The Top 25 Marathon Finisher Medals for North America for 2011

Countdown to number 1.

ith John Hayes’s amazing victory in the 1908 Olympic Marathon, \\VJiewesane running in America began to rise in popularity. It was

nail-biting action as Dorando Pietri staggered the last 380 yards and was propelled across the finish line by officials just before Hayes caught up. Pietri was disqualified, and Hayes received the gold medal. Back then, only a handful of marathons existed. Now, a mere century later, you could choose from more than 500 marathons to run throughout the world. Most of us won’t be winning a gold medal, but we surely look forward to receiving a medal of our own, a reminder that we have crossed the finish line, that we are victors in our own right.

However, not all medals are equally eloquent reminders of our athletic journey and marathon experience. Some are gorgeous and worthy of display; others sadly look like we picked them up at our local dollar store. To scout out 2011’s best-designed medals, we gathered a diverse panel of marathoners from across the United States and Canada. They vary widely in their backgrounds and levels of experience, but all share a love for running and an appreciation of excellently crafted medals. Panelist Rachael Brown (Oregon) puts it succinctly: “Running a marathon is a substantial achievement; the medal should reflect that.” In hearty agreement, let’s look at the medals that scored big in 2011.

We racers love a medal that captures the spirit of the marathon it commemorates. Several of this year’s medals leave us longing for a vacation somewhere warm and sunny with sea turtles and surfboards. Others conjure nostalgic feelings of historic American landmarks and towns. We love a creative medal that spins, opens, or lights up, yet we also appreciate simplicity and beauty. The common bond is excellence, regardless of the form it takes.

Again this year, we recruited a new panel to judge the 2011 marathon medals; however, the panelists’ perspectives were remarkably similar to those of last year’s panel. Fort Lauderdale A1A designed a top-three winner once more by featuring another locket-style medal. Their 2010 number-one medal was an opening oyster. For 2011, Fort Lauderdale A1A stayed with the concept and created a sea-turtle locket. Since sea turtles represent longevity and endurance, what critter could possibly serve as a better marathon-medal mascot?

Return to grandeur

The Marine Corps Marathon took first place among the panelists for its 2009 medal. Its 2010 redesign, surprisingly, did not score even honorable-mention status. Wisely, MCM returned to what had worked before and achieved second place for its beautiful 2011 medal. Oorah, and semper fi!

Finally, everyone got their kicks from Route 66. “These guys just know how to do medals,” says panelist Rob Rayder. Indeed, Route 66 placed second in 2009 and third in 2010. Get hip to this timely tip: Route 66 finishers will be proud to display their very cool medals because . . . drumroll . . . Williams Route 66 Marathon edged out the leathernecks as the number-one medal of 2011. Elegant, sleek, and shiny, this medal captures the look of a hood ornament from a classic 1941 Cadillac. All agree: it looks fast and slick, just as we runners envision our legs in a race!

As marathoners, we pour much of ourselves into our training; our friends and families fill in the gaps while our feet are hitting the pavement mile after mile in training runs. Some of us must overcome great challenges to finish a single race, while others somehow swing numerous marathons every year. No matter our background or the athletic journey that took us to the finish line, we all experience an incredible sense of accomplishment when we receive our reward. Here’s to the 2011 medals that were worthy of our work!

The 2011 Winners

Honorable mention:

Boston, Buffalo, Cowtown, E. T. Full Moon, Hoover Dam, Madison, Quebec City, Rock ’n’ Roll San Antonio, Texas, Vancouver BC, Wineglass

25. Toronto. This medal has a very nice size and simple, elegant design —Lisa Cao

24. Lost Dutchman. The Lost Dutchman medal is nice and colorful. The picture alone tells the story of a gold miner and his trusty mule on their never-ending quest for “gold in them thar hills.’—Jeff Oh

23. Oklahoma City. Finishers come away with medals as meaningful as a branch from that 80-year-old survivor tree would be. The elm endured tremendous obstacles to blossom, much like a finisher!—Paul Gentry

22. Mississippi Blues. A huge medal that is actually the size of the old-time 45-rpm records and looks like a gold record you would hang on a rock star’s wall. All that and Elvis to boot!—Rob Rayder

21. San Francisco. This cool “gold” medal highlights one of the most famous intersections (Haight-Ashbury) in San Francisco and one of the most anticipated sections of the course —Thad McLaurin

20. Niagara Falls. I love the use of the stars (USA) and the maple leaf (Canada) to tie in the international theme of this event—Roger Morse

19. Outer Banks. The pirate’s-treasure-map

design of this medal is very fun, and I like the detail! —Lisa Cao

18. Little Rock. It is a massive and beautiful ; medal in a world where size matters —Rob a

Rayder

17. Nike Women’s. I love the idea of having a medal you can wear long after the race is over. A Tiffany necklace is perfect—Rachael Brown

16. Disney. I have to admit I love all things Disney. I love this new design and would love to display Mickey in my medal collection—Roger Morse

15. Detroit. The muscle car zooming across this medal is awesome, and it manages to capture many of the other unique features of the city, too. —[had McLaurin

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. Newport. It kind of looks like a big lollipop. It

. Flying Pig. I like the back of this medal: the pig’s rear.

. Tacoma City. Function over form.

. Surf City. When people put this much thought into a

. Portland. This really appeals to the coin collecRock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas. I like the colors and the skyline, but it really won my heart when I realized it could glow in the dark. —Cara Esau

St. George. I love the fact that the stone is indigenous to the area, and it is beautiful, full of vivacious reds

and oranges. I also enjoy the smooth surface. —Alicia Firstbrook-Stott

Hartford. It just looks hefty. It would be impossible to receive that medal and not feel like you did something serious. —Ryan Farley

Green Bay. The leather is embossed with a runner who looks like he is running out of the medal! —Adam Ricklefs

Running for the Bay. Two-sided medals add interest, and this one, with its nautical feel, is a great fit with the theme of the race. I might add that it is not the typical Florida beach image. —Bill Rahn

certainly would stand out in the pile of all your other medals. —Burt McCumber

It’s quite entertaining with the words, “I made a run for it.” —Alicia Firstbrook-Stott

I love the bottle opener; as icing = Pa) bee

on the cake, it’s gorgeous, too. Pee

—Cara Esau

medal, I know they have put a lot of thought into the race and the runners——Rachael Brown

tor in me. —Thad McLaurin

4. Space Coast. It just looks fast and may even make me tun at the front of the back of the pack to get it. —Roger Morse

3. Fort Lauderdale A1A. —The locket design is like nothing out there. The sea turtle design conjures images of salt air and whitesand beaches.—Rob Rayder

2. Marine Corps. Looking like a piece of jewelry or possibly a weapon to be used in defending personal space, the MCM medal inspires memories of heroes protecting our country.—Adam Ricklefs

1. Route 66. These folks just know how to do medals! Fabulous and creative designs year after year!—Rob Rayder

Our panel

A staffing manager in the financial-services industry, Zina Abdel (New York) has a passion for health and fitness. She is an avid runner who enjoys racing and has over a dozen half-marathons under her belt. In 2009, she completed the ING NYC Marathon and is training to qualify for the 2013 Boston Marathon.

After a difficult pregnancy, Rachael Brown (Oregon) started running to lose weight. To her surprise, she discovered that she was a runner and an athlete. A paralegal who sits at a desk all day, she runs to stay healthy but even more for the love of the sport. She races because she has found her inner athlete and never wants to let her go.

Lisa Cao is a lifelong New Yorker. Age 24, she has run 16 marathons and ultras, chasing the best medals over eight states and two continents. She is a graduate of Cornell University and a Marathon Maniac member and is currently working for New York Road Runners as manager of the National Mighty Milers Program.

Rob Crangle (Virginia), avid marathoner and ultradistance event participant, recently completed his 55th marathon. Previous races include 16 Marine Corps Marathons, four ultramarathons (three 50-milers and one 100-miler), and two Ironman triathlons. Rob lives in Ashburn, Virginia, with his wife, two daughters, and yellow Labrador retriever.

Michele Delange (North Carolina) is a dedicated mother, teacher, and runner. She has run in numerous Alaska mountain races, including Seward’s Mount Marathon and

the Crow Pass Crossing. In 2001, she ran her first road marathon in Paris, France. Michele has twice run the Shut-In Ridge Run and the marathon leg of the Blue Ridge Relay. She plans to run her first trail 40 miler in 2012.

Ryan Farley (District of Columbia) grew up just outside Portland, Oregon, spending most of his time camping and hiking in the beautiful Northwest. After running the Marine Corps Marathon, he fell in love with distance running. He hopes to eventually be a part of the Marine Corps Marathon Runners Club.

A 31-year-old art teacher, Alicia Firstbrook-Stott has lived in seven different states. She now happily resides in The Little Apple—Manhattan, Kansas. After her first marathon in 2005, she was hooked. She has run 15 marathons and three ultras.

Kim Goff (New Hampshire) began running competitively in middle school. Ten years later, she ran her first marathon in 3:43. Since then, Kim has scored a PR of 2:42 and has run over 100 marathons, finishing as the number-one woman 29 times. In addition to winning Big Sur four times, she won the Barbados Marathon 10 consecutive years. She ran the Vermont 100-miler twice.

After dropping 55 pounds jogging on the treadmill—and becoming terribly bored in the process—Dave Mari (Illinois) signed up for his first race, the Disney Marathon, in 2009. Since then, he has run 45 marathons and 45 half-marathons in 29 different states.

Kit McCaffrey (Kansas) has logged over 30 marathons, including the 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials. Marathon training certainly presents new challenges since she has two young sons, but it provides a great escape from her sedentary writing job.

After a 14-year break from running after high school, Burt McCumber (Utah) put on excess pounds. The weight gain prompted Burt to resume running, and he has since lost 60 pounds. With two marathons under his belt, Burt aims to set a PR in his next race. He is an active blogger on fastrunningblog.com and loves being part of the running community.

Certified running and fitness coach Thad McLaurin (North Carolina) hosts and writes the popular RunnerDude’s Blog and is the owner of RunnerDude’s Fitness in Greensboro, North Carolina. A personal trainer and running coach, Thad’s greatest reward is helping others live healthy, active lifestyles.

After a couple of years of running, Greg McLawsen (Washington) is anewbie to marathons. This Marathon Maniac shies away from megaraces in favor of the camaraderie of smaller events. Between runs, Greg practices law and Zen in Tacoma, Washington.

A self-described back-of-the-pack runner, Roger Morse (Maine) began running in 2007 to lose weight. However, Roger has since become passionate about running and helping others. After finishing his first marathon at Disney World (2009) and then doing Disney’s Goofy Challenge (2010), he became an RRCA Certified Running Coach.