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A runner, who finished the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago, requested that her medal be engraved with the F-word after completing the grueling race won by Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum
Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum deservedly enjoyed all the spotlight following his record-breaking performance at the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago.
Kiptum clocked 2:00:35 to break Eliud Kipchoge’s world record, becoming the first man to run a sub 2:01 marathon, reigniting debate on whether a marathon under two hours is now possible.
While the Kenyan achieved this personal milestone, he was among over 47,000 participants at the marathon who had various targets during and after the race.
One such target was a bizarre desire by a participant to have the f**k engraved on her medal after completing the grueling race.
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However, this personal desire would not have come to the limelight were it not for some confusion at a Chicago store that engraved the wrong details on participants’ medals.
Adorchita Di Perno of Calgary had just finished her 22nd marathon in 3:34:29, achieving a Boston-qualifying time.
She was able to get 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden to sign the back of her medal and, for the first time, decided to get it engraved. After the race, she dropped it off at the US running chain Fleet Feet Chicago, where she wrote down her name, phone number and bib information for the engraving.
After waiting a few hours, Di Perno arrived back at the store to collect her medal. She wasn’t wearing her glasses at the time, but immediately noticed that it had the wrong time (5:02:32). Then, when she put on her glasses, her heart stopped as she read the profanity engraved onto the medal.
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“This is my medal, but this is not my time or name. And I did not ask for the F-word,” said a stunned Di Perno, as quoted by Canadian Running.
Di Perno immediately spoke to store management, and after much confusion, they apologised for the mistake, giving her the option of a new, untarnished medal. “I did not want to give it up, because I ran for it and earned it,” says Di Perno.
Later that day, staff at the store figured out that Di Perno, whose bib number was 5773, had dropped off her medal at the store at around the same time as another runner, with a bib number 57731, dropped off her own medal, and the engravers got the two customers confused.
It turned out, the runner, whose bib number was 57731, was the one who had requested the F-word engraved on her medal.
“I was supposed to get my medal back on October 12. I haven’t heard from [Fleet Feet] and did not know [my medal] was given to someone else,” the runner told the Canadian outlet, while declining to say why she wanted the F-word engraved.
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11:00 - 09.10.2023
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It is a confusion that left Fleet Feet in a terrible situation as both customers were unhappy at what they ended up with.
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