Kona "finish"

Meh, it's a chunk of metal that no one wears other than race night.  They can give them to whoever they want.

I know what I accomplished and if they wanted to hand them to any one who waked by?  Doesn't take anything away from me or my accomplishment.

Couldn't agree more. It is a personal thing and really doesn't affect what I accomplished or my metal. What the heck do I care if it means somthing to her. 

Technically, no she didn't make the cutoff time, so according to the rules she's not an official finisher and shouldn't get a medal.  The race officials need to be consistent with how they enforce the cutoffs.  Who's to say that someone who was pulled after not making the swim or bike cutoffs couldn't have had a strong run and still finished by midnight?

That being said, it still doesn't diminish her effort or accomplishment.  After all, the time cutoff is just an arbitrary number, established mostly for logistical reasons and not an absolute measure of fitness or performance.

Mark 

I don't care if everyone on the planet gets a medal AND a tattoo whether they finish or not.....or even line up. Why would I?  It has absolutely no bearing on anything in my life. 

I think you should wear all your previous medals at packet pickup for every race.  I'm sure that would go over well.  All the other triathletes would LOVE to see all the other races you did! 

That's exactly what I thought - I'd hurt myself if I wore all my medals.   It's ridiculous.   I have a little problem with entering too many races I guess...

Should they give her a medal?  Yeah, I think so.  She embodies (IMO) the spirit of IM, perseveering against the odds and all...

Is she an official finisher?   No

Is that a contradiction?   Probably.  But so what.  It's a frickin finisher's medal from a race.  Not a new heart

Slow your roll Gandhi.  Medals are for closers.  Or was that coffee?   

I do squat thrusts with all my medals in lieu of going to the gym and using barbells. 

Or, you could go ahead and do it the same way they do it in the races my kids go to.  Get on the podium for a medal or go home empty handed.  Of course, I'm sure I'm raising kids who's self-esteem is being crushed because they didn't get a medal every time they lined up.

I agree with you.

That being said, who cares who gets a medal or how far some folks want to push the "wussification"?  I don't think it can be stopped, because the truth is, everyone CAN'T be a winner, but the majority doesn't want to accept that....but no matter what the majority thinks, it doesn't mean that everyone IS a winner. Of course they aren't....at least not in the way I was raised, and most likely the same is true for you....and it's most definitely not the way this country became what it is.  It doesn't mean you have to buy into it, it doesn't mean you have to raise your kids that way, and it certainly doesn't mean you have to live your life that way.  From my way of thinking it's a good thing there are still folks who don't.....life is not likely to get easier for future generations.....it will be damn good to have some people willing to fight with the knowledge that they could lose....and what they stand to lose.

I don't care who gets a medal.....and I can see why it's important to some people.  I don't walk in every man's shoes, and I don't know what every man had to overcome to attain a goal that they consider a win. (yes, this is the point where women can jump up and down because I said "man" and they somehow want to feel excluded.....whatever, it's not meant that way, but go ahead if you need to)

When you strip it all away, there are winners and losers in life........but it mostly depends on the perspective and reflection of each individual.  I fall off the page when individuals start thinking they can arbitrarily decide that everyone is a winner, and everyone is equal in every way.  No we aren't.....some win, some don't....and luckily some still know the difference and don't need a medal to validate it.

I know her.  Karen Aydelott -- she has crossed the Kona finish line 12x under the time limit, and she won her AG at Kona in 1997.  Despite losing her leg, she still competes in the AG category, not in the Challenged Athletes category, and has qualified for Kona twice since then.  I suspect she does not care about the actual medal.  And she is one of the nicest, most giving triathletes I have trained and raced with.

That's awesome.