I prefer the surprise
Thank you so much for all your nice comments on my new tattoo! It’s healing great! I will share a less “red” picture of it soon!
Social media makes it so easy for organizations to share information about their races – registration price increase warnings, changed course maps, parking directions, last minute tips, live updates on lead runners, and so on. Mostly, it’s great. If you can’t find information on their official site (or your email isn’t responded to, gasp!), you can contact them via social media, or see if someone else is asking the same questions.
So I typically follow the races I am signed up for or thinking about doing, on Facebook, because I enjoy seeing this information.
There is only ONE thing I don’t want to see – the race medal.
Ha ha ha. I just like to be surprised! Seeing the race shirt or bibs is okay (but not preferred, for me), but for whatever reason… I don’t want to know what the medal looks like until it’s being placed on my neck!
Do you like seeing the race “bling” before you receive it?
Themocracy
Glad that your tattoo is healing well – I definitely like the saying!
I definitely prefer to wait until the event to see the medal and t-shirt (and other swag, but those are the big items, obviously). It’s funny – at Ironman events, you don’t get the t-shirt unless you finish, which I think is kind of unfair, but it always motivates me to get to the finish line!
Thank you 🙂
Woo hoo! It’s not just me!
Hmm… do only full ironmans do that? Or, maybe just not relays? I remember we got our shirts for the relay at packet pickup. It’s interesting when races choose to do that, for sure!
YES! I feel the exact same way 🙂 I think the Hartford Marathon actually showed the finisher’s medals too but I actively avoided seeing them ahead of time!
I am happy you avoided it! Sometimes friends will give me a heads up if it’s posted so that I can avoid it 🙂
hmmm, I donno! Maybe if they put up a picture afterwards. Besides the location/course I usually pick races based on how nice the medal is!!
I was thinking about that after I wrote this… that some people DO choose the race because of the medal – either that it has one, or the design. And some races are all about the medal. I am trying to remember which race it was this year that had a huge one… I keep thinking Kentucky or Tennessee for some reason…
Little Rock, I believe 🙂
That’s it, thanks! 🙂
Great point. There is almost nothing like a good surprise anymore since we now have so much information at our fingertips. I was happy to see what design the race had come up with for my Chicago Marathon medal after it was put around my neck on Sunday.
I was thinking about this on Sunday, and that the majors surely don’t “spoil” the marathon design.
Ha ha, I remember people really hated the medal the year I ran Chicago, but… I am always just excited to get a medal 🙂
Yeah-it does annoy me when races do this. I agree, but I do not go out of my way to avoid seeing it. I usually do not really see it or look at it until I am finished with the race and am on the ground somewhere thinking about the race that I study the medal. Then I put it away and don’t really think about it again…
I like being surprised! When I saw people on the course who had clearly already finished the marathon on Sunday, I tried really hard not to look at their bling, haha.
I look away too. And for the reason of just not wanting to think about how some people are already finished (you know, like when people finish the race then walk the course? lol).
I will actually decide whether to do a race based on what the bling looks like! The 5/3 River Bank Run 25k is letting runners vote on the medal this year. They’ve had the same boring medal for years (I have multiples of it) and I’d decided I wouldn’t do this race again. Now, if the medal I love wins, I’ll be running another 25k in May.
Wow! That is super interesting! I hope your medal wins! Is the boring medal the only reason you don’t want to do the race again?
Oh, that’s funny. I never thought about whether I do or don’t want to see the race medal before I run the race. I guess I don’t really pay close enough attention to what the race organizers say before the race, so I probably miss when they reveal the medals, if they do at all. That said, I don’t think it’d bother me to see the medal before finishing the race.
I’m not sure I pay attention too much either way. The bad thing is if the medal is ugly. Then you know that you are going to push yourself for something that’s not very rewarding. I do like to see things like finisher’s jackets, especially if it helps with ordering the right size.
I think a lot of people think the medal in this post qualifies as ugly… but I am still just jazzed to get one. 🙂
Do you have a finisher’s jacket? I haven’t ever purchased one!
Veteran’s last year had New Balance jackets instead of race shirts, which was rad. It’s one of my fave pieces and I wear it all the time in the winter. I’ve never actually bought one.
I like to see the medal first! Makes me want it even more. 🙂
I am Indifferent. If I happen to see it beforehand that’s cool… I just don’t seek it out. I honestly don’t care about the medals- as I just throw them in a shoe box in my closet 😉 but I can understand wanting to be surprised and wanting something to look forward to at the end of a long race.
I haven’t thought about it before but it is fun to get a surprise. I haven’t run too many races w/ finishers’ medals…most of mine are small charity 5k’s in which only the winners get medals.
I agree with you!
Interesting! I don’t think I care either way about seeing the medal in advance. I guess the surprise is better, though I’m usually like, “Man, this thing is fugly” whenever I see it. Ha. Ugh, I’m such a downer.