Chewie finally gets a medal!!!

This morning, not long after the Wine and Dine Half Marathon expo opened, pictures of the Star Wars Half Marathon medals started showing up on Facebook. Here's one from Sarah Reardon:

 

My initial response was that the 10K medal is super cool, the Half Marathon medal is pretty cool, and the Rebel Challenge medal is "meh". (Though I have been informed that the Yoda center reverses to Vader... 

But then I looked more closely... 

Good heavens, is that "fur"? Is that... a BANDOLIER???? Sweet Vader... THAT'S THE YAVIN MEDAL!!!! THEY'VE MADE THE MEDAL AS CHEWBACCA'S MISSING MEDAL FROM YAVIN!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, seriously... this is huge.

Not sure what I'm talking about? Think back to the final scene from "Star Wars". The Death Star has been destroyed, and the Rebels return to Yavin for a celebration. Everyone is in the main hall, Princess Leia is all dolled up, and Luke, Han, and Chewie march down the center aisle.

They all look proud, excited, happy. Happy days are here again.

Leia puts a medal on Luke. Leia puts a medal on Han. Then they all turn and face the applauding masses.

Did you see what happened there? Chewbacca... copilot of the Millennium Falcon, re-builder of C3PO, and perennial chess-winner DIDN'T GET A MEDAL.

Now, clearly, I'm not alone in noticing this injustice. There's a whole Internet movement around Chewie and his medal. 

found on

fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?????

found on themovieblog.com 

Love this example: a guy named Adywan created "Star Wars Revisited" -- a project where he restored and enhanced EVERY FRAME of the first Star Wars movie… cleaning it up and restoring it without adding random garbage. In his version, Chewie ALSO gets a medal. 6 Pieces of Fan Art That Are Better Than the Original | Cracked.com

6 Pieces of Fan Art That Are Better Than the Original | Cracked.com

And this much simpler, but no less effective piece of fan art on @deviantART:

Chewbacca Finally Gets His Medal by CyberDrone.devian... on @deviantART

Now, apparently, at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997, Carrie Fischer presented Chewbacca with a medal as part of a "Lifetime Achievement Award" (for Carrie Fischer? for Chewie???)

But, clearly .... THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT MEDAL. That's a cheap-ass MTV medal. No one wants that. THIS is the Yavin Medal.

from EntertainmentEarth.com (And, no, they're sold out. Sadly.)

not bad, runDisney, not bad at all

Now, I was excited about this race. But I'm SO PLEASED by this. So. Very. Pleased.

found on geekcentralstation.blogspot.com

Are you running one of the Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend races? What do you think of the medals?