Medals at events

[TheoG]

16 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

you can take them to Cyclelab and they give them to the hospitals who give them to kids having chemo - at least thats what i did with my bag.

Thanks, will do that.  Will only keep the very special ones like Comrades (yah that small little things are still special) and international medals.

[NickGM]

10 hours ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

....I know I finished, that's what strava is for. 

No Strava is so that your friends know you finished.

[Hilton.]

At the Piketberg MTB race, they give out tin mugs on a riempie. I still use mine for every camping trip 

Trying to find a picture...

[MTBeer]

25 minutes ago, Hilton. said:

At the Piketberg MTB race, they give out tin mugs on a riempie. I still use mine for every camping trip 

Trying to find a picture...

 

[MTBeer]

but I'd rather have a free beer than a medal or a cup

[Jbr]

22 minutes ago, MTBeer said:

but I'd rather have a free beer than a medal or a cup

Make that man president !!

[Puncture Kid]

2 hours ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

Why do we need medals. After your first or second participation what do you do with the medals? I eventually had a bag of them that i took to cyclelab. Especially in this day and age when we reducing costs be done with medals other than for kids races. You can do so much more and if you want you can print out certificates etc. This is so last year and so wasteful.

Same with goodie bags, expos etc. All are paid for by you in advance in the fees so you think you are getting a lekker goodie bag but all they are doing is turning your entry fees in to cheap tacky samples. Whats the point.

You can easily do it all by chips and or number boards like MTB. No expos, no queues, fees reduced.

Its a racket to drive people to retail and to keep prices inflated.

Completely agree. The couple R1000 the medals cost could have been used in a positive way in the communities the races are often held close to.

[NeverNotRolling]

but how are our kids supposed to know they're not the only ones getting participation medals?

[DieselnDust]

13 hours ago, robbybzgo said:

Even the alternate to medals like the Gears for Ears bottle cap remover or the Route 622 copper bracelet (nice design) goes unused. 

Someone needs to come up with a rad idea...

Transbaviaans finishe medals used to be  in the shape of pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. when you completed 5 you had a placemat/toiletdoor ornament. I thought that was one of the best ideas ever. These days its not too hard to integrate other useful features like a coffee cup warmer that pugs inthe USB port....

[PhilipV]

This is one cost saving I'd gladly pass on to the organizer. 

My kids really don't care if the medal is plastic or tin when I hang it around their necks after the race.

Edited October 25, 2021 by PhilipV

[ChrisF]

At the Eselfontein event there were medals in a box, the new plastic type.

 

You took one if you wanted it ....

 

As this particular event had special meaning for me I took one.  Really dont care if it is gold plated or plastic.  It will be added to my special set of medals as part of a selection of event photos.

 

Will I take one at the next Eselfontein ride ?  Probably not, as I doubt the next one would have the same "freedom ride" extra special connectation.

 

 

I do know a few people are new to this sport, and the medals ARE special to them.  So the idea of medals in a box, and take one if it is your thing makes a lot of sense.  Especially since more and more events make generic medals, not year specific, so it is easy to have enough and keep over for next year .....

[MudLark]

Truth is that I like the medal. Maybe its puerile. But I do. And I'm less likely to enter an event without one. 

[Andreas_187]

17 hours ago, MG22 said:

What happened to proper medals (zinc, metal) etc. I notice that over the last few events that I participated in we received PASTIC medals. Really horrible tasteless pieces of plastic as medals. This is quite disappointing when you pay R200 to enter and then get such a shitty piece of pollution. It would be better not to issue any medals!!

It is not my main motivation for participation but it is just disappointing to be handed such cheap plastic at the end of a race. 

For example : today’s Winter Fast One plastic medal

Am I alone in this opinion? Maybe there is a good reason for the move to plastic medals?

What would you like your medal to be made of for a R200 entry fee? 

[NotSoBigBen]

I'm one of those take it or leave it types, if they hand me one I take it, if there's no medals I'm not fussed either

[rorydewet]

after every ride where they hand out medals i look for a young kid whose dad mom or sibling has ridden and gotten a medal

i then gift the kid my medal

makes the kids day

[ChrisF]

A Hubber's daughter had her first competition on Saturday.  She actually did very well, coming in second place.

 

You should have seen her with that medal for the rest of the day.    Pretty sure she went to sleep with it still around her neck.

 

In a few years time the medals may well go straight to the drawer .... but this one will always be SPECIAL.

 

 

Very few get to podium, but every so often a race is special for a million other reasons .... then a keep-sake is nice