Stuff Keeps Arriving in the Mail

When I went out to get the mail today, I saw a package in the mailbox.  I didn’t know what it was until I opened it.  It was this etched glass age group award from the Georgia Marathon.

I knew after the race that I placed third in my age group.  I also learned that all age groups are mailed to recipients.  Some races do that as a matter of convenience.  This race did it for another reason.  Notice that the award has my name on it.  They couldn’t finish manufacturing the awards until they knew who all the winners were.

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of nice surprises in the mail.  In April, I received three awards or medals in the mail.

The first was the finisher medal for the Little Rock Medal.  Normally, these are given to runners as they cross the finish line.  Because of a shipping delay, the medals weren’t available on race day.  When the organizers found out the medals wouldn’t arrive on time, they managed to procure smaller plastic medals to give us on race day.  When the big medals arrived, local runners were asked to pick up theirs in person.  The rest were mailed.  That had to have cost a fortune, but gigantic finisher medals are a signature of this race.

I included a tape measure in this picture for scale.  This medal is huge.  It weighs over three pounds.  I’m not a big fan of huge medals, but I do think it’s a cool design.  They’re different each year and incorporate a number of details.  The spinner in the upper right corner is about the same size as a normal finisher medal.

Next, I received the mileage plate for the plaque I received at A Stroll in Central Park.  This is what the plaque looks like with the plate in place.  We received the plaques on race weekend, but the plates had to be mailed later.  Each one has the runner’s actual mileage.  I ran 35.02 miles in that race.  I like how they not only personalized the plaques, but made them into permanent mementos of our race results.

The other medal I received in April was this “Double Beat” medal for the Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon Series.  I got this for doing two of their races in the same calendar year.  There are a whole series of medals like this.  I’m doing one more Rock ‘N’ Roll race this year, so I can look forward to eventually receiving their “Rock Trio” medal.

Getting an award today helped lift my spirits.  I’m injured, so I haven’t been doing much running lately.  Last night, I cancelled my reservations for a race I was going to do on Saturday.  It’s nice to know I can get awards even when I’m not able to get out and run.