13.1 Sticker

"My Dad is 89 and in a wheelchair. You'd be shocked at the people that are considered "handicapped" taking up parking spots"/quote

Does your dad have a 13.1 sticker on the back of his whellchair ? He sounds like a "Chronic " complainer ! He can wait for a space.

I too struggle with the gallowalker mentality, and I'm not even fast, butI tend to agree with "pointer outer of the obvious". It's like golf, I didn't appreciate golf until I tried it and realized how difficult it is to do well. The more people know about running the more they will appreciate it when it's done at a high level. So grin and bear it I guess.

On a side note, my wife bought me a 26.2 sticker last year for Christmas (I had just finished Marine Corps), I still haven't put it on my car, if I BQ I might (but might not), to me it seems you should reach a standard b4 you can advertise what you've done.

runnermama wrote:

Hmm. I gave birth 3 months ago and ran a half marathon 2 days ago. That's something to be proud of. Takes balls, ya know? How about just congratulating people who run and encouraging them, instead of making fun of them? You don't know their story.

You try giving birth, breast-feeding a baby, working full-time, taking care of a house and family, then running a race, any race, or even finding time to train, for that matter, asshole. And for the record, I do no have cankles or drive a minivan. Give me another month or two and the 26.2 sticker will be right there next to the 13.1.

Oh, and I ran till 19 miles. So don't give me that half-way bullshit.

THANKS :)

Did this lady say she ran until 19 miles in a half-marathon, or is my reading comprehension failing me?

hjk78 wrote:

I don't care what the accomplishment is but putting a sticker on your car to recognize it is just trying to show off. I'm not into ultra running at all but I bet none of them have 100k or 100mi stickers on their cars. Why? Because they're mostly in it for personal satisfaction. NOT to get recognition.

Lots of ultra folk have vanity plates and stickers. In the Northern VA area I see quite a few JFK50 stickers and IRUN100 style plates.

letsrun's forum acts as a vent for a lot of the negativity and frustrations serious runners think about day-to-day. I think that's fine and I don't think it crosses over into the "public" running scene or weakens running's appeal with a negative tinge.

Moreover, I don't feel your average running group or public settinga involving running has a ton of negativity. Even HS/college team situations are usually positive and team-oriented. Other major sites (RW, Coolrunning, Dyestat, etc.) are more civil and positive than LR and that's where the average, majority of runners interact. LR is a unique place and I think it's fine (and engaging/entertaining) to have some of the crap hashed out here.

Very poor comparison.

- This board/thread/mentality is not led or even participated in by elite/pro runners. It's all has-beens and ex-college guys.

- Kobe doesn't say a thing because he's making MILLIONS OF DOLLARS from his contracts and sales of his jerseys.

This has been said many times, but for some reason it seems that this needs to be repeated.

Go ahead, be proud of your accomplishments. Whether it be losing 100 pounds and running a full mile, struggling through a 2 hour + half marathon, or finally breaking 2:20 or 2:10 for the full marathon. The issue is the fact that if you feel like you have to advertise your accomplishments on your car, you are a giant douche. It's not how fast, like if you run an AR, or a WR, a trials qualifier or a Boston Qualifier it's ok. It's never ok, fast or slow. In fact, I would argue that the faster you run, the douchier it makes you.

eojtlc wrote:

This has been said many times, but for some reason it seems that this needs to be repeated.

Go ahead, be proud of your accomplishments. Whether it be losing 100 pounds and running a full mile, struggling through a 2 hour + half marathon, or finally breaking 2:20 or 2:10 for the full marathon. The issue is the fact that if you feel like you have to advertise your accomplishments on your car, you are a giant douche. It's not how fast, like if you run an AR, or a WR, a trials qualifier or a Boston Qualifier it's ok. It's never ok, fast or slow. In fact, I would argue that the faster you run, the douchier it makes you.

Agreed. Maybe I'll get "9-10" bumper sticker (for hitting 9 out of 10 free throws), or a "$50,000" bumper sticker (hey, I know its not a lot of money, but I've worked soooo hard for it). Or how about an "83" bumper sticker (my best round of golf)? Who cares about any of that or whether you waddle through a half marathon or not? It shows how starved for attention these people are.

So how is that sticker any different than wearing the shirt you get from the race?

let me play my tiny violin for a minute here...

Last month my friend collapsed and died at the 25th mile marker of the Baltimore Marathon. He was 23 years old and running BQ - 3:15 pace. No known previous health problems.

Washington National, my first attempt at a marathon, has taken on greater importance to me after that day. If I am lucky enough to finish, I think I'll put a 26.2 on my car, or laptop or water bottle so I can remember the effort it took to honor my friend Pete. Sure, I'd like other people to see it too, but it would be mostly for me and the memory of someone.

I think people run races for a lot of reasons, perhaps the greatest of which should be to support charitables causes. Whatever obstacles they overcome in order to get to the starting line and through to the finish tape should be theirs to own and be proud of. My own friend died running the race that his cancer surivor older sister had completed the year before. I'm sure he'd have a 26.2 on his ride too.

Peace

What you don't take into account is that you know nothing about the driver. For one thing HE might not be the runner. In my case, my wife has gone from a less than 10 miles per week runner to completing 2 half marys this year. This on top of work and helping to raise our two kids. She has a 13.1 Been There Run That sticker on her car. When I drive the car I suppose it implies that I am 13.1 runner. Yeah, she's proud of it but it is also a way to connect with other runners. Think about it, most non-runners don't even know what 13.1, 26.2, JFK 50, or any of our little runner codes mean. But other runners have come up and asked which HMs she's run. For many people the half is all they have time to train for, no fault in that. And many are proud and should be because they've gotten off the couch and conquered a goal. You point the average person down a road and say head out for 13 miles and they'd rather clip a cat's claws.

pointer outer of the obvious wrote:

So how is that sticker any different than wearing the shirt you get from the race?

It isn't, if the shirt says LOOK AT ME, with your distance and finishing time printed on it.

tuffenuff wrote:

This on top of work and helping to raise our two kids.

Hey, why don't you borrow the guys tiny violin from the post above.

There is no extra credit for that. A lot of runners have that on their plate or a lot more.

If you want to put the sticker on your car, fine it's your choice and I respect your right to have an opinion.

But remember, if it's my choice to be annoyed at the growing number of walkers and plodders who expect extra credit and plaudits for putting in minimal effort to finish a race, then you then you respect my opinion too.

I have a 13.1 sticker on my car, but it's because that's the length of my weiner

msw1185 wrote:

He was 23 years old and running BQ - 3:15 pace.

BQ is 3:10.

Centimetres?

Millimeters, I'm from India

Posting something that actually makes sense makes me think that you are way too intelligent to be posting on Letsrun.

Democratic Farmer Labor party sticker FTW!

pointer outer of the obvious wrote:

It's no different than someone buying a Kobe Bryant jersey. Do you see NBA players ridiculing people who buy thier jerseys and wear them around with pride?

your post is fine, but imo, this analogy is somewhat off for the topic at hand.

having a 13.1 sticker is like having a sticker (or jersey...whatever) that says "I play a decent amount of basketball."

it's not like supporting a pro or an event you like.

Dim whitmnan wrote:

It isn't, if the shirt says LOOK AT ME, with your distance and finishing time printed on it.

Did I miss something? Did the original post say that the 13.1 sticker had a finishing time and "LOOK AT ME" printed on it? Actually, a 13.1 sticker is less "LOOK AT ME" than wearing a race shirt. So all of you who don't like the 13.1 stickers better never wear a shirt from a road race or you are guilty of what you are making out to be the cardinal sin of running.