In honor of the very first marathon runner in history, a new award program for Masters Long Distance Running has been established, the "Phidippides Awards". The awards will be predicated upon participants accumulating a number of points over a given calendar year for participating in long distance running events. Each runner will be eligible for only one award per year.
Points will be accumulated pursuant to the following chart:
| 1 point | 5K to 5 mile |
| 2 points | 10K to 15K |
| 3 points | 10 miles to ½ marathon |
| 4 points | 25K to marathon |
Runners will be eligible for the following awards, based on the point totals indicated:
| Ages | 40-50s | 60-70s | 80+ |
| Gold | 20 | 16 | 8 |
| Silver | 16 | 12 | 4 |
| Bronze | 12 | 8 | 2 |
The rules are simple and straightforward. The course must be certified so that we can verify the distance run, and there must be a finish time recorded for the runner. Finishing times must be verifiable by a results posting on an event website, or if none is available, a newspaper listing submitted by the runner will suffice.
Since this is a USATF award, USATF membership is required (to become a member, see their website, usatf.org). The award itself is free, and it will be bestowed to the runner upon receipt of his/her application (see below) and verification of the event information.
For additional information on the Phidippides Awards, see the March 2008 issue of National Masters News.