Race medals - what do you do with them?

Personally don't have any value on partication medals that I've won got and discard them. Sorry!

Like some others here hold on to race numbers of races where have performed well, sign and date them including race details on back. Use them for inspiration for the next race.

When taking [a ball breaker of an] ice bath the night before a big race I hang the medal from my best race up on the wall facing me and use it for inspiration. Gets me though the pain barrier and gets me psyched for the race the next day. Make's pain of ice-bath more tolerable and tell myself if I can tolerate pain of ice bath the pain I'll go through in race will be piece of cake. Psychotic stuff ... great feeling thou

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Well 95% of it is between my ears so I should be fine...

Does that mean that your brain mass is nestling between something else....;)

For years I had them accumulated in a drawer and rarely looked at. But as part of my motivation for Rotterdam I'd put my marathon medals on display as its something I'm proud of, even if my times are moderate. Any other medals for half marathons or 10ks are still forgotten in the drawer though. The medals for Dublin are ok in their own right until you see a medal for the likes of Paris which is fab.

What medal is your fav?

My one and only medal (from the DM just gone) is in my sock drawer Love the finisher t shirt though; when I wear it on an occasional long run I can't help but smile and remember how brilliant I felt for the entire week after finishing.

I pondered this same question recently,
I suppose different medals mean different things to people.
Would just to throw a few questions out there.

Would you treat a podium medal different to a medal for taking part? If so why?

Does an individual medal trump a team medal?

As this is and old thread I'm sure some rooms are wallpapered with race numbers by now, lol

reminds me of this

http://thescore.thejournal.ie/lewis-moody-england-world-cup-medal-sainsburys-bag-614125-Sep2012/

Lewis Moody: I kept my World Cup winners’ medal in a Sainsburys bag

“It’s in a bag somewhere,” he said. “All of my medals are with my mum until a while ago. I couldn’t actually remember where any of them where.”
Moody won seven English Premiership titles with Leicester as well as three Anglo-Welsh Cups and two Heineken Cups. He won two Six Nations with England as well as the World Cup in 2003, for which he earned another medal – an MBE.
“It’s strange isn’t it?”, he reflected. “I’ve been very lucky to have a successful career but what do you do with all those bits and pieces of memorabilia - do you put them on a wall? I don’t know.

For my first marathon, a friend did a really nice pencil sketch of me running and she framed it. I have two medals on either side of it beside the phone in my parent's hall. It's great to pass by and see it. My other medals I have hidden in a drawer.

QandA wrote: »

What a silly thing to say...

Yes, what were you thinking Thomas? Three and a half years ago.....

QandA wrote: »

What a silly thing to say...

a) what a silly thing to do, responding to a 3 year old post.
b) I was voicing my personal opinion. Which ones of my medals I care about is still entirely up to me.

Emmaline Wonderful Wrench wrote: »

Don't get hung up on medals (young lad collects them) but my first IM medal will always be a special one for me, cannot pinpoint why it just is.

Probably because it is a fair achievement to do one, when you have one done that sense of achievement is gone and you probably changed the goal post.
Finishing one is no probably longer the aim.

I bet you would be proud of a medal from Kona!

Its a personal thing to be honest. Medals dont really mean much to me but to others they mean alot. Ive read through this thread and there are some great blanket statements. You should be doing this and you should not care about this. Its fair that everyone is entitled to their opinion but there are some complete gob****es on here.

Cabaal wrote: »

Have some of mine hung in my office on the side of a picture frame, certainly not a proper display or anything :pac:

I find medals funny, I like them but at the same time I've done many a face that gives none and I'm not too pushed.

I was reading the DCM facebook page the other day and the amount of people complaining about not getting a medal......if your running DCM for a medal imho your a fool, its all the experience and memory's

As RQ touched on you have to bear in mind the level and mentality of those at the back of the race (I include myself in that for this years DCM) Most people who didn't get a medal would have been first timers / charity walkers and joggers who would really care about the memento. For me personally my medal went straight onto my 6 year olds shoulders who had ran the last few hundred metres with me. I had promised her my medal. If I'd have gotten there to be told no medals left I'd have mugged someone in the baggage area By next year though a medal won't make much difference to me at all. The race and time etc will be the focus.