EBAY BOSTON MARATHON MEDAL SALES CAUSE STIR

EBay listings offering medals from the 2013 Boston Marathon have appalled runners who consider it insensitive to sell a memento of the tragedy.

Several ads have cropped up on the auction website listing medals from the April 15 race, many of them for hundreds of dollars and up to $1,000. None of several sellers contacted for this story responded to e-mails, but all of the ads claim either that the medal is authentic or that the seller ran the race and received his or her medal despite the explosions that killed three people and injured more than 260.

Two medals were still for sale Tuesday evening. Several other auctions had ended without a buyer. One seller said the proceeds would go to the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts.

One listing said, "I ran the race and this was handed to me at the finish." Another said, "I trained hard, ran and received this medal. Selling to run again next year. This is for shops and collectors of memorabilia."

One eBay user issued a fake listing with nothing for sale, using it to chastise the medal sales and suggesting the medals were not earned by the sellers.

Jon Vizena, a photographer and runner of ultra marathons (races longer than the 26.2-mile marathon distance) said anyone who would sell their Boston Marathon paraphernalia without donating the profits to charity is "a disgrace."

Added Vizena, 31, of Boston, "Monetary gain from an act of terror is disrespect at the highest level, utterly disgusting."

Some runners said the race community was abuzz over the sales, but representatives of the big races, including those in New York and Chicago, would not comment on the eBay listings.

"What individuals choose to do with their runner medals is, and always has been, up to their discretion," said Marc Davis, communications manager for the Boston Marathon.

To read the complete article, see: Sales of Boston Marathon medals on eBay stir buzz (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/30/boston-marathon-medals-ebay/2125299/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web