Upgrading marathon finisher medals is cheaper than most realize.

magine one morning walking into your den, cup of coffee in hand, and the first sight you behold is a pig’s hind quarters mooning you from your wall. It’s not exactly good motivation for putting on your sneakers for your A.M. run, or is it? Many marathoners have acrazed addiction to collecting finisher medals and are naturally drawn to races with distinctively designed keepsakes. There are several different types of medals being presented at finish lines, yet the tired finishers don’t usually comment on their prizes until much later through social media. So what are runners saying? It’s either hot or cold with medal designs, but one thing is certain: no marathon will get a thumbs up with an average finisher medal. Most marathon organizations take great pride in their swag, but trying to keep up with a marathoner is like chasing a jackrabbit. Prices increase each year in our technology-driven society. Marathon rates go up as well, so runners want first-class medals in return. But how many race directors (RDs) know that you can produce two-sided medallions for about one dollar more per average-priced medal? Not enough, obviously, or more marathons would likely be jumping on the medallion bandwagon. I scratch my head in bewilderment thinking of the wasted space on the back of medals that cry out for creativity. Those organizations that go the extra mile with well-done medallions will attract new runners who will fly cross-country to run their events. I did just that for the Flying Pig, and most will agree upon one thing: everyone wants to run the Pig!

Swine fever

Three things brought me to Cincinnati: my childhood love of the “big red machine” (baseball), Skyline Chili, and of course, my highest priority—the Pig finisher

© Robert Rayder

medal. Why the Flying Pig? Executive director Iris Simpson-Bush elaborates: “In the 1800s Cincinnati had a thriving meatpacking industry. Farmers brought pigs to market, sometimes on riverboats, and literally ran them through the streets to the stockyards. The city was often called ‘Porkopolis.’ We think we’ve had some great themes through the years: ‘Get Jiggy With the Piggy’; ‘Run Amuck’; ‘Wee, Wee, Wee’; ‘Hightailing It’; and this year’s theme was ‘Pigcasso.’ The medal has been two sided since year one, and people have come to expect the ‘big, fat pig butt’ to be prominent and incorporated into every year’s theme.”

Along with Portland and Running for the Bay, the Flying Pig has been in our Top 25 every year, in large part due to the medallion’s two sides. At worst, the cost per participant for a medallion is the price of two small lattes. I looked on the back of my 50 marathon-finisher medals and found that two-thirds of my medals were not maximized to their full potential—half were completely blank and the other half had “finisher” or blank areas for inscribing a name and finishing time.

Les Smith, Portland’s race director, gave his opinion on back-of-medal inscriptions: “In my judgment, seriously, less than 0.01 percent are ever inscribed. T observed a kiosk at the RnR Portland Half-Marathon where inscriptions could be done to a medal for $20. Nobody used it—nobody. Runners don’t carry money for that. Think about it: you are at home after a race, admiring your medal, assuming it is nice and not a piece of junk, and you think, Gee, J should have mine engraved. Where do you go? A jeweler? What will that cost? Send it somewhere? Thinking about all this is a deterrent. So it is a waste of good space to put an area on the back of a medal for engraving.” Smith knows what he is talking about, as Portland had the 2012 number one medal. Medallions are currently few and far between among marathons, but other types of medals are given out to runners. Many have merit and some are just plain funny.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire

How many RDs do you know who greet their runners with, “Welcome to COOKeville. [hope your will is in order?” In a normal world, that would be zero, but there is always one odd man out in life. His name is Joshua Hite, RD of the Blister in the Sun Marathon, where misery loves company! Most RDs do not pray that the weather cooperates by reaching 95 degrees with 95 percent humidity or are disappointed when there is cloud cover. Then again, how many registered marathoners receive e-mail updates pointing out their stupidity, addressing them as “Masochists,” or calling them “suckers” if it’s their first marathon, sent and signed by “the Sadist’? Hite is likely the lone wolf here, but he certainly makes it clear that it was a foolish move for runners to register for his race by reminding them that it’s not too late to come to their senses before the torturous August event.

Hite doesn’t let runners suffer alone. He has won his race every year with the exception of 2013, when 14-year-old Chris Rayder finished the Blister in first place. His father, Robert, a three-time finisher himself and the photographer of the M&B medal series, said this about the race: “Together the three Hs (hot, humid, and hilly) make this one of the most insane races yet conceived by the twisted mind of man. Having a race with searing hot industrial roads that have little to no shade with 4,700 feet of elevation is just plain nuts! There is nothing to look forward to but empty parking lots with zero spectators.” Amazingly, the race has grown steadily each year to nearly 100 per race with only four DNFs in its history. Hite thought: They probably decided to opt out to drink beer and taunt the remaining fools running the five figure-eight loops from Hell.

So what’s the reward for bearing the wrath of Hades for 26.2 miles? In keeping with its boiling theme, its finisher medals have been a Zippo lighter, a cast-iron skillet, hot sauce, and a chili pot. These types of medals can be best described as “eccentric

medals,” but in a good way. Hite adds: “I cannot think of any marathon where finishers can use their medals for something useful, like eating. I didn’t want a medal that was hung up and forgotten about. The only real use the rest of my medals have had was awakening me while clanging together during an earthquake.” I guess running marathons can prolong your life, if you survive them to begin with! This Tennessee race

© Robert Rayder

is a must for someone wanting a challenge, but it’s probably not on the bling checklist of the average medal chasers, who generally prefer their prizes on hooks in an orderly fashion.

The Blister is not the only agonizing marathon with a unique prize. The 7,200-plus-foot elevation Blue Ridge Marathon in Roanoke, Virginia, gives out railroad spikes shaped like a runner. Event founder Pete Eshelman explains: “The spikes are recycled from the Norfolk Southern Railroad, and then a local high school welding class actually bends and welds the arms/legs on as part of a class project. The railroad spike is a nod to our heritage as an old railroad town.” Another marathon that goes against the norm is the Calgary Marathon, which gives out belt buckles,

something normally reserved for ultramarathons.

Event director Kirsten Fleming talks about the marathon’s buckle: “They are made from recycled metal and in the true spirit of the Calgary Stampede Cowboy. The buckles were a hit and were spotted everywhere in town. The only complaint: some cowgirls had a hard time keeping their pants from sliding down because they are heavy duty! The 42.2 on the buckle represents kilometers for a marathon, so if you’re wearing this belt buckle and another cowpoke gives you the nod, you know that they are in the know!” You have to love Calgary’s originality in steering away from traditional medals of the past.

Playing the oldies

When I think of classic radio, I envision the Waltons sitting around in their living room listening to the radio, yet today’s FM stations consider ’70s music classic. Coincidentally, that is when a couple of events started giving out finisher medals. History helps shape the future; the same goes for medal manufacturing. Some event directors do not want to mess with history. If it’s always been done that way, why change things? New York City epitomizes medals that are probably best categorized as “classic” with skylines, bridges, and landscapes adorning its designs.

Fifteen years ago, classic medals were very much the norm. Many marathoners probably have copper or steel medals in their collections, though they probably don’t stand out hanging on a wall anymore. Most marathons now are changing with the times and moving away from the one-dimensional circular or square medals of the past. Upgrading the shape and metal coatings, yet keeping the community images and traditions intact, is now the goal. Some cities, like Toronto, prefer the clean, slick look from yesteryear. Many European and Canadian marathons agree and stay consistent with their designs from the past while tweaking them just a tad. Toronto has stayed old school but does produce a 4.5-inch, 2-pound medal. Its finishers should probably hammer a nail into a load-bearing wall before hanging them up! “Don’t fix what is working” is Detroit’s motto, as it has remained in our top 25 with the same city-icon design each time, changing only the car model each year.

Some RDs feel that you can’t go wrong with recognizable icons such as the Space Needle in Seattle or the Golden Gate Bridge or Haight/ Ashbury Streets in San Francisco. Marathoners can sometimes be fickle, but nearly everyone will be happy if the RDs incorporate the past with the present to get the best of both worlds. For instance, Austin began producing medals with inlaid glass surrounding its city icons and created another top 20 gem in 2013. The Kansas City Marathon has

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