You crossed the finish line. You earned the medal. And now it's in a drawer.
If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. Most runners accumulate medals faster than they figure out what to do with them, and the ones that don't get displayed tend to get forgotten.
Here are the best options, from the most personal to the most practical.
1. Personalise it
The single most impactful thing you can do with a race medal is make it specific to you. Most medals are identical across every finisher. Personalising yours with your name and finish time is what transforms it from a participation token into a precise record of your achievement.
Make It Personal makeitpersonal.io engraves each medal tag with your name and official time. The itab attaches directly to the medal, or the ribbon using a premium hanger. It takes two minutes to order and costs from $14.99 with free worldwide shipping.
Learn exactly how it works: Blog 1 "How to personalise your race medal".
2. Display them on a medal hanger
A dedicated medal hanger turns a collection into a wall installation. Wooden hangers engraved with your name, event-specific designs, or simple hooks all work; the point is getting medals off the drawer and onto the wall where they belong.
The itab plus and itab max products also function as premium display hangers. The zinc alloy itab max in particular is designed to sit above your medal as a permanent display piece, not just a functional add-on.
3. Frame them with your bib
Some runners frame their medal together with their race bib, a finish line photo, and their official result. Specialist framing shops can do this professionally, or it's a satisfying DIY project with a shadow box from an art supply store.
4. Build a dedicated display space
If you're an accumulator, multiple races a year, building toward a series or majors collection, a dedicated wall or shelf makes the collection feel intentional rather than chaotic. Group by year, by distance, or by geography. Some runners arrange theirs on a world map to track where they've raced.
5. Donate them
Medals4Mettle is a global charity that takes donated race medals and awards them to children and adults fighting serious illness, people running a much harder race than any of us. If you have duplicates, medals from events that don't mean as much to you, or older bling you're ready to pass on, it's a meaningful way to give them a second life.
Check medals4mettle.org for your nearest chapter.
6. Give them as gifts
If you ran a race as part of a charity team, a running club, or alongside a training partner, your medal can be a powerful gift, especially for someone who paced you, crewed you, or supported your training. A personalised medal tag engraved with their contribution ("support crew," a personal message, the date) makes it something they'd never buy themselves.
7. Keep them, but store them properly
If you're not ready to display or donate, at least store medals properly. A dedicated box or tin, ideally with some soft lining, prevents scratches and tangling. Some runners keep a race journal in the same box with each medal alongside a note about the race, the conditions, the story.
The one thing most runners regret
Leaving medals generic. The runners who feel most connected to their bling are the ones who've done something to make it theirs: personalised it, displayed it prominently, or framed it with context. The ones who leave it in a drawer tend to forget it's there.
It doesn't take much. Start with one medal, the one that meant the most and personalise it.
