My (running) Life in Medals

I often see the debate online of what to do with the medals runners get at the end of marathons and other shorter races these days.  To some, they are prized possessions, proudly displayed on the wall of their home or apartment.  They'll gladly engage you in conversation of every detail of the race if they spot you glancing in the general direction of one of the shiny accolades.  To others, they are junk.  They'll give them to their kids, nieces, nephews, or even throw them away.  And if you make a comment on their apathy toward the medal, they will gladly engage you in conversation of every detail of the race.

Me?  I'm somewhere in between.  Mine hang on a doorknob in the closet.  I keep all the medals from races.  Even worse, I save all my bibs as well, but that's for another day.  Some of my medals have meaning to me and others don't hold a lot of significance.    What I've realized though is each of those races is a part of who I am, who my friends are, and what was going on in my life at the time.  So I figured I'd give each medal one more chance to shine, and reflect on the race and my life.

What better way to kick all this off than to go back to where it all started for me.  Yesterday, while digging through some boxes at my parents' house, I came across this medal:

This simple medal is from 1988-89, when I was in the 5th grade.  There was a presidential challenge/initiative to get kids more active, so we were required to complete a couple 1/4 mile laps around the playground at the beginning of each recess period.  After laps were run, kids were free to go play on the monkey bars or join a game of kickball.  We had just moved to Rockdale, Texas, and I didn't have many friends.  Instead of the normal recess activities, the 5th grade me continued to run long after everyone else went on to play tag.  I was the weird kid who ran, which I'm sure didn't help with the friend-making.  I'm really not sure what motivated me to keep running, but in retrospect, it doesn't seem odd at all.  At the end of the school year, I had amassed 61 1/4 miles, which resulted in being called up in front of the entire school and presented with this medal.  It was a rough year in school for me, but I did eventually make some friends...and found my way onto the cross country team a couple years later.