Medals at events

[MudLark]

There are some I prize more than others. But each one is a bag of memories. I keep all my road race numbers too. ????

[Paul Ruinaard]

1 hour ago, MudLark said:

There are some I prize more than others. But each one is a bag of memories. I keep all my road race numbers too. ????

what do you do with them? How many do you have?

[DieselnDust]

Medals are for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place in a race. so $, VA, VB an VC podium winners should get medals.  AL DC teams should go to the naughty corner

Medals for participation is like a gold star for coming to school., it just dumbs down the value of preparing. strategising and competing

 

[NotSoBigBen]

A few years ago my now daughter in law didn't finish 94.7, she got to about 70k's ... I cut my medal in half and gave it to her ... there were tears is all I'll say

[MudLark]

44 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

what do you do with them? How many do you have?

I don't know how many I have but quite a number. I hang them from a tall standing lamp in my study. When I look at a particular medal, I think "Oh, that's what happened on that event. And we fixed John's wheel at the side of the road 8 times. Or, that's the one I got the bloody piece of glass on and had to walk the few kms. Or that was my first RTS". And so on. So for me they're the photos everybody else pays for. Kind of thing.

[MudLark]

38 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Medals are for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place in a race. so $, VA, VB an VC podium winners should get medals.  AL DC teams should go to the naughty corner

Medals for participation is like a gold star for coming to school., it just dumbs down the value of preparing. strategising and competing

 

Nah Diesel. For some people just getting to the finishing line is a big, big and very tough accomplishment. Some people probably deserve that medal just as much as the guy who came first. Maybe even more*. We aren't all made equal. That takes nothing away from the guy who comes first. 

*Like maybe the paraplegic guys pedaling those recumbents with their arms. Or that seriously ou tannie that I went past on the Tshwane Classic pumping away on a 1970's Peugeot - probably all she could afford. 

Edited October 25, 2021 by MudLark

[Paul Ruinaard]

2 minutes ago, MudLark said:

I don't know how many I have but quite a number. I hang them from a tall standing lamp in my study. When I look at a particular medal, I think "Oh, that's what happened on that event. And we fixed John's wheel at the side of the road 8 times. Or, that's the one I got the bloody piece of glass on and had to walk the few kms. Or that was my first RTS". And so on. So for me they're the photos everybody else pays for. Kind of thing.

Cool story - in that case you take your medals. I think TBH they should have a tick box which says "donate the R5/10/20" for the medal to charity and that way i would probably remember them better. I think the only ones i really was interested in keeping were the photos over the years rather than the medals

[MudLark]

2 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

Cool story - in that case you take your medals. I think TBH they should have a tick box which says "donate the R5/10/20" for the medal to charity and that way i would probably remember them better. I think the only ones i really was interested in keeping were the photos over the years rather than the medals

Paul, I would be happy to pay a bit more to get a medal, especially if the proceeds go to charity. I think that's fair enough and all good.

[Paul Ruinaard]

44 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

A few years ago my now daughter in law didn't finish 94.7, she got to about 70k's ... I cut my medal in half and gave it to her ... there were tears is all I'll say

I used to ride with Midrand Cyclists. Anyway in one of the 94.7 races the one guy , a back marker and rank amateur who was outside cutoff was told not to continue by medics at a water table as he wasn't feeling that good - think it was near the zoo - that route . He decided he had done so much he wanted to carry on and finish regardless even if outside time, and then had a heart attack and died. For some reason  his wife decided to return his chip to the MCC guys and came through after the normal crew of  guys had finished the ride that following Sunday and were having tea at the one guys house like we usually did. She came and handed over his chip etc and they decided to give her a finishers medal in honour. Needless to say there wasn't a dry eye in the house - it was very moving and sad and poignant - I never forgot as i was also more interested in PB's where he had literally given his life for one of those medals.

TBH i suppose you can become blase about it all and don't realize what an achievement it is for some people or how much it meant to someone to do it. The training and the life changes that these stories of their first ride all have - sometimes you need to sit and listen more.....

[DieselnDust]

52 minutes ago, MudLark said:

Nah Diesel. For some people just getting to the finishing line is a big, big and very tough accomplishment. Some people probably deserve that medal just as much as the guy who came first. Maybe even more*. We aren't all made equal. That takes nothing away from the guy who comes first. 

*Like maybe the paraplegic guys pedaling those recumbents with their arms. Or that seriously ou tannie that I went past on the Tshwane Classic pumping away on a 1970's Peugeot - probably all she could afford. 

I hear you and to a large extent agree, achievement should be recognised. Achievement means different things to different people and therefore should be recognised in accordance. Most events offer what is called a "finishers medal".  This is something has become  a norm. 

Maybe because I've grown up around funrides and SACF races I have a different idea around funride finishers medals as recognition of achievement vs placement medals for a podium. back in the day, all we got was a cloth badge to say thanks for participating. That was eough. Then it escalated to a medal and all events caught on and now its an expectation... 

For me the memories and war stories after are worth far more than the medal, 

[Skubarra]

5 hours ago, Andreas_187 said:

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

Believe it or not but "metal" medals are fairly cheap to purchase, we are talking something like R10 per medal at most  (most likely half the price if you buy in bulk for a bigger event)

I'm with the OP on this, if you are going to go through the effort of issuing medals do it properly or don't give anything. Plastic medals just screams cheap skate.

 

[Mamil]

The medals don't do it for me at all. On my fridge I have a fridge magnet from the grabouw sa champs which was some or other mtb event holding up a card from the last eroica next to the butlers pizza one and a jack black that says craft beer isn't a crime from the lockdown. 

Id like more fridge magnets at finish lines. 

[Rowl]

1 minute ago, Mamil said:

The medals don't do it for me at all. On my fridge I have a fridge magnet from the grabouw sa champs which was some or other mtb event holding up a card from the last eroica next to the butlers pizza one and a jack black that says craft beer isn't a crime from the lockdown. 

Id like more fridge magnets at finish lines. 

I was going to say the same, about the fridge magnets. The Trailseeker series gave out magnets (I think 2019?). Have all of them on my fridge still.

 

Many good points for and against, nothing to add to that. Sentimental about a few of them, the rest head to the charity box.

 

 

[Trashy]

7 minutes ago, Mamil said:

The medals don't do it for me at all. On my fridge I have a fridge magnet from the grabouw sa champs which was some or other mtb event holding up a card from the last eroica next to the butlers pizza one and a jack black that says craft beer isn't a crime from the lockdown. 

Id like more fridge magnets at finish lines. 

Couldn't agree more.

KZN trail running gave fridge magnets at their events a few years back and they are great. Functional, stored somewhere I see them everyday and have printed pictures of the venue with the distance completed.

Perfect.

[NC_lurker]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

 .. back in the day, all we got was a cloth badge to say thanks for participating.

I'd forgotten about those! Remember the guys who used to sew them onto their tracksuit tops ????

(...come on, share a picture...I'm sure you had your Mom sew yours onto your favourite top..)

[Frosty]

2 hours ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

I used to ride with Midrand Cyclists. Anyway in one of the 94.7 races the one guy , a back marker and rank amateur who was outside cutoff was told not to continue by medics at a water table as he wasn't feeling that good - think it was near the zoo - that route . He decided he had done so much he wanted to carry on and finish regardless even if outside time, and then had a heart attack and died. For some reason  his wife decided to return his chip to the MCC guys and came through after the normal crew of  guys had finished the ride that following Sunday and were having tea at the one guys house like we usually did. She came and handed over his chip etc and they decided to give her a finishers medal in honour. Needless to say there wasn't a dry eye in the house - it was very moving and sad and poignant - I never forgot as i was also more interested in PB's where he had literally given his life for one of those medals.

TBH i suppose you can become blase about it all and don't realize what an achievement it is for some people or how much it meant to someone to do it. The training and the life changes that these stories of their first ride all have - sometimes you need to sit and listen more.....

We experienced the complete opposite. A rider passed away at our event a few years ago, also from a heart attack. His wife didn't even want the bike back, she said, "do what you want with it, but I don't want it".

Sad day having to work with his friend, who got a lift with him, had to make plans to get home, as he couldn't find the car keys; the guys that passed away didn't have the keys with him. He phoned the guys wife, and had to deal with the shock too.