsored the team, everyone had a party, and that was it. One winner. One trophy. Bragging rights.

Oh how things have changed... one of my daughters played hockey. Their team did not win a single game. At the end of the season every kid got a medal. Then the coach had a team party and handed out a trophy and special award for each kid on the team. Same with my other daughter. She played soccer. Team didn't win a single game. Every kid on the team got a trophy at the end of the season. I know, I know... you want the kids to have good self esteem. They are winners in life whether they won or lost the game. But really? A medal and trophy for everyone on the team? How meaningful is this?

There are other things that people do where they get adjudicated awards. This means that everyone will get some type of placing based on how well they score against a predetermined standard. You are told you are "just competing against yourself." It's like getting a grade in school except that instead of an A, B, or C, you get a First, Second, or Third Premium (like in 4H) or a Gold, Silver, or Bronze - like in the school music competitions.

These days though, it seems that even with the adjudicated awards, almost everyone will get a First or Gold; the remainder get a Second or Silver. Virtually no one gets Third or Bronze. Dance competitions have even come up with more ridiculous standards where the top performers will get a Perfect Platinum, then Platinum, High Gold or Double Gold, Gold, High Silver, Silver, etc... and so basically the lowest anyone really ever comes home with is a Gold... so now winning gold is like being at the bottom of the barrel but, hey, you can tell your friends that you "won" a gold medal.

I know that the seasoned 4H-er's know all about award inflation as they are all about trying to win a "fluffy" or Grand Champion ribbon. There are lots of First Premiums but only one Grand Champion. They get it.

Where am I going with this?

Those kids grow up. They become adults. Some still think they deserve an award (or something) for everything they do. I compete in Open Class at the County and State Fair. In Open Class, which anyone can enter but is mostly adults, there is only one first, second, and third in each category. I stood witness one year at our County Fair as a woman complained to the director about not getting an award, then demanded they create a new category for her needlepoint project. She reasoned that it was Christmas themed and that there should be a separate Christmas category. Then, I watched in amazement as they created a new category just for her... and "awarded" her a first place ribbon as she was the only one in the category. What the heck does that ribbon mean? I hope she's happy.

So what's my issue?

All those participation awards crept into the running world 15-20 years ago. I ran road races in the 1980's. Back then, you got a participation T-shirt and the winners got an award. If you ran a longer race like a half-marathon, you would get a finisher's certificate.

I think the most meaningful award I ever got was my third place age group medal from the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in 1987. (If you want that story it's HERE.) There were several thousand people in that race and I worked hard to get that medal. Imagine my surprise in 1997 when I finished the same race and someone threw a finisher's medal around my neck. Really? You're giving a medal to everyone now? Admittedly, it made me kind of mad as it seemed to somehow diminish the value of my previous medal.

But I got over it. This was the new reality. People want palpable recognition for what they do. It seems the race promotion peeps have latched onto that and literally run with it. Now all the big races give out medals... bigger and bigger medals...

left: 3rd place age group medal from 1987

middle: 1997 finisher's medal

right: 2014 finisher's medal

If running a half-marathon is a big deal for someone, they deserve their medal. If they overcame a huge personal whatever to get to the finish line, they deserve their medal. I don't want a medal for something I can do any day of the week. If I'm going to get a medal, I want to do something where I feel like I deserve that medal or have that medal mean something to me. When I toe a line at a race, I race to win. I'm running for time. I'm going to run the best that I can run that day. If I get a medal for that, it's something I feel like I've earned. The medal from Chicago 2010 means something to me because it was my first marathon. Chicago 2011 is meaningful because my best friend gave me the race entry for my birthday and I was able to take in the race. I have dropped my time in each of my following marathons.

People have a choice. If collecting race bling is what you're into, great. Now you have races that give out finisher's medals the size of dinner plates. The finisher's medal for the Texas Marathon this year weighed 3 lbs 3 oz. People are actually entering races based on what the finisher's medal looks like. Sometimes I feel like it's all about money. Which races offer the most bling and draw the most people.

I choose not to do that. I want to pay a reasonable amount of money to contribute to whatever charity the race is supporting and run my race. I don't want to pay $40 for a 5K to get a finisher's medal, T-shirt, goody bag, and food bar. That's not my thing and, thankfully, there are still plenty of good old fashioned road races where you can plunk down some cash and get a bib. In longer races though, the T-shirt, medal, and goody bag are inevitable because that is what people have come to expect.

So back to the Monumental...

I didn't run Mill Race because I knew I couldn't race it. I didn't want the medal. I didn't even pick up my race packet as I won't ever wear a T-shirt for a race I didn't run. I finally got over my self and decided I would run Monumental because of the fellow Sole Sisters that are coming in town for the race. My medal would be a remembrance of our time together.

Leave it to the race promoters to ruin the medal. So what's wrong with the medal?

It's missing a corner. Why? Because the race promoters want you to come back for 3 more years to get the other 3 pieces. Then, if you do that, they will give you the red and white star medallion that fits in the middle to complete the series/picture. The bling. The draw. The money.



 From the email: Beginning in 2014, Marathon and Half Marathon finishers will receive stunning, three dimensional, high relief medals that are part of a four year series. Culminating with the tenth anniversary in 2017, Monumental runners who have finished the series will receive the red and white Star Medallion, signifying the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, while ten year finishers will in addition receive a commemorative"frame" that holds the series together to create the Flag of Indianapolis. Four-year series finishers may also purchase the frame to display their medals as a set.

Really? I think there's all kinds of stuff wrong with this. First off, so if you run all 10 years you'll get a commemorative frame. Great. Those people earned that. But wait, if you want the frame, you can buy it. What!? Wonder how the 10 year runners feel about that. What about my friends that are coming in from out of state or the ones that are trying to do that 50-state thing? Wonder how they feel about a finisher's medal with a hunk missing as they probably won't be back for the following races.

If the Monumental wanted to do a series, they should have done it so the medals were fine standing alone too. For example...

In short, everyone will be a winner at the Monumental... and they will all get a medal with a chunk missing... because people want palpable recognition for what they do... and the race peeps know it. So who's the winner now?