It’s a private club with special privileges, really. I have my own AT sticker on my car for thru hiking the Appalachian Trail , yes it gets me things the average Joe does not. When you accomplish a life goal your status in life improves, while the sticker is not actually needed, it is a sign that you are a privileged one. Those who have not yet accomplished such a life goal are devoid of in and can have negative reactions to such things. YMMV
I’d just like to say, as someone who has magnets for life goals on my car, that the paragraph above is unadulterated bullshit.
Hey you guys, just thought I’d let you know. It was a beautiful day today and I had some flex time from a long meeting on Monday, so I took off for a run.
Most of the trails are closed because they’re muddy, but I found one along a lake that’s always open to foot traffic.
It was about 30 degrees, so I wore shorts, and long sleeve and short sleeve tech shirt, and started with a light jacket that came off after about a half mile. Actually, looking at my Garmin, it was probably about .46/mile.
Anyway, depending on which side of the hill I was on it was either inches-deep mud, or ice slick as glass. Luckily for me, I had put sheet metal screws in my shoes show I could go over the ice with some confidence.
A nice little 2.5 miles out, part of which is through an off-leash dog park, so that was fun.
A little over half way through, I realized I was sweating a little and my nipples were getting sore. That’s weird, because I usually associate that with super sweaty shirts in the summer. I guess moist shirts and cold, firm nipples will accomplish the same thing.
Anyway, I ended up running a little over 5.5 miles in 1:03, or a touch over 11:00/mile. In order to meet my goal, I’m going to have to shave off over 30 seconds/mile, and do it for more than twice as long. Given how long I have, I think I’ll be ok as long as I’m consistent.
After I got home, I was freezing from being still a little bit sweaty…but that didn’t stop me from pausing long enough to have a nice bowel movement, which tends to happen after a good run.
It was kind of awesome.
Cheers!
FWIW I did not use a magnet, as the back of my car is made of aluminum, so perhaps a sticker is needed for you. YMMV.
But yes I have noticed a great difference, sorry sticking a few magnets haven’t worked similarly for you, but please don’t discourage others for living their dreams just because you stuck a few magnets on your car and it didn’t seem to do anything - from what I know you need to - ya know, accomplish something in life, then come back and see - and bring pie.
I live my life, I set goals and have achieved many of them, and I encourage others to achieve and celebrate theirs. I built part of the Appalachian trail that you hiked; I do trail magic every year, and have celebrated with folks on Baxter Peak. I’ve hiked peaks with dozens completing their 4000’ers in summer and winters; goals they’ve worked on for years, sometimes breaking trail for them.
But the bumper stickers never did anything for anyone. They’re just whimsy.
Wait, what? Having bumper sticks is akin to living your dreams now?
Not what I was saying, it is a outflow of living your dreams. it in itself means nothingby itself, but if you have done it, you put the bumper sticker on your car (yes it optional), it is not the bumper sticker that matters, but the living your dreams that helps you in life. Those who just put bumpers stickers w/o living their dreams IMHO will not experience any benefit.
If that is how you feel then may I suggest not using them, or only using them for ‘whimsy’ reasons.
And thank you for helping the thru hiker classes you have helped, perhaps you even helped me, though depending on what section you ‘built’ I may take some issue with, as I almost lost a co-hiker in the mud in ME.
I never considered them anything but whimsy. They’re not a badge of honor or a sign of my success. They’re on the car right next to my “Mad River Glen” sticker.
Dartmouth Outing Club sections in VT and NH. I helped build several of the shelters and was in charge of many relocations, especially around Moose Mountain, Smarts, Cube, and Moosilauke.
What gets me is the cars that have a 26.2 magnet and a 13.1. Really? It’s safe to get rid of the 13.1 magnet now, pal. That’s not even a training run for the full marathon.
I put a 13.1 sticker on my car after I ran a half-marathon. I was fat for most of my adult life and never managed to run a mile even when being screamed at to do so by a gym teacher in high school. So it felt like a pretty major fucking accomplishment when I managed to run 13.1 of them in a row. I’m not embarrassed about it, guilty about it, or ashamed about it. If anything, this thread kind of makes me want to go get separate stickers for every race I run and plaster the back of the car with them, just because apparently that sort of thing really pisses some people off, and I’m petty.
Sometimes more than one person uses a car.
I have my 26.2 and my 50K magnets on my car because in my mind a road marathon and a trail ultra are two different sports and they each represent significant accomplishments. I removed my 13.1 magnet when I ran the marathon, but now it’s on the fridge.
Hell, I don’t even know what a Spartan race is. And I don’t think I want to…
Too late. 
There’s a sub-genre of running races which are essentially obstacle courses (Spartan Race, Tough Mudder, etc.). Depending on the race, you may be crawling through mud, climbing over walls, diving into cold water, etc. It’s somewhere between a trail race and military basic training. 