This is the medal for the Pisa Marathon that was held on December 16, 2012 in Pisa, Italy.

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[Medal photo submitted by Daniele Pagni.  Follow him on Twitter @pag666]

This is the medal for the ZombieRunner Bay Trail Run Marathon that was held on December 15, 2012 in Palo Alto, California.

Congratulations to RIF #140 Dennis who completed his 1st marathon there!

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[Medal photo submitted by RIF #140 Dennis Arriaga.  Follow him on Twitter @dennarr]

This is the medal for the Last Chance 50K that was held on December 15, 2012 in Cordesville, South Carolina.

Great medal! Love the Mayan symbols on it. Definitely appropriate given the name of the race. Here’s a photo of the back which is just as cool.

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[Marathon medal photo submitted by Ned Barrett. Follow him on Twitter @NedBarrett1]

Here is a look at where everyone is running this weekend. We had just 18 responses this week. Good luck to everyone and Run It Fast!

To join Run It Fast – The Club then click HERE to read more details.

Where Run It Fast Runners Are Running This Weekend (Dec 15-16, 2012)

Storified by Joshua Holmes · Fri, Dec 14 2012 08:29:25

The Bling Case had 48 medal submissions in November! Another great month for racing and once again it was difficult to narrow it down. We chose the 16 medals below because they are pretty cool and/or unique. You know the drill…the medal chosen as the Best Race Medal for November 2012 will be included in the contest for the Best Race Medal of 2012 at the end of the year.

You can still cast your vote for the best race medal in October for one more week here: October 2012 Best Medal Vote.

Here are the Best Race Medal winners so far this year:
January – Inaugural Louisiana Marathon Medal 2012 
February – Surf City Marathon Medal 2012
March – Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Half Marathon Medal 2012
April – Flying Pirate Half Marathon Medal 2012
May – Safari Park Half Marathon Medal 2012
June – Navy Ten Nautical Miler Medal 2012
July – Sogonapmit Marathon Medal 2012
August – North Country Run Medal 2012
September – United States Air Force Marathon Medal 2012

Pick your favorite November 2012 race medal from these 16 and vote!

Thanks for voting!

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

Flagstaff’s Gary Krugger had his best marathon on December 9th at the Tucson Marathon where he set a PR in 2:32:02 while winning the race.

He dug deep, puking as he was crossing the finish line, to catch then leader Derek Delancey in the last 1/2 mile to garner the win by 12 seconds. Delancey went on to claim a close second in 2:32:14.  Third place male went to John Artley in 2:39:22.

Krugger, RIF #206 of Run It Fast – The Club, had thought his days of PRing by such a huge amount (6 minutes at Tucson) were over

“I thought my days of dropping a 5+min PR were over once I cracked the 3hr mark with one, but my last few have been huge. From 2:48:34, to 2:43:08, 2:38:02, now 2:32:02.”

He is now eying a sub 2:30 time next year, “Yeah, Tucson is such a fast course though. It’s hard to judge what it equates to, but I’m plenty close enough that I can make it happen next year”

Gary went on to describe the Tucson course as, “fast and painful!”

Top 5 Tucson Marathon Male Finishers

The winning female was Englewood, Colorado native Heather Utrata with a very impressive 2:41:36.

She easily beat out Julie Brekke who finished under 3-hours in 2:57:34. Third place female went to Mesa’s Amy Sessions with a time of 3:01:40.

Top 5 Tucson Marathon Female Finishers

View Full List of 2012 Tucson Marathon Finisher Results

Congrats to Gary and Heather on their victories and to everyone that took part and completed the 2012 Tucson Marathon and Half Marathon.

Registration for the Tupelo Marathon & 14.2 Miler has opened as of today.  The race will be on September 1, 2013 in Tupelo, Mississippi.

The race is a Southern favorite with it’s early 5am race start in the dark (to help avoid heat) and killer Skull ‘n Crossbones finisher’s medal and long-sleeved tie-dyed shirt.

This race always sells out and is capped around 800 entrants.

Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis Presley and it’s a very quick trip just minutes away from where the race takes place.

You can register and read more about the race on the Tupelo Marathon & 14.2 Miler Website (HERE).

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon & Half Marathon that usually takes place on the first Sunday in December has been moved up two weeks to November 17, 2013.

The race this year was on December 2, 2012.

The night time race that takes place on the Vegas strip for the majority usually attracts over 40,000 runners.

If you sign up today 12/12/12 you can save $20 on it and other races from Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon/Half Marathon Website

The old memories come back about this time each year

On Fridays I would take Momma out for supper. One Friday we ate at Pizza Hut where I could have spaghetti. She wondered why. It was because my first race, a 10K which I’d kept a secret, was on the next morning. Four days after her death, I had surgery, and, following recovery, trained for eight weeks and ran my first marathon. Running began a new life for me. For her, life itself was a hard run. By coincidence, it ended as my new one was beginning. Endurance had defined her days. She left it with me.

On the Sunday supper table at Momma’s: chicken and dressing, giblets gravy, cranberry sauce, fried rattlesnake, boiled potatoes, fried corn, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, poke sallet, sliced tomatoes, green peppers, fruit salad, homemade relish, cornbread, biscuits, pecan pie and coconut pie.
That supper was on September 23, 1984 in the Smith Bend community of Jackson County, Tennessee. Just an ordinary Sunday feast—except for the rattlesnake whose head I had chopped off after he failed to bite my brother and me. We dressed the snake, Momma cooked the meat. It would have been a feast even without it. Poke sallet? Momma served that delicious weed even in wintertime; she canned it.

Read the full story by Dallas Smith by clicking HERE

Indiana native Justin Gillete won the St. Jude Memphis Marathon on December 1, 2012 in Memphis, Tennessee with a time of 2:35:13.

Justin is member RIF #153 of Run It Fast – The Club, and we had a chance to ask him about his preparation leading up to and victory in Memphis:

“Memphis has always been on my list of races that I would like to experience winning because the race is for a great cause. Since I am a more popular runner than some, I always feel that winning a race that is for such a good cause gives that race a little more publicity.

I entered the marathon several months ago, and briefly considered withdrawing as I had to miss 11 days running in the 3 weeks prior to the marathon due to poison ivy and an injury while cutting wood.

Overall I didnt run as fast as normal but that doesnt diminish the value of winning such a great event.

Prior to the race starting I was not allowed into the elite athlete pre race suite, I used that as motivation during the race.”

It was the 55th marathon win in Justin’s running career. Truly an amazing accomplishment.

Gillette was able to hold off Cookeville’s (TN) Brian Shelton who finished close behind in 2:37:43.  Third place went to Greg Lemmon, from Cincinnati, with a time of 2:39:16. It should be noted that Matthew Thomas, from Alexandria, Virginia, was a very close 4th place in 2:39:24.

What an exciting and close field of runners that finished atop the field down in Memphis.

On the women’s side the win went to Angie Zinkus, from Eads, Tennessee, who finished with a time of 2:55:39. Her finish was fast enough to be 16th overall.

Second place female went to Laura Blaylock, from New Orleans, in 3:02:21 with third place female going to Floridian Carrie Pustilnik (3:08:15).

Full List of 2012 St. Jude Memphis Marathon Results

You can follow Justin Gillette on Twitter @gilletterunning

[image by Cindy Rickert via Justin Gillette]