More research:
Looking at options for Finishers Medals and it was suggested to consider Belt Buckles as well, so looking at options for both:
Do you have a preference for one over the other? If so why?
Any recommendation for good sources? Great companies to deal with/ or companies to avoid?
Does anyone manufacture a Belt Buckle/ Medal combination? (can be received and worn on a ribbon, but then used as a Belt Buckle if they wish?)
Thanks, Tim.
Belt buckles are an ultramarathon thing (reserved for 100-milers or longer). There’s history behind its use in the sport. To hand out belt buckles for anything other than that would be kind of unfitting . . . unless, of course, said EPIC race includes a 100 mile run at the end - in which case I’d throw in the belt with the buckle.
A T-dot… lol, like it!
Calgary 70.3 has a buckle for finishers. We have a tradition with buckles up her in the West GWN so I think it’s pretty cool like a medal you can actually use.
Calgary has belt buckles for 70.3 and the Marathon and other races must be the western thing.
They can be hung by a ribbon and should be, can be worn like a medal
In 2010 Calgary 70.3 belt buckle sucked last year it was great
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuMzeZBKMEQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
we are not all cowboys (pink)
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Belt buckle if there’s some logical reason is awesome. I.e., the Calgary 70.3 gives out a belt buckle, and it’s awesome. Calgary isn’t, obviously, a 100-miler, but it is in a “cow-town.” The belt buckle is an homage to the Calgary Stampede.
So I’d say a race in Wyoming, for example, could hand out a buckle, but the same (distance) race in New Jersey? Probably not…
A belt buckle would be different for most people…so you’d have that going for you. What would be on the buckle? Or what shape? A lobster?
The year I did Grand Columbian they gave out a belt buckle hung medal-style on a ribbon. I like it better than the unimaginative cookie-cutter medals I’ve gotten from most races over the years.
Buckle. Everyone has too many medals already and you really can’t wear them around. Worst case the buckle sits in your trophy case…just like the medal would. Medals are pretty much only useful for the post-race finisher’s pic.
The Punxsutawny Fall50 gives out buckles; I can wear mine with style each Groundhog Day.
What would be on the buckle? Or what shape? A lobster?
You are right, that’s the next obvious question, and I don’t know the answer yet. Our initial logos are really just word art, but I’d like to have an image that would become associated with our event, one we could modify a bit from one year to the next, always recognizable as EPIC Dartmouth, yet always different from year to year - but I do want to expend the effort on really great hardware this first year.
I want those doing the race this first year to feel special, and be recognized as such since they will be the first finishers. That way, in years to come, it’s those that made the commitment to our event this first year that will always have the really cool hardware from back in year one.
Good luck with your race, I hope that everyone has an Epic day…but, as stated above, the belt buckle for finishers in a tradition for 100 mile running races and you only get one if you finish in under 20 hours. I believe that the Vermont 100 gives a buckle to finishers and the same people put on the V50 where they don’t. The fact that Calgary 70.3 gives out buckles only shows that WTC races have no respect for other races of any kind. Your idea for your race looks great and I wish you great success, but I think you can come up with your own idea for a finishers souvenir if you try.
Running 100 miles is hard. I think you deserve a unique award for it, not for running 26 miles or 13.
Tim…I’d lean the way the other guys have suggested…respect the belt buckle as a 100 miler tradition.
The Epicman tradition for finishers is a “wood”
Well, it is a medal, made of wood.
This is what we used a few years ago. This graphic was done by my friend Chris Macknie (rolldown here on ST) and then he printed out a ton of copies and affixed them to pieces of wood through which he tied ribbons and then they were given out to finishers.
You could go a bit more upscale than that, but wood be pretty cool if you can swing something. Also, since Epicman was a totally informal event, we got away with the Edot “logo”, but you might have Andrew Messick and Steve Meckfessel sending trademark lawyers after you if you actually use the Edot logo as is…
As for the trip to Dartmouth, I have to admit that the timing is perfect for those doing IM Mont Tremblant, but that weekend is also lined up with Tupper Lake now in it’s 30th year if I have my math correct, and I feel I owe those race organizers some gratitude for all the years they have put on their event which really is a grass roots race that still has exactly the same home town spirit that it did in 1990 when I first did it.
Thanks for the feedback Sweeney. I really do appreciate hearing everyone’s viewpoints (which is why I posted this question here - to get a wider range of opinion).
I think you make a good point, and I don’t disagree with you (personally I lean towards medals), but the irony is that the suggestion to use a belt buckle for this event came in a discussion with a group of three people, two of whom were wearing VT100 buckles.
Ultimately, when there’s no clear answer (on this or other questions) I just put it back to the racers signed up for this event as to what makes the most sense to them - this race wouldn’t happen but for the competitors, so the answer that makes them feel they are getting the best value and having the best race experience is probably the right one.
Brag for the rest of the week
Ok, what a great twist on a great slogan.
And thank you, but no, we wouldn’t entertain using that E-logo. We love Ironman and have no wish to infringe on their artwork, but the wood idea is a good one maybe. We could do colour-filled, laser engraved hardwood circles that turn into drink coasters when they are no longer medals. Then people could collect a set over the years? (or maybe they get one on a ribbon and three in a box…)
I think belt buckles would be cool as a change … I don’t buy that ultramarathons own belt buckles as they have been rodeo “medals” for a hundred years before any marathon event even thought of them. They’ve also been given at ride And Tie horse/runner endurance events for years. Heck … pro wreslers and boxers get giant belts that ultramarathon runners wouldn’t have the strength to stand up alone if they wore own.
I vote for belt buckles … if ultramarathoners don’t like it … then lets challenge them to non-wetsuit swims and see who survives 
Dave
I think the belt buckle is a great idea! As did the folks in the conversation you referenced but mostly just because we all thought being able to wear the medal was so much more fun than just having one more medal to hang on a doorknob. And it was a pretty good group to poll as it involved 3 ultra runners (two of which had done Leadville successfully) and 3 Ironman athletes (with one KQ). I don’t even wear the finishers medal on the day I finish a race. But a belt buckle, that I would wear because I wear them anyway. There is no race that owns the belt buckle, just as there is no race that owns the finishers medal. A good idea deserves spreading. Can you imagine if no one gave out water or had coke on the course or a BBQ after the race just because that belonged to runners not triathletes? As race director, you get to make the rules. Dare to be different or dare to do something that people actually like. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I am pretty sure an ultra runner isn’t gonna think only they can get a belt buckle.
I think belt buckles would be cool as a change … I don’t buy that ultramarathons own belt buckles as they have been rodeo “medals” for a hundred years before any marathon event even thought of them. They’ve also been given at ride And Tie horse/runner endurance events for years. Heck … pro wreslers and boxers get giant belts that ultramarathon runners wouldn’t have the strength to stand up alone if they wore own.
I vote for belt buckles … if ultramarathoners don’t like it … then lets challenge them to non-wetsuit swims and see who survives
Dave
To push these even further, didn’t the whole reason ultras have belt buckles start with horses anyway?
IIRC from my reading, Western States 100 used to be a horse race, then some dude showed up without a horse and ran it on foot. He earned his buckle that day, and there have been buckles for ultras ever since. Do I have this right?
IIRC from my reading, Western States 100 used to be a horse race, then some dude showed up without a horse and ran it on foot. He earned his buckle that day, and there have been buckles for ultras ever since. Do I have this right?
That’s the story I have always heard (as I sit here wearing my RR100 buckle)
Exactly how EPIC is this race of yours?That word gets thrown around a lot.