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Re: Alternate To Medals [wmoore] [ In reply to ]
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I was donating almoat all shirts. Then I got strange looks at packet pick up when I said I didn't want it. Now I realize I was doing it wrong. The shirt I get that I don't want can be used as throw away clothing at the start of that or some other race. I've started holding some things back from good will just to suit this purpose: shirts, a blanket. Best with long sleeved shirts which are less commonly given as race shirts, but you get the idea.

The medals just sit in a bag under my dresser, most awaiting donation, others wait for a display project i'll never complete.

To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [Jimmymstevenson] [ In reply to ]
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Jimmymstevenson wrote:
I do a small local race and they give out gifts instead of medals. I hit the age group podium last month and had a choice between some tire levers and a basic bike light. They were probably less expensive than a medal/trophy and I will get more use out of them.

What you are describing are age group awards. Only the top 3 in each AG would get the choice between the tire levers and bike light. With medals, we are talking about something every finisher gets regardless of placing.

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [unicat141] [ In reply to ]
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Mugs, shirts, socks - all of this is either useless crap, that I usually don't take with me, or in case of technical finishers shirts, just chuck into my home bin for training stiff. At least a medal doesn't take much space. Make it look nice and finisher's mother, children, whoever might find happiness and some pride in them. Don't give me a tumbler or a tire lever - I don't need that garbage. I need these trinkets even less, than a useless but a compact medal.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [unicat141] [ In reply to ]
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Medals cost good money, so if you do them try not to make it something that goes into a shoebox or sock droor. At my half marathon I give a big 5" medal with a bottle opener at the top, and the ribbon actually has velcro connecting it so you can remove it easily (this year we are looking into a lanyard with clip). On the back is a big fridge magnet.

In my town, the only medal friends, family, etc. see after the race is my medal sticking on their fridge or bbq... whatever your freebies are, make sure they get noticed by more than just your finisher!

My alternative to medals - invest in free race photos. Pay the photogs a per head cost and just give them away. Sponsored or not, it's worth it. One year we had 1,500 participants, and 36,000 downloaded photos. I worked out the per-download cost, and for what I paid for the service it was about $0.06 per photo... in other words, roughly the cost of a drink cup someone tosses off to the side. Those cups, while necessary, don't act as profile pictures on someone's social media account, so to this day I feel photos are the best ROI you can invest in for marketing.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [barrierunnerguy] [ In reply to ]
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barrierunnerguy wrote:
Medals cost good money, so if you do them try not to make it something that goes into a shoebox or sock droor. At my half marathon I give a big 5" medal with a bottle opener at the top, and the ribbon actually has velcro connecting it so you can remove it easily (this year we are looking into a lanyard with clip). On the back is a big fridge magnet.

In my town, the only medal friends, family, etc. see after the race is my medal sticking on their fridge or bbq... whatever your freebies are, make sure they get noticed by more than just your finisher!

My alternative to medals - invest in free race photos. Pay the photogs a per head cost and just give them away. Sponsored or not, it's worth it. One year we had 1,500 participants, and 36,000 downloaded photos. I worked out the per-download cost, and for what I paid for the service it was about $0.06 per photo... in other words, roughly the cost of a drink cup someone tosses off to the side. Those cups, while necessary, don't act as profile pictures on someone's social media account, so to this day I feel photos are the best ROI you can invest in for marketing.

Making it magnetic is a great idea. Most of my finisher medals are just in a heap in my spare bedroom, but once in a while I do a race that gives out magnets. They all go on my filing cabinet in my office at work where they actually get seen.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [Rambler] [ In reply to ]
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Rambler wrote:
I have a medal with a cut-out in it. I looks like it could be a bottle opener. Alas it does not work as one. It would not be hard to modify it to work. That would be a cool medal.

2015 Columbia Triathlon
Most all the athletes loved this medal.



.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [unicat141] [ In reply to ]
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I would like to see something like a golf/polo shirt with the event as the logo so I can wear it and advertise more for the sport, etc... Can't wear t shirts to the office, and in my opinion medals are for little kids, I throw all mine away or give them to some little kid at the race.


"For those who understand, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't understand, no explanation is possible."
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Re: Alternate To Medals [canuckjesse] [ In reply to ]
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I know this is an old thread but why dont you find a way to display your finisher medals?

They make a nice collection and memories of the years that you spent racing. Shows your kids that success isn't built over night.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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CaptainSnail wrote:
I know this is an old thread but why dont you find a way to display your finisher medals?

They make a nice collection and memories of the years that you spent racing. Shows your kids that success isn't built over night.


It's not a simple question for me to answer, but I'll try to explain why I choose not to display my medals without pretending that you're my therapist!

Ever since I started running nine years ago, it has always been a personal endeavor. I have gone running with others, but I can probably count on both hands the number of times that I've done that. Running has been very therapeutic for me, and I race (running or tri) very infrequently. It's only recently that have I learned about the psychological concept of EMDR, and it has helped explain why my mental health has benefited so much from running. Long way of saying that I don't display my medals in large part because I don't generally want to talk about my running with anyone. Combine that with a warped sense of humility, and it leads to my medals sitting in a box.

As for kids, it's also a long story but they are the reason I ventured into triathlons (from solely running) in the first place. We chose to adopt older kids from foster care (teen and pre-teen when they moved in), and there are a slew of non-traditional family dynamics at play in our house. Perhaps there will be a day when I feel that it might be beneficial for them to routinely see my medals hanging somewhere, but for now I'm content with them seeing my bike trainer always set up in the basement and watching me come back home sweaty after a run.

I do enjoy riding with others but since all of medals come from either running or triathlons, displaying anything related to cycling is a non-issue at this point!

Probably a lot more than you wanted to know!
Last edited by: canuckjesse: Jan 10, 18 10:05
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Re: Alternate To Medals [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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lightheir wrote:
I'm gonna be the first to say it.

I friggin' HATE medals! Total waste of metal and money for me. I don't even care for the ones that commemorate my AG podiums. They all go in the trash or lost in a drawer, immediately.

I find the idea of giving out medals for the mere act of finishing a 5k pandering. For longer races, like half marathon, HIM, IM, etc., it's a lot more reasonable.

But you gotta do what your customers want, and if they're gonna give you hell for omitting medals, you gotta have them.

I have not done a 5k in almost 4 years (since I started Triathlons), but all the races I did you got a shirt (sometimes nice sometime horrible), and the only medals given out were to the AG top three. Never ran a 5k where everyone got a medal.


Raw Oyster wrote:
I'd rather they give out a 6 pack of toilet paper with their race logo on it. Memorable and creative...and useful ;)
May be more useful to hand out before the race :-p
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Re: Alternate To Medals [unicat141] [ In reply to ]
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unicat141 wrote:
Race Directors - Thanks In Advance!

A few years ago the triathlon I help organize moved away from offering medals to our finishers. We offer a vintage t-shirt, socks, coozie, water bottle, full spread of food (BBQ Pork) etc, beer mug to top three in age group.

We aren't opposed to the medal, have just felt like our dollars were spent better elsewhere being it seemed like most of the participants didn't really care if they received one.

I would be more in favor of coming up with a unique idea that makes us different. Please share if you have any suggestions or cool ideas!

Thanks!

It is not cool or unique per say, but all of us who do a lot of triathlons have drawers full of short-sleeve race shirts. What we don't have enough of are shorts or long-sleeve shirts. Or socks. Not that it usually comes down to a decision between the giveaways and also I don't think your causal triathlete would look at it the same way as someone who has done a few, but if I was deciding between two nice races that both fit my schedule and one had finisher short sleeve shirts and one had shorts, I would definitely choose the one with the shorts and the other benefit for the race is that there is zero competition for what is in that racer's drawer of clothes and they would wear those shorts with the race logo on every week on runs.

2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3
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Re: Alternate To Medals [Sanrafaeltri] [ In reply to ]
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Sanrafaeltri wrote:
unicat141 wrote:
Race Directors - Thanks In Advance!

A few years ago the triathlon I help organize moved away from offering medals to our finishers. We offer a vintage t-shirt, socks, coozie, water bottle, full spread of food (BBQ Pork) etc, beer mug to top three in age group.

We aren't opposed to the medal, have just felt like our dollars were spent better elsewhere being it seemed like most of the participants didn't really care if they received one.

I would be more in favor of coming up with a unique idea that makes us different. Please share if you have any suggestions or cool ideas!

Thanks!


It is not cool or unique per say, but all of us who do a lot of triathlons have drawers full of short-sleeve race shirts. What we don't have enough of are shorts or long-sleeve shirts. Or socks. Not that it usually comes down to a decision between the giveaways and also I don't think your causal triathlete would look at it the same way as someone who has done a few, but if I was deciding between two nice races that both fit my schedule and one had finisher short sleeve shirts and one had shorts, I would definitely choose the one with the shorts and the other benefit for the race is that there is zero competition for what is in that racer's drawer of clothes and they would wear those shorts with the race logo on every week on runs.

That was something I found pretty cool about the old Beach2Battleship race. They gave out Finisher Sleep Pants (a medal also, but pants was a cool touch).
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Re: Alternate To Medals [ In reply to ]
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I look for events with medals. I don't (yet) display them, but I still like to think I am being awarded something that will last. the nice thing about medals is that they are not large and can be easily stored. Although I do like the unique and large medals over the cheap, generic ones (generic ones are a turn off and will keep me from entering that event).

A good quality T-shirt also, although I know I will wear these and over time they will be gone. Tech tees are definitely preferred. I want to be able to show off my accomplishments with these (more than the medals)

Mugs/glasses are nice, but I find that the printing/etching seems to fade away, or they break easily.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [Meathead] [ In reply to ]
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One thing I have seen races do is offer people to pay more on top of their registration to get a medal. I think that is a perfect solution. It keeps the costs low for everyone, and lets the participation trophy crowd get their special little snowflake award for $20 extra.

For race directors, this is actually not that trivial to implement.
  1. Medals have to be ordered quite a long time before the race date.
  2. As a race director, do you allow participants to sign up for the $20 medal option at any time, including race morning?
  3. How do you handle people who get to the finish line then complain loudly that they didn't see the option to purchase the $20 medal. Note that this is a VERY busy time of the race and you really don't want additional issues...

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Re: Alternate To Medals [frosty] [ In reply to ]
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It's funny that you replied to my post from 2016 on this. Last year I got more involved in the race organizing space & while I thought I knew a lot about what it took to put a race on, I quickly realized that it can be a thousand times more difficult than people realize. I now look at things like medals, shirts, and retail merchandise a lot differently. People who complain that a race sold out of a specific hat or jacket at the expo have no idea what it takes to plan for sales. Similarly, those medals don't just appear on a couple day's notice.

So yeah, if people want to buy a medal that is not included, you need a cutoff, and you need a method to distribute them away from the finish line where someone may flip their shit when they see someone else with a fancy medal for doing the same race they did. The race I was speaking about is the Peachtree Road Race 10K in Atlanta. You actually pick your medal up at the expo when you get your race bib. It's not so much a finisher medal as it is a commemorative trinket.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [Meathead] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, I noticed just after I posted my response that the thread had been resurrected from 2016.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [frosty] [ In reply to ]
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Short course series that i do only does medals for age group podiums which is how i think it should be. Instead of throwing countless medals in the garbage i only have a couple and they mean something to me.
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Re: Alternate To Medals [TriguyBlue] [ In reply to ]
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Who would actually throw their medals in the garbage?

Recycle I understand, give to a spectator I understand, stick in a shoe box under the bed I understand, display at home/office I understand, but throwing away I don't understand?

My race site: https://racesandplaces.wixsite.com/racesandplaces
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