As many people know, my New Year’s Resolution of 2020 is to get rid of things not serving me in a positive way. This could be tangible or not. If that interests you, you can follow along on Instagram @2020trashthetrash.
Anyway, one of the more significant tasks I’ve come across is Should I keep medals? Should I keep all of them? Some? Hang them on the wall? There are so many options out there.
Recently, I discovered Kudos, which is a unique way to turn your old race medals into coasters. You don’t need to be a runner to use Kudos and you can turn any race medal, photos, artwork, or seashells. I think my next set of Kudos Coasters might be photos of my cats.
The Kudos History:
Believe it or not, Kudos Coaster Plus was designed in five years. The founder, Ryan, started in a dimly lit basement and has evolved from there. He has since hired product designers to help morph Kudos into the coasters they are today. While Kudos is a common phrase (by runners on Strava ), meaning praise for an achievement, Kudos2U.com is where you can find the coasters.
Kudos coasters also have tru-fit inserts so you can get a personalized fit and feel to the coasters. You could even design or paint your own.
Using Kudos as Coasters:
I’ve seen some creative displays of Kudos, but my favorite way is to display them as coasters. As a coffee and hot cocoa drinker, I can tell you the Kudos 2 U Coasters have to withstand both my coffee and hot cocoa with no issue or damage. Plus, the beveled lip makes it easier not to spill a beverage. The Kudos are designed to withstand 300-degree temperatures, so you don’t need to worry about them melting.
Can Kudo’s Store All Medals?
Obviously, some medals won’t fit into a Kudos Coaster, but for most of my medals fit. Sometime’s the ribbon is too large or bulky, so I cut them off. Or some medals make it easy to remove the ribbon without cutting it. I would say in the roughly 200 race medals I have; Kudos Coasters can accommodate 180 of them. It’s the custom medals or oversized medals that don’t fit in Kudos (like from the She Power Half).
The Kudos Coaster Plus will fit any medal up to 0.5″ thick and 3.75” wide. If you find you need a little more thickness, you can remove the tru-fit insert. (I found this works well if you want to keep the ribbon inside the Kudos Coaster too).
How Else Can You Use Kudos Coasters to Display Old Race Medals?
Using Kudos Coasters as Wall Decorations:
Kudos are fun because you can display on your wall without a medal rack. You can display your custom race medals and award medals on the wall without worrying about the ribbon taking up room.
Using Kudos as Refrigerator Magnets:
I got this idea from the website itself, but I use a few Kudos as big magnets.
One thing that I appreciated is when I reached out to the founder, Ryan, to see if he would be interested in offering readers a discount, he replied himself! It’s awesome to talk 1-1 to the company founder.
I was lucky enough that Kudos is also offering 10% off to FueledbyLOLZ readers by using the code “FueledbyLOLZ.” You can find Kudos in many local running stores too (including RunningCo. of Haddonfield). Plus, shipping is free, which is awesome!
They make great gifts for the “runner that has everything,” which is what I’ve found myself getting a lot of runners lately. I’ve been enjoying sharing more running related products that aren’t shoes and you don’t even need to be a runner to get use out of Kudos.
You can see more product reviews here.
Questions for you:
How do you display your finisher medals and racing bibs?
Have you tried Kudos Coasters before?
what a great idea!!!
I had never heard of Kudos before. However, this is a perfect way to keep metals and other meaningful memorabilia in your home without keeping it stored uselessly in your basement or attic. I am all about keeping meaningful objects in a useful way! 💚
Right? It’s nice because you feel they aren’t in a drawer or box somewhere.
What a great idea, will show it to my partner, he will love this idea!
Let me know what they think!
What a cool idea to display medals! I just have to earn some now, ha. I like how they are stackable.
What a cool way to share something special and put it to good use! Thank you for the idea.
The coaster idea is perfect! It makes something that was previously unusable usable! The medals are one of those things that you don’t want to get rid of. My husband has quite a few, I think he’ll like this idea!
Same, it can be hard to get rid of medals but these are a fun idea.
Oh that’s a neat idea! My brother runs and has several medals, I’ll have to share this with him. Thanks so much!
Thank you for the great and useful idea. This is really great!
This is such a great idea, especially when you don’t have that much space in your home. We all use coasters for our tables and what a beautiful reminder of our success they can be when they are personalised with the won medals!
This is great! I have never heard of this product before but it looks awesome. It’s great conversation piece.
That’s why I like them too, they are fun conversation pieces.
Those are some pretty cool displays. I will have to share them with my friend who’s boy has a bunch of them.
Such a brilliant way to display medals! I need to try this
Let me know if you do Mel!
What a great way to use those medals! I have some from races and they’re shoved in a closet somewhere. This would have them displayed nicely. Not sure what I’d do with 45 coasters though 😉 Lol!
Hahaha that would be a lot of coasters, but you can display them as magnets too.
This is such a good idea. I run half marathons and have always wondered how to display them correctly.
I wouldn’t say there is a right or wrong way to display them…whatever makes you happy!
This is such a cool way to display medals. I have collected a lot of them. I would try it this way.
Let me know if you do Rupal!
Wow! I’ve never thought having something like this! Thank you for this article, I might do something like the tips you have soon when i have time. Its feels nice do some crafts on your own too sometimes!
So true. I like to do fun crafts as well.
What a great way to use this a home decoration. Instead of hiding them somewhere in the box or putting them in the basement now you’re just gonna make them useful. Used in a creative way, I’m going to share this to my husband.