I'm not exactly "young" either but do you not have your logbook entries for those races??? (Surely you've been keeping a logbook all these years???) Those logbook entries are my records of the races in which i did not win anything; i have placed in my AG a number of times so do have some plaques/trophies and medals/ribbons (swimming), but only from maybe 1/3 of the 150 or so tri races, running races, and Masters swim meets that i've done. For the other 2/3, the logbook is the memory book. I have about 15 notebooks similar to your description, documenting my training for the past 39 yrs. Started my log on 1 Nov 1978 with notebook paper and pen and it has stayed paper and pen all these years. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Jigsy, I am not sure what other word you would use, but the implicit direction of it would be negative and not approving. I am not sure why when one human tries to do something nice for other humans that the person often gets torn down and receives disapproval from others. It seems like it is our human nature and frankly it baffles me.

I love the suggestions others made about donating metals and I will do that for the ones I and my daughters have around. But I do forego all finishers medals now because I have seen folks not get medals who want one at the end of the race, the folks whose goal to finish is to finish and the finishing medal means a lot to them. I also believe in reduce, reuse recycle with reduce being even better than reuse or recycle and so if I reduce my own consumption, that is my way of treading a little lighter on the planet. Yes it is just one medal here and there, but I take this approach consistently enough that it adds up.

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2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3

I didn't set out to offend, so apologies if I did. I suppose my point was that your post came over as somewhat 'holier than thou' - can you not see that?

I look forward to my (finisher only) medals, and they are part of the experience for me, as is coming home the bib and adding it to the pile. I also like the t-shirts too. I don't do much with the medals themselves, but feel that I may take some satisfaction from them once I can no longer take part in such events.

I reduce my own footprint in many ways, but after 4/6/13+ hours of hard slog, I'm getting a medal!

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

Toss it to the crowd!! Who wants a silver medal anyway?...

http://www.cbc.ca/...medal-toss-1.4476183

Thanks for the reply. I did think about that and didn't want it being holier than thou, but also I did want to spread the idea that I had gotten from someone else of not getting your finisher medal if it doesn't mean much to them because sometimes folks come through the finish and they really want a finisher medal but none are left and I never want that to happen to someone.

But not meaning something to one person should have no bearing on what it means to another. I appreciate your thoughts on it!

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2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3

I don’t display medals. I’m not a fan of finishers’ medals at all. I don’t do much with trophies, either. I’ve put a couple plaques on the wall of my office but that’s it. I don’t dare display any awards at the house. My family members are neither impressed nor very supportive of my tri habit.

Geez. That's a sad story.

I'm having a new wing added to the back 40.

We just emptied a box of Ironman and 70.3 medals to turn them into Christmas tree decorations. Both my wife and I race. Made a small themed tree of them. It’s nice to relive memories for the 3-4 weeks it’s up and then put them away again.

Great idea

Its funny, when I was trying to finish my first IM it was a big deal; like I was less of a person because I dnf'ed my first try. Alway thought about what I would do with the medal; its own mantle, framed in my office at work, etc. I used to think it about it all the time. Same with a college degree. I used to see those Alumni license plates and think I'd have on someday (grew up in foster care, the mentality was we weren't good enough for it). Those dumb objects drove me more than I care to admit.

After getting both, the medal is in storage and I never bought the Alumni plate.

I suppose that's how a lot of Olympic Medalists feel. All they think about is that medal while they train, and when they get it the object loses its significance.

I think that ties in to what many come to realize. The process and the work is something we enjoy. I used to really build and focus everything to these monumental singular points; whether that was a national TT, a big IM, Kona, etc. After each event I felt this huge sense of letdown, but at some point it dawned on me that as much as I love racing, it is an infrequent treat. All of my great memories of racing are tied to those early morning bricks and hard sessions that I build on every day. Those are what I enjoy so much.

now we're talking... well played

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

My wife is probably 'indifferent' to my endurance sports habit at best. But she does buy me those stainless steel medal holders as gifts from time to time. I hang them in my workout room and then hang the medals on them. I'll take the counter stance and say that I do like the medals, they are good souvenirs that don't take up a lot of space and help me to remember a fun experience. If we were going to get rid of useless things I'd rather not get a crappy bag and t-shirt from each race I do before I'd get rid of the medals.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

 

Truth be told, if I had to choose between a race where you got a coffee mug for finishing versus a medal? I would choose a coffee mug 10 times out of 10, even if it cost a couple bucks more.

Rds? Are you listening?

This. A few "A" races make good magnets.


For most of mine, I wait until I have a dozen or so, then donate them to the charities that need medals for their youth "olympics".

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

You laugh, but to some people this is a serious suggestion. In boot camp (long ago MCRD SD Plt 1054 1989), we had a fellow recruit ask if he could wear his Eagle Scout medal on his uniform. The DI jokingly told him "You go ahead and do that." Sure enough on our next Alphas inspection, there he stood with hi Eagle Scout medal pinned to his chest. The best part was that the DIs didn't say anything and let the Series Commander come across it. I couldn't see faces, but the exchange was priceless!

I've never done anything with the medals other than throw them in a drawer, but since I loved Zombieland, this would be a great way to display them. https://www.etsy.com/...9HdqSvBoC2r4QAvD_BwE

This is what I bought: https://www.etsy.com/...iEAQYASABEgJ7TPD_BwE

I came across a Kickstarter campaign for a pretty cool and reasonably priced medal holder/display. I backed it, and figured some people in this thread might also be interested.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chrthorn/finishertrophy-the-best-finisher-medal-display-for?ref=569874&token=de30fe08

When feeling a bit frisky at bedtime, I put them all on, nothing else, come to attention and say, "I am an Ironman!"

Lucky girl.

Cardboard box.

mine are in a box in the basement collecting dust - but maybe i will break them out tonight!

Avon cardboard shipping box under the work bench in the garage, on the concrete floor. They don't hold a lot of sentimental value, it's the memory that counts, as is the journey to those memories.