LA Marathon Proves Participation Trophies Are Alive And Well With Incredibly Soft Decision Regarding Medals

When you commit to running a marathon, you know exactly what you are getting yourself into. You run exactly 26.2 miles, no more or no less, and you get a finisher medal tossed around your neck while simultaneously questioning how on Earth you just ran the equivalent of 461 football fields.

That, at least, is supposed to be the experience, but runners in the 2026 Los Angeles Marathon this weekend have been given an alternative route to receiving a finisher medal in what is the softest, most stereotypical California decision the human brain can muster.

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Organizers of the LA Marathon announced earlier in the week that runners could simply turn off the course at the 18-mile marker, walk over to the finish line, and still collect their finisher medal. In other words, runners can complete less than 70% of the race and go grab a medal, telling them that they completed the full marathon. 

In a world full of participation trophies, this one stands above all.

Organizers came to the incredibly soft decision due to the weather forecast, as high temperatures on race day are set to reach into the upper 80s. 

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While running 26.2 miles in some pretty serious heat sounds miserable, again, we're talking about competitors who willingly signed up for a marathon, knowing full well that they'd be in store for a full-on race. 

There are about 26,000 registered competitors for Sunday's marathon, and while true competitors will get the 26.2 miles done, others will call it quits after 18 miles, walk over to the finish line with a smile on their face, grab their finisher medal, and then proceed to not shut up about ‘running a marathon’ for the remainder of 2026.

Nobody in good conscience should grab a finisher medal after not finishing the marathon, but taking the easy road out and not thinking anything is wrong with it is, scarily, how the world goes round these days.

The standard isn't the standard anymore; not in everyday life and not even in a marathon, which is supposed to have very simple, very set rules.