A few weeks ago my wife and I ran the Route 66 Half Marathon in Tulsa Ok, my brother ran the full 26.2 miles, well actually he ran a little further because he has trouble, like most males, following directions, or even road signs. If he was like me reading signs between the crystalized sweat drops on his glasses which is an almost impossible task I would have understood, but he wears contacts. If he was like me he would be so far behind the pack of runners he might not have seen which way they turned, I would have understood, but he is much faster than me.
Prior to running these races we attended the “expo” where you can buy your last minute running gear, replace you worn out shoes, and prepare for your race mentally and emotionally. However, the Route 66 Expo also features a show case of classic cars, which both of the male Gaddis runners admired.
My brother pointed out to me that on almost every one of these classic cars was something very few cars sport today, a hood ornament. Building a car or owning a car must have been a life time achievement, for each of these cars proudly displayed a trophy right up front. A “we built it, your earned it” trophy. Appropriately for a race event there was a Packard proudly displaying on its hood the Goddess of Speed. There were Plymouths with the large stylized Mayflower ship, Fords, Chevys, Chryslers, and Mercedes, all with trophies proudly displayed, from winged swans and rocket ships to jet planes. Granted, some cars were adorned with medallions rather than wind dragging statues.
Each one displayed a self-given sign of achievement to satisfy both the manufacturer’s and buyer’s egos. Even cars we think of as blunders, mistakes of design or marketing, proudly displayed their ornaments. I wonder what owners of an Edsel thought, “its not a Pierce – Arrow but look at that ornament!” Was the trophy on the nose of an Edsel enough to offset a mistake in judgment?
The Route 66 Marathon has an added feature if you are willing to add a little mileage to an already grueling distance; the course offers runners a detour. Fortunately this is where my brother missed his turn and for his error, for unintentionally adding some length to his race, for going the extra mileage because he misread a sign he was given a medallion. In addition to the finishers’ medal hanging around his neck, he was given a medallion to commemorate his detour. The Tulsa marathon calls it “The Center of the Universe Medallion”.
A marathon is 26.2 miles, anything longer is called an ultra-marathon, finishing an ultra-marathon can be a life time achievement. My brother will hold up his medallion and say “look, I finished an Ultra Marathon”. He will say “I did it, I earned it”
I have renamed his medallion the “Edsel ornament”.
David
