Best Race Medals: Which One's Are Worth The Entry

Best Race Medals: Which One’s Are Worth The Entry

Last Updated on March 7, 2021 by Amanda Brooks

It’s all about the bling for many runners, which lead me to wonder who really has the best marathon medals? Best half marathon medals and all the distances in between!

Who puts the zip in your zip-a-de-do-dah? Who puts the cha-ching in your race bling?

Since I don’t race for the bling {though I do have some medals I love!}, I had to reach out to the RTTF community to find out what makes your eyes bulge and your wallets leap from your hands to sign up.

What Makes a Great Race Medal?

It turns out there are a few common denominators in race medals that get you very excited:

Size Matters (you dirty birds)
Uniqueness – After a few we seem to be drawn to the medals that are completely out of the ordinary. Looks like an alien, whoop sign us up!
It spins! – I know the founders of the Miami marathon and they were actually some of the first to ever do spinning medals. While they are more common now, they still have some of the best.
Emotions – Many of your favorite medals aren’t just about the shape or size, it’s about how that particular race made you feel or the memories.

Where possible below I have linked to someone’s actual race report, so you can find out more about the race to see if it’s about more than the bling, though you may not care!

Which Race Has the Best Medal?

I love how many of you will sign up for a race just because it has a cool medal! I admit that the Surf City Surf Board has definitely gotten my attention more than once and I’ll definitely be doing it.

Gasparilla Half/Marathon (pirates!)
Marine Corps Marathon – Washington, DC – I would actually lump NYC into this one as well because it seems to resonate due to the same kind of emotion around running such a well known race with thousands of others and lots of spectators.
Seawheeze Half Marathon
Javalina 100K (shoot any ultra finish buckle is pretty awesome)
Diva Series half marathon
Big Sur marathon
Bird in Hand
Hot Chocolate Races (the finish is so fun with chocolate!)
Key West Half Marathon
Mississippi Blues Half Marathon (middle bottom) – Jackson, Mississippi
Beach Cities Challenge Medal – Really this is a quadruple threat if you consider the 3 race medals alone, plus the challenge medal. They are all pretty awesome. {just another reason I need to live in Cali}
New Year’s Double – Allen, TX – It’s multiple medals that combine to form one.
ING Miami Marathon – they were the first to do spinning medals
Garmin Half Marathon – Land of OZ – Olathe, KS – changes yearly, super fun
Little Rock Marathon – Couldn’t accurately talk about this medal without giving you some perspective of size! Here is Too Tall Fritz post race.

One of My Favorite Race Medals

Nike Women’s Half Marathon – It might not be the biggest or craziest, but it’s Tiffany’s and it’s hand delivered by a handsome man in a tux…so yes it makes the list! The necklace changes each year and learned the hard way {myself} don’t wear while running it tarnishes.

Wahhhhh so many sad runners because Nike no longer does this race. I haven’t found another race doing anything quite like this yet…but come on someone will pick it up.

And if you hear about it, let me know!!!

I also LOVE that you can now do a ton of virtual races and get medals that are incredible!