As I continue to unpack my new house and put things on the wall, I have been thinking about how much running memorabilia I have. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t keep a lot of personal items. I’m not attached to clothing or furniture, and I also wouldn’t say I like many random display trinkets (unless it’s cats), but running memorabilia and memories, I seem to keep it all.
I keep all of my race numbers, medals, and awards, even though many races give out the same red, white and blue #1 medal.
Some people might think it’s excessive, and many runners donate their finishing medals or throw away their bibs. I’m actually in the process of donating some of my older medals right now.
Some races give out no medals at all, which is fine. I don’t race for awards. I don’t cherry-pick races based on what sort of “free things” I can accumulate. I run races because I truly enjoy them, and I enjoy supporting friends and the local community.
So why keep all of this running memorabilia?
Each race contains a memory, good or bad. Throughout my years of running, I’ve raced a lot. I’ve blogged throughout most of it, so it’s easy for me to look back and reflect on the good, bad, and the ugly. I started my blog the summer I started running. 20 year old me was a heck of a lot different than 30 years old.
Regardless of the race time or finish, every bib number, medal, or piece of running memorabilia is a memory of something. It’s a memory of doing something I enjoy. When I toe the starting line of any race, my first race goal is to finish healthy and enjoy myself.
You never know what can happen the moment after the gun or air horn goes off. The expected quickly becomes unexpected. In fact, my most recent race on March 1st, I broke my foot!
A few people have asked to share more photos of my home decorating, so I thought I would share the “treadmill” and office room. The running memorabilia room. I did tell my spouse if it didn’t fit in there, it wasn’t staying, so I guess that’s some progress.
I’ll probably continue to keep and display most of my running memorabilia. Each is a memory of something.
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Questions for you:
How do you store your running memorabilia?
Do you have a favorite race?
I just found the bib from my first marathon and I want to frame it or do something with it but haven’t found a good option yet. Most of the marathon frames out there also have room for the medal—or are atop a medal hanger—and I don’t have the medal (and personally am not into medal hangers.)
I want to frame some of my important races…maybe like NYCM but I haven’t gotten around to it. I’ve seen some really cool bib+photo frames.