Dear Running,
I'd like to thank you for all the great memories and keepsakes you've brought into my life.
Most Sincerely,
Kim
Do you have memorabilia from races? What do you do with it? Here's a sampling of my event stuff:
First of all, I now have more shirts and 1/4 zips than I could ever dream about (and a lot of these are from events). I have purged out most of the drab cotton t-shirts, as well as a few of the less-desirable tech shirts. But my closet still runneth over.
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| All the long-sleeved shirts are on the left, short-sleeved tops in the center, and tanks on the right |
I have kept all of the race bibs (and most of the safety pins) from every race I've done. Currently, I have the bibs on a binder ring. I'm debating about making a shadow box, though. and fanning out the bibs (by year) within the frames. It just has not happened yet.
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| These are just my bibs from 2015.... |
How about hardware? Oh, how I love my hardware! Having not been blessed with much natural athletic talent, there were not too many awards or mementos of this sort in my former life. Some medals are prettier than others, and some are much bigger in size. But every medal tells a story.
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| All of my medals are displayed on an accordian-style coffee mug rack |
I am not much of hat person (I much prefer a visor or a funky-colored/patterned headband). But I have to admit, the racing hats are growing on me. I do prefer a hat on a rainy day, or at the very least when I know there's a high chance of rain. Let's be honest, a hat will keep you looking (a little) less like a drowned rat than a visor.
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| A hat from my 12-hour Ultra (left) and another from Park to Park half marathon (right) |
I do have a growing fondness for stocking hats, though. A favorite keepsake is the hat from the IMT Des Moines Marathon last year....all the participants of the Principal Financial 5K Road Race received stocking hats instead of (another) shirt. Score!
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| Isn't the hat adorable? Black, white and light blue striped...with a poofy multi-colored pom pom |
I'm a very sentimental person, and probably have tendencies towards saving too much. I have some patches from races, and some miscellaneous event stickers. The patches are (hopefully) someday going to be sewn onto a jacket (keyword:someday). The stickers? I'm hesitant to put them on my car because I know I will not be driving my current car forever (or at the very least, before my running career ends). I have a hard time putting them on a permanent place that will not be a permanent fixture in my life. I have entertained the idea of affixing them onto a magnet, thus making them transferable to all future vehicles. That hasn't happened (yet) either.
I also have a collection of posters from various events. I keep thinking I should frame them, but then what? As much as I love running, I do not wish to decorate my house with that theme. I could hang them in my laundry room (we all know runners are constantly doing laundry).
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| Posters from Bix 2010 and 2014, Dam to Dam 2009 and 2016, Quad Cities Marathon 2015 |
Look closely, this poster is from the 2014 Quad Cities Times Bix7...and has the autographs of Billy Rogers, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Meb!
How about you? Got some favorite keepsakes from running? Do you have it out and about, on display? Or do you keep it stashed away...out of sight?
I'm linking up with
Marcia ,
Erika , and
Patty for the
Tuesdays on the Run Link-Up. I invite you to head over and check out all the linked blogs!
I love that you keep all this stuff! I was also going to suggest making your race stickers magnets!
ReplyDeleteThe downside to magnets, though, is that ANYONE can remove them.....so that is another reason this stickers-to-magnets project is still on hold LOL I have a really cool sticker from Grandma's Marathon "thumbtacked" at my desk at work
DeleteI feel the same way about the car stickers. After I lost my Boston one to a new car, I've never put another one on. But I have several in a drawer. Ugh. Thanks for linking!
ReplyDeleteI used to have a 13.1 & 26.2 "generic" magnets on my other car, they got thrown into a box when we got the new vehicle...and I haven't put them back on display. I did receive an "ultra runner" magnet from one of my ultra comrades...that is front and center, though.
DeleteIf I get to the point where I as much memoriabilia as you have, I might have to start thinking about what I do with all that stuff... but for now, I am not there yet ;)
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand that you don't want to put the stickers on the car though... making them into a magnet is a great idea!
I thought about installing a (huge) bulletin board above my computer desk, and putting a bunch of this stuff on that. Again, all thoughts and NO action LOL
DeleteYou are not alone in your pin hoarding, but I have to admit that kind of baffles me. I use a fitatelic belt (well, it's something like that) and it has those little bungees so I can attach my bib because I hate sticking pins into my clothes (or myself). So I don't need pins, but usually have a few just in case.
ReplyDeleteI like visors in the summer; hats as it gets cooler; beanies in the winter. I don't have any posters and I've been getting rid of bibs from the shorter races.
Now mugs, ah, that is a whole other story.
I try to always keep extra "sets of pins" in my car, so I don't have to grab any extras at race check-in....sometimes, the pins get buried in the swag bag/packet and I find them after the fact, though. I have no place for mugs...but those would be nice keepsakes!
DeleteOk, you win...the Meb autographed poster is awesome! I'd definitely frame that one for sure! Living down here in the South and not venturing too far out of the South for running half marathons, I can regrettably say that I have never received a stocking cap at a race. I'm thinking I need to head North!
ReplyDeleteYes! Do venture up north...we have this interesting white, slushy stuff we run on in the winter...snow ;-)
DeleteMEB MEB MEB! Love it- and love the collection. Running has a way of reminding us it's still around!
ReplyDeleteI love all the collectibles....I just may need to eventually claim one of the "empty" kids' bedrooms as my running shrine.
DeleteAfter racing for 26 years I've accumulated a lot of stuff even though they didn't hand out finisher's medals for anything below a marathon back then. I do have quite a few age group medals and a couple trophies from those (smaller) races when I managed to place overall. I have gotten rid of a lot of t-shirts, but still have too many (I'm happy most events hand out technical shirts these days. I have all my bibs (and pins!) but they are not organized, just tucked into a drawer. I don't wear hats very often but I like them as souvenirs, so I have quite a few. What else? Oh, plenty of jackets, sweatshirts and a few tyvek jackets from when they were popular. I even have all the mylar blankets I've received over the years. No wonder my house is so cluttered!
ReplyDeleteEven though I have gotten rid of a lot of my shirts. I still have more than I really need. But, I justify keeping them because they're all in different colors (and I'm a bit of a color freak).
DeleteI have a nice collection of wine glasses from some running events. :-D I do love my race bib that is signed by Deena Kastor. :-D
ReplyDeleteWIne glasses are cool! I didn't mention it, but Meb also signed my bib for the Bix7 when I saw him, and Shalane signed my bib from the R'nR Chicago in 2014. Those babies are going nowhere!
DeleteYour race bibs look so much better than mine! By the end of the race it's a wonder I still have some of mine on! I really don't know what I do to them but they look like they have been laundered already by the time I finish!
ReplyDeleteMy race bib from Grandma's (last summer) was a mess when I finished. We had a lot of rain before the race, and it continued for the first couple hours. Then it started back up just after I finished....the poor bib was a major crumpled-up and faded mess ;-(
DeleteI really have wanted to make a display, but just have not gotten around to it yet. I have tons of race stuff in my closet just taking up space.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how it accumulates!
DeleteYou do have lots of gear girl! I keep the medals and bibs but not the t shirts or other stuff too much
ReplyDeleteThankfully, my kids will sometimes take the shirts off my hands. I sometimes get a men's size if I know it's a design my son will like.
DeleteI LOVE that you have all your racing bibs! I recently had my hubby build me a custom wooden case to house my racing medals...so fun!
ReplyDeleteMy husband is pretty handy as well...but I don't have any more wall space (at least not in a place appropriate for my stuff)
DeleteI never know what to do with all my race stuff, even though I have nothing remotely close to this. A friend of mine once suggested making a quilt of all the t-shirts...if only I were that talented and patient :/
ReplyDeleteI have seen the quilts, but I don't know what I'd do with a quilt (?)...I'd probably want to hang that, too, and my wall space is limited LOL
DeleteTHose are some serious memories! (and many more to come). I have my MCM jacket and hat, and I love the fact that I can keep those with me and wear them. Alex and I are thinking we need to get a medal holder for our joint races!
ReplyDeleteMy husband has his medals on my "medal rack." He hasn't done as many races, so right now he just has one "peg" to call his own...and I have all the others LOL
DeleteI've only done one event so far (my first was this year!) but I proudly put the sticker and tag up on the board in my office so I can look at it all the time. It was only a 5K but the way I feel about it you'd think it was a marathon...lol! Little victories.
ReplyDeleteI remember my first 5K (well, the first 5K that I was able to run completely). I felt like a beast! It did feel like a marathon at the time ;-)
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