Bling Obsession

Bling, Bling, Bling

Do runners enter a race just because of the bling (medal)? Or the bling plays an important part in deciding which race you want to participate?

I remember many years ago (probably more than 25 years ago) when I first entered my first half marathon, we only have a certificate. Unfortunately, I have lost the certificate when I shifted house about 20 years ago. Didn't realise it was that significant to me then. No bling, no finisher T or even sports drinks. Sports drinks was not even invented. So we only have water and only water. I think we do have a running vest. No energy gels. No fancy food. And of course, no BLING ! I would have kept the bling if we have one. After the first half marathon, I stop running for months. Not the toughness of the race but the torture of the training then. Running in the morning almost every day for a few months. And long run on Sunday, where I ran from Esplanade to Botanical Gardens and back. The marvel of it is I didn't even carry a water bottle. No knowledge of fueling and hydration but just craziness of running. And that scare me after the first race. Unfortunately, I can't even remember my finishing time now.

So my half marathon at PBIM in 2011 becomes a fresh start. The truth is this half marathon at PBIM is even tougher than my first 25 years ago. Still ignorant about hydration and fueling and I just ran the race after training on a treadmill most of the time. 25 years later and I was 49 then, the body can really feel the strain and the speed is a real slog (slow jog).

Personally, I prefer to choose more unique races and if they are more well organised. The bling is just the reward of the race. And the certificate I usually lose them very soon. But they are runners who hanged up their Xmas tree with their running medals. With the medals, finisher T, running vest, sport drinks, food and other goodies the registration fee of the race will definitely increase. Currently, I saw some comments where the runners are not happy because the organiser change the design of the medal. Some of the comments are pretty nasty. It is not easy to organise a race, the moving parts of the race is much more than we can anticipate. The organisers are usually runners who has passion in the sport  and would like other runners to experience this passion too. Let's not give the organiser a hard time, the important thing is we enjoy the race !