Does FIRST give out too many awards? (Opinion)

[Dave Campbell]

An additional thought...
I am packing up my bike for an Olympic Distance Triathlon I am doing in two weeks and thought of another reason to support participant medals -
I am an avid runner, cyclist and swimmer. I will never reach the Olympics, I will never win a major race. I just want to be competitive in my age group. Every race in which I compete I receive a finishers medal, or pin. It is very different than the winner's medals (and super-sized checks.) But I am nonetheless proud of my accomplishment of completing a Marathon, Half-marathon, Century Ride or Triathlon. Run a marathon, or two and walk away empty handed from them and you'll get what I'm saying. The medals I have earned are significant to me and I display them right next to my participant medals and awards my FIRST teams have earned. I will never understate the value of recognition of completion and always celebrate the success of others. It is an enlightening time to watch and learn from those who win and get recognized for their success.

If winning another website award for your great work online is not gratifying, don't submit your URL for the award. I'm sure that there are other teams that work hard and would love the award in their hands. My team won a regional website award in 2003 and we were extremely proud of our accomplishment.