And the medal goes to...

As my excitement grows for the L.A. Marathon (it's only 51 days away), I was suddenly reminded of all my race medals languishing at the bottom of a draw somewhere and lot it would be fun to revisit them.

My running medals to date

I've never been that much of a sporty person, so it's quite a surprise and an accomplishment that I now find myself the proud owner of these shiny awards of ribbon and metal.

Disneyland Half Marathon medals

The one that started it all was this Mickey Mouse medal for the 5th Annual Disneyland Half Marathon at the theme park in Anaheim in September 2010, followed last year by the golden 2011 fairytale castle medal.

Rock'n' Roll Half Marathon medals

In preparation for my first marathon I also ran the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll L.A. Half Marathon in October 2010, which was far too hilly for my liking. Fortunately they changed the course so there wasn't so much of an incline the second year, but instead added a massive hill at mile nine to totally defeat my legs.

T2 and L.A. Marathon 2011 medals

Last March I ran my first ever marathon, for charity and in the pouring rain no less, and so I feel I totally earned this finisher medal.

This year I'm training again with T2: Team to End AIDS and I am fundraising for AIDS Project L.A. once more.

100th Bay to Breakers 12k medal

In May 2011 I ran my second Bay to Breakers 12k race, which was the 100th anniversary of the fun run through the streets of San Francisco. I was dressed as Wonder Woman, so this makes this medal even more memorable, especially as they only usually have commemorative t-shirts, not finisher medals.

Going forward the plan is to run more marathons and less shorter races, but we'll see.

I can't wait to run L.A. again on March 18 and then the inaugural Hollywood Half Marathon on April 7. Plus if my legs can manage it I plan to tackle my first ever San Francisco Marathon on July 29, 2012.

So here's to many more medals for my collection in the future...