Why we run (not because of medals, mostly).

An article from the Wall Street Journal cross my Facebook news feed, a few hours after watching a very exciting Boston Marathon. The Article "What do runners find at finish? Seahorses, guitars."
written by Kevin Helliker, about the motivations of runners to race. For Mr, Helliker it is a very simple formula.

Medals!

Pure and simple. Bling Bling.

Mr. Helliker talks to various race directors, and medal makers to get the full pulse of what running really is about.

Not really.
Not at all.
Not even close.

See, just to the right of my desk where I'm writing this, there is my wall of medals. 13 of them or so from the last 2 years.

Before I received each and every one of them, I ran a race. A marathon or a half marathon or a 10k. And with each and every race, there is a story. A few of them, I look at and they make me smile, some remind me of disappointment. And a few I've not looked at or touched since I gotten them. The experience connected to them is so powerful, that I can't really look at them or touch them, but I keep them anyway. Those are my Chicago Marathon medals. I literally hide them. And they are mine.

The motivations of a runner are a personal one.  A runner runs for a myriad of reasons.  Could be doing it for health, for a family or friend or a loved one for a charity, people overcoming struggles such as addiction or abuse. As a memorial for a loved one. Some are trying to physically and mentally improve themselves.  And some people run just for the joy or running, and to see how close to the limits they can take themselves..

I'm pretty there are sure there are a few of them are doing it for the size of a running medal. And if they are, bless their hearts, So what? Because they are out there, too. Suffering and fighting long miles and blisters and cramping and pain. For all the reasons listed above and more. Because you have to run the race. Every entry does, to get the medal.

And the great thing about runners is that we don't judge why anyone is out there running. Or why they're doing it.  When we run, we run together, and we cheer and encourage each other. And with every race it's about crossing the finish line. And that's something the WSJ article totally forgets.
Running is not a thing. It's not a commodity, and a medal means nothing without the race before it.

That how you get the medal.

You finish.