What's your feeling about getting a medal without finishing Princess?

[limabeanmom2003]

No one should be too unsure if they can complete a marathon on race day. There are some factors that can affect you. (illness, temperature, injury). However, completing a marathon is hard, but not impossible. Its a predictable process. It takes usually 4-6 months. 2 weeks before a marathon a person can say if they can run it or not.

When a person puts in FAR too little training runs, not enough miles, and basically putting in the time and effort.

Exactly! IMO, the race itself is the easy part. The months training is the hard part. You obviously have situations that are out of your control like illness, weather,etc. but if you follow a training plan successfully you know you are ready.

 

[DISNEYFOS]

Exactly! IMO, the race itself is the easy part. The months training is the hard part. You obviously have situations that are out of your control like illness, weather,etc. but if you follow a training plan successfully you know you are ready.

I agree. It was my first 1/2 but I don't think I ever felt like I would of been swept or not finish... At the end of my training I was regularly running the required distance and way above the min pace. I wouldn't have done it if that were not the case.

I think I assumed everyone would treat a 1/2 like that. I know they have couch to 5K programs for people that are new to running....I'm amazed people would take on a 1/2 without some serious training, and without proving to themselves that they can complete that distance.

It certainly was hard with the weather (I drank more gatorade then I ever have in my life ), but I knew what I was capable of and what I had conditioned myself for.. anything else and you are putting your life in danger..seriously....

 

[walkdmc]

I don't care what anyone else does, just me.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Exactly! IMO, the race itself is the easy part. The months training is the hard part. You obviously have situations that are out of your control like illness, weather,etc. but if you follow a training plan successfully you know you are ready.

I think it is dangerous to make assumptions about how trained people are. Things happen that no amount of training or preparation can help with. Although there are a lot of beginners at Disney, it isn't fair to judge them based on if they finish or not. The thing about running that attracts so many of us to keep running races is that each and every one proves to be a learning experience. I hate that so many in this thread are quick to judge. Are there undertrained people, sure. Overtrained? Absolutely. But, we need to stop judging those that get swept, if they accept medals, or walk around the parks with the medals around their necks. I personally route for every single one of them to return the next year and kick butt. Following a training program will not guarantee that you finish a race.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

I think it is dangerous to make assumptions about how trained people are. Things happen that no amount of training or preparation can help with. Although there are a lot of beginners at Disney, it isn't fair to judge them based on if they finish or not. The thing about running that attracts so many of us to keep running races is that each and every one proves to be a learning experience. I hate that so many in this thread are quick to judge. Are there undertrained people, sure. Overtrained? Absolutely. But, we need to stop judging those that get swept, if they accept medals, or walk around the parks with the medals around their necks. I personally route for every single one of them to return the next year and kick butt. Following a training program will not guarantee that you finish a race.

It won't guarantee it, but it sure will improve your chances of finishing and, I would think, improve the chances that you will continue to run other races.

 

[Bookwood]

Everyday I check the boards and wonder why this is such a heated topic to warrant 7 pages. But here it is, I finally had to post to thank Tropical Wilds for such a great story.

At the end of the day, it is your own race, your own journey, your own medal. No one else's.

I thought that knowing that other people got medals for not finishing would be an insult. Does it really matter? I say no because it is truly: my race, my journey, my medal. No one else's.

Running my first marathon, changed my life. The run was truly an experiance.

Disney says to train at a 15 minute mile. Only each runner knows if they can reach that goal. Everyone signs a waiver and we all start the race. Some try to jump corrals for what ever reason but deep down, only each runner knows what they are capable of doing.

I understand the fear of the balloon ladies. I had the same fear but I was training at 13 min mile. If someone is straight with themself and they can not do the 15 min mile pace, I say they have no reason being in the race. They are a danger to themselves and to the other racers. Unfortunately, no one knows the truth until the race begins.

It will be a fact of all furture Disney races, there are going to be people who think they can but are lying to themself. They need Disney to validate their journey. Just hope that Disney limits the number or racers in a way that keeps those dangers to a minimum. Maybe actually validating the time submitted or having runners submit proof of time. If Disney can not validate, then put them in the back or out of the race.

At the end of the day, everyone has to look in the mirror or look at the medal. What ever they look at, they have to remember how or why they got there. Sure, there may be those that pay all that money just to get the medal. But at the end of the day, that was their race, their journey, their medal. Not mine.

Today, I am proud to call myself a marathoner. Finishing the journey within the required time limts. Next marathon, the only thing I need to prove is that I can be better then I was before. But still my race, my journey, my medal.

So following this line of thinking if someone doesn't pass all their classes they should still get their High School Diploma or their college degree if they start? Since their receiving their's wouldn't diminish yours?

I disagree- every finishers medal I have is important to me because of what I did to earn it. If others have them and didn't earn them then that makes mine less bright!

I don't think non-finishers should receive a finishers medal. (and you shouldn't get a degree or diploma you don't earn either)

 

[bumbershoot]

A while back someone posted 2 links to blogs of women who didnt finish who got me pretty angry. One particular, the woman had not run(sounds like mostly walking) more than 2-3 miles EVER. And then, it was maybe a handful of times. She traveled to Disney, started the marathon and then got swept up for not keeping the 16 min pace before MILE 2!! Even more surprising, she blogged about it and celebrated getting her medal. Again, to each their own, but gah!

Yes, that is the one I was referring to exactly. I see she tried for the half this time instead of the full. Its good to see the improvement there.

I just looked at her blog and at the posts about last year and this year, and I think you should re-read them. She didn't celebrate, she *stated* that she would get the finisher's medal during the first one. She was telling the story, and part of the story was the bus person telling her that she would get it.

And the post from the 2012 race said she was trying for the half, just like this year. There was no change.

I think you have been mis-remembering a bit.




I have a big long story that involved getting a 4th place medal for finishing 4th out of 4, but I won't bore you with it. That experience is what makes me 100% OK with starters getting finishers medals, even though my story didn't end with "and then I took that medal and proved that I could win" etc etc, because I previously had had winning experiences, and the (non-running) race where 4th out of 4 happened also happened to be the last scheduled race of my rowing career. There was nowhere to go with it because there WAS nowhere to go with it. (the other women on my team, however, had another year of eligibility and DID get to do amazing things during their last year)



Apart from randomly hearing people pre-brag on the way to corrals, I'm a little nervous while reading this thread about the criteria people are using to decide who should and who should not get finishers medals when they didn't finish. I'm definitely sure that Disney has NO interest in deciding this. They are trying to be NICE. To give a medal to someone who broke their leg in the last mile is just as nice as to give it to someone who went only 2 miles. If I'm fine with one, I'm fine with the other. But I'd prefer to not be trying to judge that in the first place.


Even though I'm a "baby" adult-runner, I ran all my younger life. I ran for the love of running. I ran because my malamute needed to be run to keep him happy (he would have preferred I put a sled on him and take him to Alaska, but that wasn't possible). I ran and ran and ran and at NO point during my runs did I ever feel bad because someone else was, or wasn't, running.

Right now I'm still a treadmill runner looking to a future of running on the ground and doing more than the Castaway Cay 5K. I am still getting down to an excellent weight and retraining my joints that they actually can stay together without the fat-glue they had in them for several years. I'm still new at this, as an adult out of college, anyway.

But when I'm on the treadmill at the end of a run, and my end-of-run songs come on my mp3 player (when I'm listening to it...I find I do better without the music during the bulk of my runs), and I find a little extra lift because I love hearing Gwen Stefani, I start smiling. I'm a weirdo on a treadmill smiling and sometimes laughing because finishing that run feels SO good (even when it hurts).

And I cannot imagine a time when someone else getting a medal that I feel they don't "deserve" will negatively affect my life at all, will take that "omg I'm FLYING" smile off my face. I can't even imagine getting to a point where I would sit down and come up with a list of reasons for why I might deserve it but someone else doesn't.

I get *that* it bugs people; I just can't figure out *why*.

 

[Stitch_lover_Sith]

For the RunDisney races this is not an issue for anyone to agree or disagree on. RunDisney decided to offer the medals. RunDisney decided to place pace caps on their events. The individual gets to chose if they want to sign up for and try to complete a RunDisney Race. The individual chooses whether or not to take the medal.

You as the bystander can know RunDisney does this, you can not like it, and you can ask them to stop. The biggest thing you as the bystander can do is show RunDisney what you think by not buying their product. I really don't like WalMart's cooperate strategies, I do not shop at WalMart. Easy as that.

There can be no discussion, no debate, no moral high ground. Your feelings are just that, personal feelings. Rock and Roll has a great race series, skirt chaser, diva, warrior dash, Spartan, local races. You have options.

 

[bumbershoot]

Stitch, in case it got lost somewhere in there, I agree with what I believe your stance is.


I did come back in to edit the following into my post, but I'll just add here, to say that even once I start running longer distances, I don't think I'll have the energy to wonder who around me might or might not deserve it.

And my brother, who has done all sorts of marathons and halfs, including the Marine Corps marathon, isn't bothered either by the idea of rundisney runners getting finishers medals even when they don't finish. Two ends of the running spectrum, LOL.



Although if Disney were to decide that it is a problem, the solution is simple. Make the entry fee NOT include a medal. If you want a medal after you finish it, you buy it. Situation solved.

 

[DISNEYFOS]

I'm not sure anyone has any ill will toward people that don't finish, or some sort of elitist attitude about running. Everyone starts somewhere and I certainly encourage everyone to run for health reasons, and for just the love of it...HOWEVER I don't believe you should start with a marathon.

Giving everyone who signs up a finishers medal I feel is its encouraging people that have not trained to take on a 1/2 or marathon when they might not be ready.


1. Its dangerous.... heat stroke, heart failure will kill you. I saw people who scared the heck out me that they would die right then and there.. Those folks on the biggest loser or any of those shows have tons of medical supervision before pushing them to do any type of endurance activity.

2. the corrals are filled with folks that really aren't able to keep the min pace...affecting others who are attempting to get around them. ((again two issues, corral placement, and too many people))

I understand that non-finishers include special circumstances..injuries, sickness, etc etc..but I have a feeling under-trained people outnumber those cases., not really assuming mostly from reading personal stories about not ever running 13 miles but "i want to try"/post-pre race blogs/)

Do they have #s for the percentage of people who didn't finish the PHM? It would be interesting to compare that to other races...


Editing to add..I guess I could just get a place in the A&B corrals, by submitting race times as other suggested..but I'm pretty sure I would still be bothered by RunDisney making a killing and putting people's health in jeopardy..

 

[JCH]

I'm not sure anyone has any ill will toward people that don't finish, or some sort of elitist attitude about running. Everyone starts somewhere and I certainly encourage everyone to run for health reasons, and for just the love of it...HOWEVER I don't believe you should start with a marathon.

Giving everyone who signs up a finishers medal I feel is its encouraging people that have not trained to take on a 1/2 or marathon when they might not be ready.


1. Its dangerous.... heat stroke, heart failure will kill you. I saw people who scared the heck out me that they would die right then and there.. Those folks on the biggest loser or any of those shows have tons of medical supervision before pushing them to do any type of endurance activity.

2. the corrals are filled with folks that really aren't able to keep the min pace...affecting others who are attempting to get around them. ((again two issues, corral placement, and too many people))

I understand that non-finishers include special circumstances..injuries, sickness, etc etc..but I have a feeling under-trained people outnumber those cases., not really assuming mostly from reading personal stories about not ever running 13 miles but "i want to try"/post-pre race blogs/)

Do they have #s for the percentage of people who didn't finish the PHM? It would be interesting to compare that to other races...


Editing to add..I guess I could just get a place in the A&B corrals, by submitting race times as other suggested..but I'm pretty sure I would still be bothered by RunDisney making a killing and putting people's health in jeopardy..

For the A and B thing...there are some of us who will never be A/B runners, but would still like to be able to run our pace. I'm a pretty consist 3-3:10 half marathoner right now, putting me squarely in the E/F corrals. I am working on a time improvement plan now to hopefully get that down to 2:45-2:50. However, I don't think I will ever be a sub 2:30 half marathoner...I'm okay with that! But I do believe Disney should start checking times, and even asking for a time for anyone who puts anything other than 3:30. There are just too many people putting 2:45 exactly, so that D and E corrals become the biggest mess of people of different paces you could ever imagine! And someone, somewhere told the "speed challenged" to get right up in the front of the corral to get more time. So frustrating! But that's a little off topic.

 

[princessallegra]

I just looked at her blog and at the posts about last year and this year, and I think you should re-read them. She didn't celebrate, she *stated* that she would get the finisher's medal during the first one. She was telling the story, and part of the story was the bus person telling her that she would get it.

And the post from the 2012 race said she was trying for the half, just like this year. There was no change.

I think you have been mis-remembering a bit.

I have a big long story that involved getting a 4th place medal for finishing 4th out of 4, but I won't bore you with it. That experience is what makes me 100% OK with starters getting finishers medals, even though my story didn't end with "and then I took that medal and proved that I could win" etc etc, because I previously had had winning experiences, and the (non-running) race where 4th out of 4 happened also happened to be the last scheduled race of my rowing career. There was nowhere to go with it because there WAS nowhere to go with it. (the other women on my team, however, had another year of eligibility and DID get to do amazing things during their last year)

Apart from randomly hearing people pre-brag on the way to corrals, I'm a little nervous while reading this thread about the criteria people are using to decide who should and who should not get finishers medals when they didn't finish. I'm definitely sure that Disney has NO interest in deciding this. They are trying to be NICE. To give a medal to someone who broke their leg in the last mile is just as nice as to give it to someone who went only 2 miles. If I'm fine with one, I'm fine with the other. But I'd prefer to not be trying to judge that in the first place.

Even though I'm a "baby" adult-runner, I ran all my younger life. I ran for the love of running. I ran because my malamute needed to be run to keep him happy (he would have preferred I put a sled on him and take him to Alaska, but that wasn't possible). I ran and ran and ran and at NO point during my runs did I ever feel bad because someone else was, or wasn't, running.

Right now I'm still a treadmill runner looking to a future of running on the ground and doing more than the Castaway Cay 5K. I am still getting down to an excellent weight and retraining my joints that they actually can stay together without the fat-glue they had in them for several years. I'm still new at this, as an adult out of college, anyway.

But when I'm on the treadmill at the end of a run, and my end-of-run songs come on my mp3 player (when I'm listening to it...I find I do better without the music during the bulk of my runs), and I find a little extra lift because I love hearing Gwen Stefani, I start smiling. I'm a weirdo on a treadmill smiling and sometimes laughing because finishing that run feels SO good (even when it hurts).

And I cannot imagine a time when someone else getting a medal that I feel they don't "deserve" will negatively affect my life at all, will take that "omg I'm FLYING" smile off my face. I can't even imagine getting to a point where I would sit down and come up with a list of reasons for why I might deserve it but someone else doesn't.

I get *that* it bugs people; I just can't figure out *why*.

I couldn't have said this any better! Bravo!

 

[sunnygal041]

Hey, how's that baby gig going?

 

[Tropical Wilds]

So following this line of thinking if someone doesn't pass all their classes they should still get their High School Diploma or their college degree if they start? Since their receiving their's wouldn't diminish yours?

I disagree- every finishers medal I have is important to me because of what I did to earn it. If others have them and didn't earn them then that makes mine less bright!

I don't think non-finishers should receive a finishers medal. (and you shouldn't get a degree or diploma you don't earn either)

But we aren't talking about degrees and diplomas here, it's a casual race, a novelty race. Something that only truly matters within the Disney sphere and to the person running. The intrinsic value to the medal is only that which the winner places on it. Nobody is going on to the Olympics after earning it, it doesn't give you a gold medal-like status in the world of running, there's no block times determined by placement... It's a fun, challenging race, open to everybody, and enjoyed by many for various reasons. If somebody earned or got their medal shouldn't matter if you feel you earned yours.

To be honest, I know there's a lot of mention about that blog... I'll agree, the first time she did it was a disaster... But this last year? I'm sorry, but if somebody told me she went home with a medal despite not finishing, honestly, I'd be pumped for her. I mean this in the nicest possible way, I really do, I hope nobody takes it as anything other then that... But let's be honest, she's a woman of size... Walking/running all but the last 3 miles of a half marathon is quite an accomplishment. If her blog is truthful and that's reflective of the effort she's put forth... I think she's got everything to be proud of there. Women half her size can have trouble running/walking what she was doing, even behind pace, and she certainly worked for it for the year and showed dramatic improvement over her last year's performance. Honestly, if she got a medal for it, I'd have given her a big high five and said she earned it.

Like I said, the value on the medal is what anybody puts on it... If I think it's the greatest thing ever, who cares how somebody else got it if you're proud of how you got it?

 

[RunnerRen]

I felt this quote appropriate for this thread:

"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit."
--George Sheehan

Try not to get caught up in anything but your own race. Do your best, and be happy in your accomplishments

 

[Ariel484]

...To be honest, I know there's a lot of mention about that blog... I'll agree, the first time she did it was a disaster... But this last year? I'm sorry, but if somebody told me she went home with a medal despite not finishing, honestly, I'd be pumped for her. I mean this in the nicest possible way, I really do, I hope nobody takes it as anything other then that... But let's be honest, she's a woman of size... Walking/running all but the last 3 miles of a half marathon is quite an accomplishment. If her blog is truthful and that's reflective of the effort she's put forth... I think she's got everything to be proud of there. Women half her size can have trouble running/walking what she was doing, even behind pace, and she certainly worked for it for the year and showed dramatic improvement over her last year's performance. Honestly, if she got a medal for it, I'd have given her a big high five and said she earned it.

I don't get this. If she knew her limit was 2-3 miles, why not sign up for the 5K instead?* Why sign up for a race that you KNOW you are not ready for and are not physically able to complete? To me it would have been more admirable to hear that someone signed up for a more realistic goal (the 5K), trained for that race and completed it. I'm not trying to offend anyone, but I agree with the PP that said that it's just not safe for some to attempt a half or full marathon, ESPECIALLY as their first-ever race and ESPECIALLY if they are not ready for it. Disney's 5Ks are well-done...I'm not sure why some feel they need to blow right past the 5Ks and go for the half or full marathons if they're not ready for those longer distances.

*DISCLAIMER: I haven't read the blog people are referring to and don't plan on it.

 

[scoolover]

I could care less. I wouldn't take one but why would I care if someone else does. It's their pride, not mine. Some might ask, "would you accept a medal after taking 7 hours to finish a marathon." ...8...9...6 hours? People really need to stop worrying so much about others.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I could care less. I wouldn't take one but why would I care if someone else does. It's their pride, not mine. Some might ask, "would you accept a medal after taking 7 hours to finish a marathon." ...8...9...6 hours? People really need to stop worrying so much about others.

100% agree.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

I personally would use that medal as motivation, then if I had the chance to start and finish the same race later on, I'd donate the first one. It served as motivation, but I didn't finish. Why not give it to a program to help out those in need?

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I personally would use that medal as motivation, then if I had the chance to start and finish the same race later on, I'd donate the first one. It served as motivation, but I didn't finish. Why not give it to a program to help out those in need?

I work with Medals4Mettle and we do not take unearned medals, meaning ones that you didn't cross the finish line for. I don't know of any other charity that takes medals that weren't earned. The reason for that is that most donated medals have legacy forms attached explaining the race, the training that the donor went through, and encouraging words. A kid doesn't almost finish cancer treatment, or almost meet a medical milestone. I didn't understand that until I presented medals.

I gave the medal I was given after I didn't finish the Marathon this year to my other half. Felt that he was just as much a part of this racing journey by getting up at the crack of dawn to get me to all my races, meet me at the finish line and drive all over the place. He appreciated the gesture and it is an amazing medal. I don't plan on ever going through that experience again, so he better like that medal!