Got my Donald medal today!

[tennisnut]

Hi everyone,
I just got my Donald medal in the mail today .
I am still sad that I did not get to wear it around the parks like I have done in previous years.
Do you think I will still get the same response if I wear it around Lexington tomorrow ?

I hope everyone that did not get their medal on race day will get theirs soon.
Susan

 

[Goofyin08forErica]

I am glad that you finally got your much deserved Donald! Wear it proudly, you earned it.

Erica

 

[Maherae]

T-nut, was there a letter with it? Did they apologize again. I was DEVASTATED when the CM told us no medals!!! Soooo glad you got yours!! and YES wear it around Lexington!!!

 

[tennisnut]

Yes, there was a letter:

Dear Half Marathon Participant:

Congratulations on your successful finish of the 2007 WALT DISNEY WORLD Half Marathon; enclosed you will find your finishing medal.

As you are aware the medal should have been awarded to you at the completion of the race. We sincerely apologize for the situation that was related to unforeseen circumstances for this not to occur. Event execution for the Marathon Weekend is our top priority; it is assessed and evaluated year round. Please note that we have met as a team to identify the changes that are necessary to ensure this adversity does not occur in the future for our guests.

Thank you for your understanding-and again- congratulations on your very significant accomplishment.

Sincerely-
Disney Sports Attractions

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

I am so glad to hear that you did get that medal. I hoped that they would not make further distress by not handling that well.

 

[tiberius]

I have to wonder what the the "unforeseen circumstances" were? Surely, they were not counting on only half the people finishing the race.

 

[Maherae]

The "unforeseen circumstance" was the misplacing of boxes of medals. The boxes were found and medals given out (in their plastic bags) to those who happened to still be around...(like me!)

Thanks, t-mut for taking time to share that letter!

 

[Lan]

I got my medal after the missing boxes were found.

 

[Kristi1357]

...was related to unforeseen circumstances...

unforseen circumstances my butt!

Like Anne said, misplacing hundreds of medals is so incredibly poor. Maybe I am overly dramatic, but this was a horrendous mistake. After I crossed the finish, I noticed people (runners that just finished) putting together medals that fell apart - in order to try to have a medal at all. So, I must have finished right after they ran out. I had never been so furious.

I did manage later to go back & grab a medal still wrapped in plastic. (after I saw Tiffany come to the WISH meeting area with a medal) Somehow that is NOT the same! When you finish, the best moment is getting that medal placed over your head. Then at Disney World, everyone wears their bling to the parks. It's part of doing a race at Disney World! Getting your hard-earned medal in the mail weeks afterwards is just plain unacceptable.

I was one of the last finishers at Disneyland, and there were tons of medals still hanging on those racks when I got mine. There is no excuse for this.

I apologize. I really didn't mean to hijack this thread! I guess I am still very upset that Disney did this to hundreds of finishers & still needed to vent. I will try to email this Jon person when I calm down more.

Susan - I am very glad your medal finally came!

 

[DianeL]

KRISTI! We must be finishing close together! I was towards the end for DL as well just a bit behind Pat (she's going over the finish line and I'm in the back of the photo LOL) And I was at the medal area for WDW 2007 as we were being told the medals there were broken and that there were no medals to go to the information desk. When you came thru was there still water on the table? Susan came in after me and there was not water 10 minutes after me.

Annoyed about the loss of medals but we managed to get ours since I refused to budge from the information line to give my bib#. But neat to find anought WISH member within my finishing range. WISH i had spotted you during the race. But there is always the next Disney race

Susan thanks for posting. Good to know they included a letter and acknowledged there was a problem and just didn't ship the medal by itself. For me I was upset but those that it was their 1st Donald or 1st ever half just was a blow. Hearing about people like Judy who didn't get theirs at all due to this just hurt made you want to cry for them not having 'their moment' and their moments that would have followed in the days after as they would have if they had medals to wear. Part of the experience is to be able to wear you medal for the days that follow.

If it were me I'd still get a photo taken even if it was in my living room LOL Hold your bib, put on the race shirt they gave us and wear the medal. It's a medal you've earned beyond a doubt.

Hope the other medals show up ASAP.

 

[HMHunters]

So glad to hear folks are receiving there well-deserved medals. Sorry you missed getting it at the end of the race! Congrats on a job well done.