on the dark side wrote:
That said, I agree that the 13.1 is a "one-timer" sticker for people who eecked-out a 2:12 half marathon with the iPod, race t-shirt, and gel/water belt. But hey, I guess it could be worse...
I drive a small SUV with a 13.1 sticker on the back. I'm not into stickers or decals, but it's there.
I fit the LetsRun.com demographic (posited earlier) pretty well: I was a competitive runner in high school who was somewhat less-than-wholeheartedly recruited to run D-II and D-III, and decided to attend a D-I college instead which did not hold walk-on try-outs, and thus ended my competitive running career. I ran 14 and 15 mile training runs in high school for fun. So to complete the stereotype, I thought the 13.1 sticker was really silly (although I was still impressed by the people who actually finished marathons).
My wife did not run in school. She swam (not competitively) and never understood the need to run or swim fast when you could just run for fun. She's more into yoga and hiking. She's run four half-marathons - two before we were together and two in the past year that I ran with her. She's never run faster than 2:20. She probably can, but she hasn't been trying to, and that's really okay.
At 57 my dad decided to take up running. He'd been to all my track meets and worked out at his local gym on a Stairmaster, but his second running phase (after his first in junior high) ended when he slipped on ice and broke his leg back in the 70's. At 59 he ran his first road race: a 5 mile Thanksgiving Turkey Trot and I ran it with him in 50 minutes with negative splits. At 60 he ran his first half marathon in 2:30 on the nose. He's now planning his next two road races and aiming for 45 min for this Thanksgiving's race. For Father's Day I bought him a 13.1 sticker. It was the only thing he said he wanted. I bought one for my wife, too, and they put their stickers on the cars together.
Most of my training runs are at a pace faster than my wife has ever run a 5K. But she's proud of the 13.1 sticker and I'm proud of her. The most fun I've ever had during a half-marathon has been running with my wife and the most proud I have ever been was finishing with my dad. And the sticker makes me think of them.
All of us runners need to chill out a little bit. :-)