Miami marathon medal or ninja weapon? Design might draw airport security scrutiny
Out-of-town runners beware: The prized medals you will receive at the finish line of Sunday’s Life Time Miami Marathon and Half Marathon could be mistaken as deadly Ninja throwing stars and confiscated as weapons by TSA agents — at least the ones who have seen too many Kung Fu movies.
Might be best to pack it in checked luggage or mail it home rather than wear it proudly in the airport only to have it seized at the end of a long security line.
The annual 26.2- and 13.1-mile races through Miami, Miami Beach, Brickell and Coconut Grove are beloved not only for the sunrise and the scenery but also for the famous medals, their ingenious design, heft and sheer bling. Each year, anticipation builds as runners wait to see what the medal will look like. The ribbon, always created by a local artist, is part of the keepsake, and the 2024 edition is a lush plant life motif made by Nicolas Vasquez.
The 2024 medal is a golden sun with the event’s orange palm tree logo in the center. The rays of the sun are, however, quite pointy. So race organizers, cognizant that several thousand of the 18,000 participants traveled by plane from 49 states and 75 countries, gave a cautionary notice to protect departing runners from potential disappointment at airport security checkpoints.
Although the TSA website says it allows such carry-on items as cowboy spurs, ice skates, antlers, knitting needles, cigar cutters, corkscrews, bowling balls and fidget spinners, agents have discretion over what can be banned from flights. You never know, maybe they’ll declare a marathon medal to be dangerous if it resembles a shuriken, originally part of the samurai arsenal and popularized as “throwing stars” flung with lethal accuracy by villains in martial arts movies and video games. Throwing stars are on the list of prohibited items. So are nunchucks, swords, slingshots and axes.
In a “Welcome to Race Week” email, runners were told: “The countdown is on and we can’t wait to award you with your own 2024 sun-shaped spinner medal as you cross the finish line! Given its design, we have been informed that the TSA may not allow the medals to be carried on flights. As such, we encourage you to plan ahead and check your bag with your medal secure inside to avoid potential issues.”
“This was proactive on our end. Once we got the initial batch of medals we were, ‘Hey you know what? Someone could misinterpret this,’” said Race Director Frankie Ruiz. “I can think of other medals, even ours throughout the years, that have sharp edges or they have corners or whatnot and people wear them to the airports.
“They love to wear them after the race. I just wanted to give people a head’s up — it has not happened in the past — but in case there’s an agent who flags it. We’re thinking ahead for people.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 5:30 AM.