DOES YOUR RACE BUMPER STICKER HAVE AN EXPIRATION DATE?

THERE’S A WHITE, oval, vinyl bumper sticker on the back of my Subaru Crosstrek.

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It’s been through hell. The edges have curled in, and the once-black numbers have mostly faded to gray. It’s lived on three cars and survived a few minor fender benders. My friends have seen it and asked, snidely, “You still have that on there?”

Yes, haters. I do. I earned it at 25 when I raced the 2013 Runner’s World Half Marathon. I trained for months, ran a decent 2:15:56, drank all the postrace beers, and did what any giddy first-time finisher would do: I bought the 13.1 sticker. It was like a medal I could show off in traffic, and the varsity jacket I never got to wear in school.

I wasn’t a great athlete growing up. I played some Little League baseball and after-school soccer. But I certainly wasn’t a runner. That was a sick form of punishment that gym teachers doled out. The first time I remember truly hating running was in the sixth grade, when I hid behind a tree during the mile. I watched my classmates circle the field while I played it cool and waited for the perfect moment to blend back into the crowd.

Many years later, I got a job at Men’s Health magazine, in the same office building as Runner’s World, where everyone hit the pavement on their lunch break. The culture was intoxicating. And, because my one true north star in life is FOMO, I badly wanted to join them.