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This is the medal for the Inaugural New Years Race Half Marathon that was held on January 5, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.

Very sparkly and shiny bling for this night race in downtown LA! Here is another view of the medal:

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[Medals submitted by Raquel Perez, follow her on Twitter @KickingRox and by RIF #5 Lisa Gonzales, follow her on on Twitter @runlikeacoyote]

These are the medals for the New Years Double races that took place on December 31, 2012 and January 1, 2013 in Allen, Texas.

The New Years Double features a marathon, half marathon, and a 5K on both the 31st and the 1st. When you run a race on either day you get the appropriate medal for the day (the smaller ovals in the photo above). If you run a race on both days (any combination), then you get the larger plate as well to hold the other two medals making one BIG Challenge medal (5 1/2 inches).

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[Medal photo submitted by JessicaRuns. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRuns]

These are the medals for the Brazen New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day races that were held on December 29, 2012 and January 1, 2013 at Lake Chabot in Castro Valley, California.

The Brazen New Year’s Eve/Day races feature a 5K, 10K, and a half marathon on both days. Run any single race and you’ll get the appropriate medal for the day (upper right and left corners in the photo above). If you do any combination of races on both days, then you also get the center piece so when they are put together, they make one big medal! Loving these challenge puzzle piece medals. Very cool!

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

This is the medal for the Biggest Loser Half Marathon that was held on December 30, 2012 in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Cool how the medal’s ribbon is a measuring tape to tie in with the show.

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[Marathon medal photo submitted by RIF #192 Leigh Marsh. Follow her on Twitter @MsPrincessLeigh]

Jonathan Harrison won the inaugural Trail of Fears: The Day After the End of the World Elimination Race late Saturday night after outdueling Illinois native Travis Redden in one of the most exciting race finishes of 2012.

Runners started with 60 minutes to finish the 4.3 mile trail loop. If runners didn’t make it back to the start/finish in that time then they were eliminated. The race restarted every hour. If runners tapped out or didn’t make it back to the start for the restart then they were eliminated as well.

After four hours, a minute was subtracted from the clock per hour until stabilizing at 55 min/loop. It remained at 55 min until lap 14 when it was reduced to 53 minutes then 51 minutes for lap 15 and 50 minutes for lap 16.

Third place went to Mississippi native Rob Philip after he was eliminated after 13 loops as he barely missed making it back to complete his 14th loop.

That left just Harrison and Redden for loop 15. Redden smoked the loop as he had done the last handful of loops coming in with 3:43 remaining on the 51-minute clock.  Harrison, perhaps the most cerebral runner of the day came in with just 40 seconds remaining.

It was then announced for lap 16 that the clock would be reduced by 1-minute down to just 50 minutes. As both runners headed back to the start line, Redden stated that he thought he was done and was going to call it after 15 amazing loops.  Since Travis had beat Jonathan on the prior lap then this meant that Jonathan had to complete the 16th loop in less than 50 minutes for the win while Travis waited at race headquarters along with everyone else.  If Jonathan failed to do it in less than 50 minutes then Travis would be the winner of the race and the coveted Mayan Calendar belt buckle.

So the clock started and Jonathan took off into the dark wilderness to try to win his first race of any distance ever. His personal long coming into the Trail of Fears was 40.5 miles a month before. If he finished loop 16 then he’d have run 68.8 miles for the day.

So everyone waited and made guesses on the outcome of the race as Jonathan ran with more adrenaline than he could probably harness. He controlled his own fate and the outcome of a very exciting day.

As you already know from the headline and intro, Jonathan Harrison dug deep and came across the finish line for the 16th time on the day with about 65 seconds remaning and the win.

His wife Leah and friend Nathan Judd were there to hug and congratulate him on his amazing day, personal long, and win.

Last Woman Standing went to Julie Montgomery with 8 loops (34.3 miles) which was a new personal long for her as well. Second place female was Jennifer Whitley (6 loops) and third place went to Alicia Eno (4 loops).

*= runners that completed 1 additional loop (4.3 miles) but not before the clock ran out, eliminating them from the race.

More info, photos, updates from the race can be found on the Trail Of Fears: The Day After the End of the World Facebook Page

This is the medal for the TRI-2b-Tuff Challenge the took place over 3 months in 2012 in Florida.

The medal is given to runners who complete the Jacksonville Marine Corp Half Marathon, the Distance Classic Half Marathon, and the Jacksonville Bank Half Marathon in 3 months.

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[Medal photo submitted by E. Smith.  Follow him on Twitter @beardrunjax]

This is the medal for the Santa Hustle Half Marathon that was held on December 16, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Santa Hustle races are held throughout the U.S. and each participant not only gets this cool medal, but also a Santa hat, beard, and shirt to run in!

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[Marathon medal photo submitted by Tory Connelly. Follow her on Twitter @ToryBoBory]

This is the medal for the Holly Jolly Half Marathon that was held on December 16, 2012 in Camarillo, California.

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[Medal submitted by RIF #5 Lisa Gonzales. Follow her on on Twitter @runlikeacoyote]

This is the medal for the Holiday Half Marathon that was held on December 16, 2012 in Portland, Oregon.

Love the snowman medal! Congratulations to RIF #147 Josh who set a PR at the Holiday Half!

Here is another photo of the medal:

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[Medal photo submitted by RIF #147 Josh Liggett.  Follow him on Twitter @waves_of_light. And by Sarah Abernathy. Follow her on Twitter @livz4running]

This is the medal for the Paramount Ranch Trail Half Marathon that was held on December 15, 2012 in Calabasas, California.

This trail race takes place on an old western movie set so the cowboy boots fit this race perfectly. It’s a fun medal with a cool design!

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[Medal submitted by RIF #5 Lisa Gonzales. Follow her on on Twitter @runlikeacoyote]