Runners accumulate race medals faster than they accumulate wall space. After a few seasons, the drawer is full and the question becomes practical: what do you actually do with them?
We make custom race medals and we also hear from runners about what happens to them afterward. Here is a straight look at the options, including the ones that mean giving the medal up.
What we’ll cover:
- How to decide which medals to keep
- Display options that cope with a growing collection
- Donation programs and what they actually accept
- Recycling and repurposing options
- What race directors can do to reduce the problem
Deciding What to Keep
The honest problem with race medals is that they are hard to throw away individually. Each one carries a specific memory. But a hundred of them together becomes clutter, and clutter erases the memory rather than preserving it.
A workable filter:
| Keep if | Let go if |
|---|---|
| It was a personal best or first of a distance | It was a routine training race |
| It marks a milestone (first marathon, comeback) | You cannot recall the event without checking |
| It is a bucket-list race | It is a duplicate of the same event, same year |
| It has sentimental value (a charity close to you) | You have kept it only because discarding felt wrong |
| It is visually distinctive enough to display | It is an anonymous generic design |
The test that works for most runners: if you cannot remember the race when you look at the medal, the medal is not doing its job. That is a sign to move it on rather than a failure on your part.
A common compromise is to keep a curated set — the meaningful ones — on display, and process the rest in batches rather than agonizing over each individual piece. Our medal display options guide covers racks and cases in more detail.
Display Options for a Growing Collection
If you are keeping them, the display method should scale.
| Option | Capacity | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single wall hanger | 10-30 medals | One adult’s collection | Cheap, easy to install |
| Multi-bar rack | 30-80 medals | Serious collections | Rows by year or distance |
| Shadow box | 1-6 medals | Framing a milestone | Protects from dust |
| Rotating display case | 20-50, viewable one at a time | Limited wall space | Keeps medals dust-free |
| Ribbon board | 50+ | Maximum volume | Medals overlap, less individual visibility |
| Peg board / rail system | Unlimited | Grows with the collection | Modular, add rails as needed |
Two practical points. First, weight. A dense metal medal collection on a single hook will pull out of drywall — use wall anchors, and distribute across multiple attachment points for larger loads. Second, direct sunlight fades ribbons long before it affects the metal, so keep racks out of direct sun if the ribbon color matters to you.
Our ribbons run 860-900mm standard length by 20-30mm wide. A hanger spaced for that width will hold medals of any standard size without them bunching. For ribbon care so a display stays presentable, see our ribbon cleaning guide.
If your collection is outgrowing the wall, some runners rotate seasonally — a current rack and a stored set swapped a few times a year. It keeps the display meaningful instead of turning it into wallpaper.
Donation Programs
Race medal donation exists, and it is more limited than most runners assume.
| Recipient type | What they typically accept | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Charity resale shops | Metal medals in good condition | Contact first — policies vary widely |
| Schools and youth clubs | Medals with ribbons attached | Popular for kids’ sports days |
| Craft and makers programs | Metal pieces for repurposing projects | Often want the metal only |
| Art therapy programs | Clean, complete medals | Contact before donating |
| Local running clubs | Sometimes, for events | Ask whether they have a program |
The key caveat: most donation programs will not accept medals carrying event-specific branding that cannot be re-awarded. A generic medal can be reused. A medal reading “Boston Marathon 2019” cannot meaningfully be given to someone else.
That makes charity donation viable mainly for generic or unbranded finisher medals. For distinctive branded pieces, donation is usually not the route.
Two things to do before donating: check that the ribbons are clean and intact, and call ahead. Programs that accept medals often have specific size and condition requirements, and a drop-off of 80 medals to a program that accepts 20 is not helpful to anyone.
Recycling and Repurposing
More options exist here than runners expect, and they suit branded medals that cannot be donated.
| Approach | What it involves | Realistic effort |
|---|---|---|
| Metal recycling | Remove ribbons, recycle the metal | Low effort, low return |
| Repurpose as gym decor | Hang in a home gym or garage | Low effort, keeps meaning |
| Craft reuse | Turn into coasters, magnets, ornaments | High effort, needs tools |
| Shadow-box a season | Frame a year’s set together | Medium effort |
| Give to a school drama or craft class | Raw material for student projects | Low effort |
| Retire to a memory box | Store rather than dispose | Lowest effort |
Metal recycling is the honest fallback. A die-cast zinc medal is recyclable, though the ribbon must be removed first and the metal value per medal is small. It is a reasonable route for a large batch you have decided not to keep.
The same casting process is what makes a medal worth keeping in the first place. Zinc alloy melts at 385°C and is shot into the die on an 88-ton press, which is how a finisher medal carries a 3D relief standing up to 2mm proud of the base — a stamped blank can’t hold that depth. That relief is the reason a good medal reads as an object rather than a disc, and it’s also why the metal is dense enough to be worth recycling at all.
The low-effort middle ground most runners land on is a memory box: a single storage container for medals you want to keep without displaying. The metal tolerates it well — die-cast zinc medals leave our plating line sealed with an anti-oxidation oil coat, the last of 9 steps, so a boxed medal keeps its finish far longer than the ribbon beside it keeps its color. It solves the clutter problem without requiring any decision about disposal.
What Race Directors Can Do
The accumulation problem is partly a design problem, and directors can reduce it.
| Practice | Effect on the medal’s afterlife |
|---|---|
| Keep designs generic rather than event-specific | Makes donation viable |
| Offer a “no medal” entry tier | Reduces total volume, often popular |
| Use a consistent series design | One display decision instead of many |
| Add a ribbon rather than a custom medal for minor events | Lower cost, easier to donate |
| Offer digital finisher certificates alongside | Runners who do not want a medal still get recognition |
The “no medal” entry tier is increasingly common and worth considering. Some runners genuinely do not want another medal, and offering a lower entry fee without one is a straightforward way to serve them while cutting your own costs. For what races typically promise on the finisher medal, see our guide on whether marathons give finisher medals.
If you are a director planning a series and want a design that works across multiple years, we hold tooling on file for reorders, which keeps the series visually consistent and drops the per-year cost.
If you are organizing an event and want to talk through finisher medal options at your field size, send us your runner count and we will quote it.
Data to confirm: Confirm current MOQ and tooling retention policy with the factory before planning a multi-year series design.
FAQ
What should I do with old race medals I don’t want? Decide by memory: if you cannot recall the race when looking at the medal, it is a candidate to move on. Keep a curated set for display and process the rest in one batch — donation for generic medals, recycling or a memory box for branded ones.
Can race medals be donated to charity? Sometimes, but mainly if they are generic rather than carrying event-specific branding. A medal reading a specific race name and year generally cannot be re-awarded. Call ahead, since programs often have size and condition requirements.
Are race medals recyclable? Yes. Die-cast zinc medals are recyclable, though the ribbon must be removed first and the metal value per piece is small. It is a reasonable route for a large batch you have decided not to keep.
How many medals can a wall hanger hold? A single hanger typically holds 10-30 medals. Multi-bar racks hold 30-80. For larger collections, a peg board or rail system scales better than a single hook. Use wall anchors, since a dense collection is heavy.
How should I store medals not on display? A single memory box works for most collections. It solves the clutter problem without requiring a disposal decision for each medal. Store it away from damp and direct sun, since ribbons fade faster than metal.
Can I ask a race not to give me a medal? Some races offer a no-medal entry tier at a lower fee. If yours does not, it is worth suggesting — it reduces the organizer’s cost and suits runners who do not want another medal.
Related reading: spinning medals for sports programmes — our spinning medal range: a moving inner disc on a die-cast body, 100-piece minimum.
