What's with the all the people wearing Marathon medals for a week?

[Dave Rolen]

OK. I'm not judging. I'm not judging. Trying not to be judgmental here. BUT!!

I arrived at WDW marathon Sunday and departed this past Friday evening. Every day we saw tons of people wearing their medals. I understand rocking that bling all day race day. Maybe even all the way through Sunday if your race was earlier in the weekend. Maybe even the next day for Goofy/Dopey.

But wearing the medal for 5 days after the marathon? Isn't that what shirts, hats and jackets are for?

I understand that a marathon is a pretty big deal to most people and the longer distances even more of a big deal. So maybe to each their own. Maybe I am being judgmental even though I'm trying hard not to be.

Is this just a Disney thing or do you guys see this elsewhere. Maybe it's because I only have experience with single day events that I've never noticed this phenomenon?

thoughts?

 

[Andyman33]

Why does it matter to you. Big events in people's lives. Whether it's a 5k or a marathon it's a huge achievement to
That person. They aren't botherin you. Let them do what they want and wear what they want....
And yes you are being exceedingly judgmental. So to say you are trying not to be is completely false

 

[camaker]

It certainly sounds judgmental. I'm confused as to how wearing the medals for the week is apparently unacceptable while wearing the shirts hats and jackets isn't. People are still on vacation at Disney and it's nice to get the congratulations from CMs and other guests that come with wearing the medals. I think they are enjoying the atmosphere and aftermath of a large accomplishment before heading home where the vast majority of people don't care what you just did and the medal becomes something that hangs on the wall (or lives in a drawer) at home.

I haven't seen this outside the Disney races, but I think it's a byproduct of the vacation destination race situation. Ultimately it's just an accessory that someone has chosen to wear on vacation. My question to you would be "why do you care?" It doesn't affect you in any way and apparently it's part of these folks' enjoyment of their accomplishment and vacation.

 

[Newsies]

If I spent a year or maybe more training to complete a marathon and then dropped all the money it takes to run a Disney marathon, I'd probably be wearing that medal all throughout the rest of my stay.

 

[Canooknic]

I don't get it either, and I've run them so know the pride of completing them.
I'm also not an 'it's my birthday/anniversary' badge wearing kinda girl - I avoid that kind of attention wherever possible.
I don't have a problem with others doing it, everyone is different and that's why the world is an interesting place...and any attention on them is less chance of it being on me so I'm happy!!

 

[cavepig]

We wear or at least have our medals in our backpacks for photos all the way till the end of our trips, usually leave the wed/thu after races. It's part of the fun for us. The medals make for great character photos too as they get a kick out of them for interaction.

 

[dburg30]

Since so many others usually vacation afterwards, it's fun to walk around and see all the race shirts and medals.. Honestly, really no different than people that wear lanyards their whole vacation. And as others have said, many keep them for photo ops. And, hey, it's like wearing a birthday badge or something, many guests and CM's love to offer congrats!!! If you arent into the distance running, you may not get it.. Or there are some people that the medal really means nothing, so they dont wear them.

 

[rteetz]

People train for months for races from 5Ks to Marathons. When they finally complete that race they are filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment. When I crossed that marathon finish line and received that medal I was overcome with joy. I didn't leave until Tuesday and didn't take that medal off. If I would've stayed longer I probably would've kept wearing it. People should be allowed to wear their medals as long as they want.

 

[seashell7290]

The rundisney bling is some of the best out there! And who knows maybe if you see someone with an awesome medal that may inspire you to run a race. I see no hurt in wearing them.

 

[DLgal]

They just like the attention. So what? Stop worrying so much about what other people do.

 

[bumbershoot]

Disney is probably the only place where a non-Olympian race participant can do this. It's simply fun. It's a nice way to chat with others in the parks if you know you've had the shared experience.

I did the second to last tower of terror run, and had grown tired of wearing the medal. But we had a DHS day and I brought it to meet wreck it Ralph (who could not have cared less about the medal, which made me sad bc I never meet characters but thought it would be fun with him and vanellope given the medal story in their movie) and to wear on TOT. I put it on for those things. Forgot to take it off after tot and met someone else who had started to feel silly about his medal, and we buoyed each other up so much with shared experience that we vowed to leave them on the rest of our trips. Where else can you wear them???

They just like the attention

I hate attention in general and don't feel like I wear them for attention. It makes me feel happy (andnis an explanation for why I'm walking funny lol) on the inside to have them there to look at.



Now I personally grow tired of wearing them! They are heavy and they clank. Even just my one from today's 10k is noisy. DS and I compared, and there's something in the way I walk that makes my medal bounce more so it's super noisy. I'm not going to the parks today but if I go back to the expo I'll bring it to wear. Because where else can I do that?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

How does it effect you personally if people wear their medals?

It's like saying that people should not wear a birthday button or a happily ever after button throughout their trip even though the trip is to celebrate it.

It does not effect others so why does it matter?

My thought is get as much use out of that medal as you can since as soon as you go home its being put away somewhere never to be wore again.

 

[Allison]

My thoughts are if someone wants to wear it proudly, they should do so. No different than the hat, shirt, jacket, or whatever. This is a big achievement for people so I say go for it.

 

[Ariel484]

OK. I'm not judging. I'm not judging. Trying not to be judgmental here. BUT!

Yes you are. Putting "but" at the end negates your "not judging," and so does the rest of your post.

 

[Ariel484]

Also - people do ridiculous/bad things at Disney. Scream at their kids, cut the lines, etc. And you're focusing on them wearing medals?

They're wearing them because they want to and are proud of their accomplishment. Not a great mystery.

 

[wilkeliza]

Totally judgemental.

A lot of people will wear their medals the rest of their vacation because they want the photos. After I didn my coast to coast I carried mine in a vague through DL for 4 days post race so any time there was a photo op I wanted but had missed I could put them on.

This isn't just a Disney thing either. Sure a week is a stretch outside of Disney but for the NY marathon there are post marathon events (Medal Monday!) for up to a week post marathon and people will wear the medals to that.

 

[Disney_traveler]

I say if you've got 'em, flaunt 'em! There's no way I could ever train for or complete one of those. Anyone that does them has true dedication and endurance. i don't see how it is any different from wearing pin lanyards, light up necklaces or Mickey hats/ears. It's part of their event/vacation whether they are there one day or a week or a month!
I also think it is really cool when you see pictures of runners with all their medals on and fanned out.

You know what they say....
Haters gon hate, potaters gon potate!

 

[jmasgat]

Legit to ask......I haven't seen people wear medals for that duration at any other place besides Disney. But then again, Disney can be a very closed system, i.e. people are there to race and stay onsite to vacation afterwards; and of course, Disney encourages that kind of "magical celebration" for all sorts of reasons, so this fits right in.

People wear their Disney medals to the airport all the time. For that matter, so do marathoners I have seen from Boston, etc.

Have to agree with bumbershoot, though, I find them really annoying to walk around in (clank, clank, clank!). But even I have a tradition of going to a park and getting a picture taken with my medal with the character from the race.

 

[Ariel484]

I agree it's a legit question. But when you start off asking it by saying over and over that "you're not judging, BUT..." clearly you're judging.

 

[PCFriar80]

I think it's great that people wear their medals. I enjoy congratulating them for whatever race or challenge they ran because I know how tough it can be! Heck, I even wore my 1/2 medal for a little while this year even though the race was cancelled. It took me about 3 hours to get it at the Expo and back, so yes I earned it!