Changing Our Award System
The Discovery Walk Festival will have a new award system in place in 2009. This new system is aimed to please our walkers. It will cost us more than the previous system, but should also reduce the time in the finish lines and send walkers home with a new medal/ribbon combination each year.
We want every walker on Saturday and Sunday to take home a medal award. Our quartermaster Krista loves awards and especially loves wearing a medal on a neck ribbon to work after a big event. For this year, we found a new medal supplier who was able to give us a good price for a lovely cloisonne medal on a neck ribbon that lists the year 2009. For those completing the marathon distance, their neck ribbons will say Marathon 26.2 2009. For those completing the triathlon, their swim medal will be on a neck ribbon that says Triathlon.
In previous years, those who walked both Saturday and Sunday got a certificate for the second day, but only get a medal on the first day. This year they will get a #2 pin to add to their medal and neck ribbon award they got on Saturday.
Our previous system gave out small number pins (and no medal) to returning walkers, with a new medal every 4th year. The plan was for them to add the numbers to the medal they earned the first year, 4th year, 7th year, 10th year, etc. We will have the small number pins available for those who have earned them and want them, but you will have to request them at the Sales booth rather than at the finish. This excludes the #2 pin, which we are using as stated above as the second-day award. We will not be handing out the medals you would have gotten for the 4th, 7th or 10 year, as we are using those now and in the future as awards for the swim.
This year, our Friday Mayor's Walk Award will be our Peace Medal coin, which we have used in previous years but have not used for the past three years. On one side is a reproduction of the Corps of Discovery (Lewis and Clark) medal they used as friendship offerings to the Native Americans along their journey. The reverse side shows our Discovery Walk globe logo.
We will no longer have a unique patch for each year. We have a stock of our club patch and the IML Walking Association patch, as well as the yearly patches from the past 12 years for those who want to purchase a patch.
We know change is difficult and there will be those who will not like these changes. But we believe that our first, second and third time walkers will like this award system better. It should be noted that this is not a cost-cutting move. In fact, this new system will cost us more. But it will reduce administrative time and time in the finish line, which should ultimately please the walkers, the volunteers and the registrar.