Run It Fast®

The inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis Marathon & 1/2 Marathon took place over the weekend on October 23, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Both the full and half finisher’s medals were similar except for the color of the ring circling around the medal. The full was red (Cardinals red) and the half was navy.

Overall, I think it’s a very pretty medal that focuses on St. Louis’ most historic landmark, the Gateway Arch, with a riverboat at the base of it.

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[Stl full medal photo submitted by David D. Follow him on Twitter @bigcat48.  Stl half medal photos submitted by Lauren Stone (@laurens3386) and Kevin Kozuszek (@kkozuszek).

Here is the finisher’s medal from the Mount Lemmon Marathon & 1/2 Marathon that took place in Tucson, Arizona on October 23, 2011.

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Mount Lemmon Marathon Website

[Medal photo submitted by Robert Boluyt. Follow him on Twitter @Bateluer]

My good running friend, Chris Estes, and I often ask each other, “Why doesn’t Garmin have a solar powered running watch?”

We live in a day in age where many things are solar powered.

Sure, Garmin has the 310XT that has a near 20-hour battery life, but for those of us that run extreme ultras of 100-miles+ that just isn’t nearly long enough.

I am fortunate enough to have the 310XT and my old 305 that I usually tag-team to get me through a 100 but it’s not ideal.  Either I have to wear both throughout the entire race or try to figure out which drop bag to leave the 305 in for when the 310XT will die.

How hard would it be to have a mini solar panel on the Garmin watch-face to power it once the battery life wore down or to extend it?  12 hours of sunlight would have to be worth something.

I posed the question on Twitter and many of you agreed or had your own solutions you replied with:

According to the numerous replies I received, the market is there for a solar or kinetic powered GPS watch.

Can Garmin make it happen?

Garmin, are you listening?  If you aren’t, then your competition likely is…

Here is the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon finisher’s medal from the race that took place on October 23, 2012.

This medal was designed by Darius Daniel, who won a contest on Facebook to design the medal.  You can follow him on Twitter @dzoid11.

Memo to Race Directors: You might want to hire this guy to design your bling!!

Also, below you will see the beautiful Myrtle Beach 5K medal as well.

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[Medal photos submitted by Darius Daniel (see above) and Jen. Follow Jen on Twitter @PhilanthropyInk]

Above is the finisher’s medal from the 2011 Niagara Falls International Marathon that took place on October 23, 2011 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

The flag near the top of the medal spins and rotates between the USA and Canadian flags.

A very spiffy medal….we like it!!!

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Niagara Falls International Marathon Website

[NFIM medal pics submitted by Patrick Conlen. Follow him on Twitter @pconlen]

Six started, three finished. It was ugly, bloody, and extremely tough!

And now we have proof that it actually took place.

Here is the finisher’s buckle from the inaugural Bloody 11W 100 Mile Ultra that took place on September 3-5, 2011 in Tennessee.

Bloody 11W 100 Mile Ultra Website

[Submitted by RD Naresh Kumar. Follow him on Twitter @iamarunr]

Here is the unique and creepy finisher’s medal from the 2011 Cookeville Haunted Half Marathon that took place on October 22, 2011 in Cookeville, Tennessee.

A very cool medal….notice the swinging legs hanging off the knee joints?

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[submitted by the great Dallas Smith who set the Tennessee state record for a 71-yr old in the half marathon with a time of 1:36. He took nearly 8 minutess off the old time.. Follow him on Twitter @smithbend]

Many of you were busy over the weekend, and we have the bling to validate your claims.

Here is the 2011 finisher’s medal from the Delaware & Lehigh Heritage Marathon & Half Marathon.

This race took place on October 23, 2011 in Pennsylvania.

Delaware & Lehigh Heritage Marathon Website

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[Medal photo submitted by Kevin Hunsicker. Follow him on Twitter @KevOCCRN]

Here is the freshly minted Ragnar Relay Las Vegas medal from the 2011 race that took place over the weekend on October 21-22, 2011.

Also included is the ‘Saints & Sinners’ Ragnar Relay medal for completing both the Las Vegas Ragnar and Wasatch Back Ragnar Relays.

Ragnar Relay Website

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[special thanks to Jordan Lee for submitting the bling photo. You can follow him on Twitter @JoJo_runnr]

Laz’s Big Dog Backyard Ultra took place on October 22, 2011 in Lazarus Lake’s backyard in Wartrace, Tennessee…naturally.

This unique race consisted of a 4.16 mile loop where the runners had to complete the loop in less than a hour.  If a runner couldn’t then he or she was disqualified and their day was over.  The race restarts every hour, on the hour, and it repeats until just one runner is left standing.

Tim Englund won the inaugural event, lasting 18 loops (74.88 miles), beating Dave Carver who completed 17 loops (70.72 miles).

2011 Laz’s Big Dog Backyard Ultra Results

1. Tim Englund – 18 loops (74.88 miles)
2. Dave Carver – 17 loops (70.72 miles)
3. Joe Fejes – 16 loops (66.56 miles)
3. Lisa Bliss – 16 loops (66.56 miles)
5. Bill Goodwine – 15 loops (62.4 miles)
6. Tim Dines – 14 loops (58.24 miles)
7. Ray Krolewicz – 12 loops (49.92 miles)
7. Case Cantrell – 12 loops (49.92 miles)
7. Eddie Demossi – 12 loops (49.92 miles)
7. Bill Lovett – 12 loops (49.92 miles)
11. Sam Landry – 11 loops (45.76 miles)
11. Naresh Kumar – 11 loops (45.76 miles)
13. Steve Durbin – 10 loops (41.6 miles)
13. Josh Wiesner – 10 loops (41.6 miles)
15. Sal Coll – 9 loops (37.44 miles)
15. Will Taggert – 9 loops (37.44 miles)
17. William Allen – 8 loops (33.28 miles)
17. Charlie Taylor – 8 loops (33.28 miles)
19. Mike Melton – 6 loops (24.96 miles)
19. Kyle McQuire – 6 loops (24.96 miles)
19. Mike Allen – 6 loops (24.96 miles)
22. Ben Yancey – 6 loops (24.96 miles)
23. John Wallace – 5 loops (20.8 miles)
23. John Price – 5 loops (20.8 miles)
25. Mike Dobies – 5 loops (20.8 miles)
26. Shannon Burke – 3 loops (12.48 miles)
27. Nikki Seeger – 2 loops (8.32 miles)
27. Craig Blair – 2 loops (8.32 miles)
29. Catherine Harding – 2 loops (8.32 miles)
29. Janet Duncan – 2 loops (8.32 miles)
31. Julie Aistars – 1 loop (4.16 miles)
31. Diane Taylor – 1 loop (4.16 miles)
33. Abi Meadows – 0 loops

Congrats to Tim on his win and all who took part!

(If your name is misspelled in the results above then please just leave a comment with the correct spelling, and it will be corrected. Laz’s writing can be a bit tough to decipher.)