tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941587959251490759.post4572882069456639445..comments2016-06-13T10:29:35.666-05:00Larisa Dixonhttps://plus.google.com/104754586288419285838[email protected]Blogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941587959251490759.post-368946775100189282014-06-13T19:09:09.266-05:002014-06-13T19:09:09.266-05:00&lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 You are an amazing person and a fantastic spokesperson for our sport. I&#39;m glad I met you. Let&#39;s do this again sometime, eh?Heather Gannoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10994114843561430941[email protected]tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941587959251490759.post-87260912062297383502014-06-13T17:45:54.319-05:002014-06-13T17:45:54.319-05:00Love your post! I am not a fast runner and I never will be. I am a BOP or close to it runner... my PR for the marathon is 4:59:17 and I busted my butt to make my goal of finishing under 5 hours before my 30th birthday and I doubt I will ever see that mark again. My times are all much slower than that one. It doesn&#39;t help that I have a Boston-qualifying older brother either.<br />I was one of those runners that finished a race and didn&#39;t get a medal. I fundraised thousands of dollars for LLS with Team In Training to be there that day at the 2010 Nike Women&#39;s Marathon and a bunch of rogue runners stole the Tiffany necklaces from those of us still on the course that rightfully earned them. I had a rough day with cramping issues for much of the last 6 miles and finished even slower than normal, but thanks to the folks with Team In Training there were still plenty of people cheering us on. We got a blue Tiffany box when we crossed the finish line (in the pouring rain) but it wasn&#39;t until we were on the shuttle on our way back to our hotel that we found out that we had a previous year&#39;s necklace in our Tiffany box. Nike mailed us our correct Tiffany necklace a few weeks later after they were made for us but we were still robbed of the experience by some faster runners who got their necklaces and then crossed the finish line again and took another, or by people who weren&#39;t even signed up for the race but somehow crossed the finish line and took our hard-earned medals from us. Everyone who did not get their medal that day was a BOP runner. Many were people that raised thousands of dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with Team In Training.Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07393262997793042729[email protected]tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941587959251490759.post-70781960254241026222014-06-13T17:10:57.917-05:002014-06-13T17:10:57.917-05:00Thanks Elle:)Larisa Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316060917460752519[email protected]tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941587959251490759.post-36925763774725845482014-06-13T17:03:03.810-05:002014-06-13T17:03:03.810-05:00Really enjoyed reading this post! Ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01340601848402239435[email protected]tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941587959251490759.post-39812688179232489062014-06-13T16:22:22.092-05:002014-06-13T16:22:22.092-05:00Kat, your so sweet. We actually were treated like superstars, it was everyone else we felt sad for.:(Larisa Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316060917460752519[email protected]tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941587959251490759.post-45214546086758460462014-06-13T13:40:44.181-05:002014-06-13T13:40:44.181-05:00Loved Heather&#39;s post and you guys should have been treated like superstars! I will say that about Disney races that they AWARD the last finisher!Katrina Ellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16752298077555288125[email protected]tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941587959251490759.post-47525867072984902452014-06-13T13:00:32.265-05:002014-06-13T13:00:32.265-05:00Exactly John! People always want to find the bad in everything and it drives me crazy. Things aren&#39;t always going to go exactly how we want them to go. I just feel as if we all work together and make the races as enjoyable for everyone, the race world will only grow and get better. Larisa Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316060917460752519[email protected]tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941587959251490759.post-76188562377368297582014-06-13T12:56:15.313-05:002014-06-13T12:56:15.313-05:00Great post. It&#39;s important to speak up when things aren&#39;t done right and express your voice, but then there are always those that take the stance that it was an &quot;intentional slight&quot; with &quot;malicious intent&quot;. Not every elite thinks you should get off &quot;their&quot; course. Things aren&#39;t always evil. Not every mistake is a carefully planned conspiracy. I was happy to see Runner&#39;s World posting about it and saying how they see they have things to work on, after the inaugural event.<br /><br />I&#39;m at the back, and while it&#39;s great when there are spectators cheering, I don&#39;t expect people to stand there for hours cheering until I get there. I appreciate them when they are there, but I don&#39;t expect it. Not having volunteers, not having the course open as long as it should be, taking down the finish, they are all things that all runners do deserve. So like you said, speak out. But speaking out doesn&#39;t also mean you need to be a jerk, which some people forget.<br /><br />I run at the back. I run my race and I have fun. I&#39;m happy to be out there with EVERY runner, from the very front to the very back.John Niedzwieckihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659029392388207321[email protected]