I recently read a couple of blog posts that got me a bit fired up.  The first one I read is by a blogger named Bryan Vaughn.  Mr. Vaughn wrote a post called “Why We All Hate Your 13.1 Stickers.“.  The second post is in response to Mr. Vaughn’s post called,  “Why We Love Your Post, ‘Why We All Hate Your 13.1 Stickers,”.  I strongly recommend you read both of these posts so you have an understanding of what my response is referring to.

Most of my blog followers know that I am a runner.  If you are new to my blog, you can check out some of my older posts where I talk about running the Richmond Marathon and my running team, MTT Pink Nation.  Mr. Vaughn’s post was quite aggravating to me as I am a very proud card carrying, number sticker/magnet displaying member of the running community.  So, I was compelled to give a different view of what these number stickers and magnets mean aside from just bragging about an accomplishment, as Mr. Vaughn suggests.

Here is my response to the two blog posts:

“Heck yeah my stickers are to announce to the world what I’ve accomplished! I am proud of every race and distance I’ve completed. You see, once you kick cancer’s butt not once, not twice, but three times and are able to run any distance it is fair game to shout it from the roof tops (and the back of my car). What people don’t see when they look at these stickers and magnets is the whole story. I run for my health; I run for myself. I display the stickers because I am proud of my accomplishments and, yes, I want to show that off. I do not care if that angers people. Cancer angers me and I’ve kicked it right in the chops. So, to those who are bothered by these stickers I say get over it. It’s time to be angered by things that truly matter in this world… Cancer, diabetes, lupus, stroke, heart disease, alzheimer’s, and so many other medical problems that affect the lives of so many incredible people. Be angered by children shooting children. Be angered by domestic abuse. Take your anger and make a difference. Don’t just sit and type a ranting post, hiding behind the computer screen. Do something good with your anger and help people. My number stickers are absolutely symbols of greatness in times of adversity and I proudly display them for the world to see. I spend my anger on helping to finding a cure for Cancer. What are you going to do with your anger?”

I can only hope Mr. Vaughn read this response and sees that there is more to a sticker or magnet on the back of a car than just numbers.