There is something wrong with me.
Okay, there are probably a lot of things wrong with me, but the one that affects my day to day life the most is I have a heart condition I haven’t told you guys about…
Tiny Heartitis
Yes. I was born with a tiny lil black heart – or so I’ve been told.
On more than one occasion in my life I’ve been called “the Grinch”. This is NOT because I want to steal Christmas – I actually love Christmas!
See? I believe.
It’s because I have no feelings.
Okay, that’s not completely true.
Sometimes I feel HAPPY!!!
Sometimes I feel silly.
Sometimes I feel sleepy…
But I rarely feel love-y or sentimental about things most people do…
Race bibs / Special Dates / Childhood Memorabilia … eh
When I moved out of my mom’s house I left a few race medals there and she called to let me know…
Mom: “There are a few of your medals from your races in a box in the office…”
Me: “Oh, you can just throw them away…”
True story.
She didn’t throw them away so I finally took them one time when I went to visit, but I would have been fine with it.
Red Hair Don’t Care?
Sociopath?
Tiny Heart Condition?
I don’t know.
So even though I am VERY HAPPY and PROUD of this weekend’s PR I didn’t bat an eye before tossing my bib from this weekend. Then, I remembered how Chandra and SR gave me crap about it after RnR SD last year and I thought I’d ask you what you do with your bibs…
There are a ton of cool things you can do with race bibs like:
Make a Binder with them from Etsy
Make a Photo Book like Meghann did
I just don’t wanna. At this point we’re lucky I’m keeping my race medals – and that’s only because I have this cool new medal hanger from Heavy Medalz…
Question: Do you keep your race bibs? What do you do with them?
Non Runners: Are you sentimental about things?
Winner of the Road ID Giveaway is :
If you didn’t win please get one anyway!
I had all of my bibs turned into bags through an awesome site called http://www.bibs2bags.com. My bag rock!!
OH MY GOSH! Don’t get rid of your bibs or t-shirts! I meet so many people that do that! I can make them into something way cool that you can use & show off some of your accomplishments too! I can even add pics…ribbons…your favorite running bumper stickers…or whatever! I make custom bags…several different styles…check them out a t: http://www.racesrmybag.com
I found a really neat wall hanging display that allows you to just hook your bibs to it afterwards. It takes up very little space on the wall and I would totally recommend it! I can’t wait to get my first bib to have an excuse to buy one 😉 (or make one, which ever comes first)
I keep race bibs but I’m not actually a huge fan of the medals. There re charity organizations that you can donate your medals to for kids who can’t run.
I was just thinking about this today! I currently keep my race bibs on the same shelf as the bowl I collect my medals in. I wondered to myself today why the heck I’m keeping them. Isn’t the medal enough?
I’m not with you on throwing away the medals though. Brown hair does care. 🙂
I actually give my race number to my Esthetician because she collects them and makes a collage of them on her wall in her office 🙂
I most definitely throw mine away! And have contemplated that with medals in the past. Lol I’m anti-clutter so in my house if something lays around untouched for a certain amount of time– it gets the ‘ol “circular file” treatment.
I throw everything race-related away (often including the t-shirt unless it’s a tech tee) – I hate clutter!
After seeing I didn’t win, (but I’m happy Scott did! Like me, I’m running on the road or on side-walks next to busy roads) I went ahead and ordered my RoadID slim. For $20, its worth the money just to ensure my safety if something were to go wrong. Thank you for bringing awareness to something much of us don’t even think about. I always think if I were in trouble, I could call my husband because I always run with me phone, but what if I weren’t able to speak or even be conscious? Definitely made me want one. Thank you!
Yes! Please get one 🙂 Stay safe.
I toss them and never considered saving them until I saw meghanns book. But I’ll probably keep tossing them. I keep the medals though.
I think we could be friends: I am NOT sentimental. I am just getting into running, but I’ve done races in the past and thrown bibs away…I like to keep photos, though. But celebrating anniversaries and even holidays-pshhhhhhhh. Ain’t nobody got time OR money for that!
I toss them as well. I also had a similar phone call with my mom, she was cleaning out the basement and found some childhood memorabilia. I told her to just chuck it all….she didn’t.
I have all of my bibs from the past 4 years….they are stored not so nicely in my closet. But! I did see a website where you send your bibs in and then they make a reusable shopping bag with them! This reminds me I must find that site because I think it’s a super cool idea. And something I would use too!
Just found your blog a couple of weeks ago and love it!
I leave my medals hanging on my bulletin board but my race bibs go into a scrapbook. I have a goal to complete 26 half marathons by the time I turn 26 so I’m scrap booking the bib and one photo from the race to document 🙂
Great blog! You’re awesome!!
Very cool goal! Good luck 🙂
I don’t know if it’s really sentimental, because I like to think that I’m pretty “harsh” at what does make it across the line of what to keep, but there are some things – my wedding cake topper, for instance, or the blanket my mom made me of all my high school theater t-shirts. So, yeah, I would probably save race bibs. Not all of them, but the great, PR representative ones for sure! 😉
I keep my bibs to hang on the walls of my cube. My cube would be so boring without them!
I keep all of my bibs. I made a board with hooks on it that hangs on the wall with custom vinyl letters.
I’m the same way in a sense… I didn’t care to keep any of my awards, plaques, etc from college/hs, but I am sentimental in a way that I like to keep things like cards from loved ones.
I definitely like to hang on to my bibs as mementos. Right now, mine are all sitting in a plastic bag, but someday I’ll figure out something cute to do with them. I might eventually get rid of some of my small 5K bibs, but I think I’ll always try to hold on to my half marathon and marathon bibs.
It’s never occurred to me to keep the bibs! Medals – sure. In a box somewhere. What matters to me most is just knowing what I have achieved.
I keep my medals and toss my bibs. But I may have to make some coasters, that is super cute!
http://www.medals4mettle.org/
Here is the website for those who may be interested in cleaning out medals!
I just learned about this program called medals to medals where you can donate your earned (has to be earned) medal and they put a new ribbon on it and present the medal to a cancer patient.
I don’t throw out my stuff and my husband bought an engraver to engrave my times on the back of my medals for me, but has yet to do it.
I must suffer from a similar condition. I don’t keep bibs or medals! Full disclosure I did keep one race bib from last year, but just as a reminder that I can surprise myslef.
I kept my race bibs when I was doing the 9+1 program for guaranteed entry in the NYC marathon, mostly because it was easier to count the bibs on my wall than to log onto the website and count the races. Then I basically forgot about them until I read this post, so now I guess I have no excuse not to get rid of them. All my other race bibs, including the marathon one, are long gone.
Oh, but I totally keep all my medals. It’s like jewelry that you can only get if you’re awesome!
Lol! Now they finally created My NYRR to help keeping track of the 9+1 program! And btw, you did the right thing keeping those bibs- with NYRR you never know so I guess is good to have a tangible proof!
I toss ’em too! They are way too sweating/gatorade stained/smelly for me to keep around. I keep the metals, although I will admit they are stuffed in a drawer right now…
BUT I do get sad throwing out a pair of running shoes. So I guess I have a bit of a heart 🙂
I never keep my bibs! And I’m border line with the medals…. I need to organize them or they will soon be trashed too!
I keep my race bibs and medals. I write my finishing times on the back of my bibs which I think is the biggest reason I keep them. And for the medals, sometimes a pretty medal is a good enough reason to run a race, so I keep them for sure!!
I pin my race bibs to my cubicle wall at work. It reminds me of my passion everyday. I’m sure at some point I’ll have to do something else with them. But I always try to remember to save them (doesn’t always happen)
I have a binder at home where I keep all my running-related stuff, including race bibs. Yes, I am VERY SENTIMENTAL, but at least I’m also very organized 😉 I can’t believe you told your mom to throw the medals away!!!!
I toss mine, too. I usually cut up the shirts and make them into tanks or something to work out in later, but the bibs go as soon as the race is over. I’m a bit of a hoarder as it is, I don’t need one more thing laying around waiting for me to do that project I saw on pinterest.
Tiny Heartitis – love it! I literally giggled out loud.
I only just started saving them in the last year. I remember getting scolded by a friend who plastered them along his bathroom walls. Not really sure why I started saving them, maybe I will get one of those medal hangers with the place for bibs too.
I keep my medals and the cool looking race bibs. My area offers bib recycling at the end of most races if you don’t want to keep them. Those of you who throw away the medals might want to consider donating them to medals4mettle instead. It is a great charity and I think it is much better to repurpose them than just toss them out…especially if you can bring a smile to the face of a child!
I keep all my bibs and medals. I write the race name (if it’s not on the bib itself already), date and my time on each one. If it’s a PR, I write that down too. Right now they are all in a shoebox underneath my bed, but I have already scoped out a medal hanger I plan to purchase for the hardware, and I will eventually make a “scrapbook” of sorts of all the bibs.
I’ve been hanging them up on the wall next to my bed. I’ve only done 2 5ks so far, so there aren’t many, but hopefully by the end of the year, I’ll have quite a few…And maybe some medals too! I see it as motivation to get out of bed and go for a run every morning. Gotta add to my collection! 🙂
I keep all my running bibs, medals and photos as keepsakes. I used to be a big time scrapbooker, but don’t have time now that I am running and working out all the time!
I’m fairly certain the only bibs Spike ever keeps are his Boston bibs, otherwise they all go in the trash, much to my dismay. He also donates most of his medals to this charity called Medals4Mettle (http://www.medals4mettle.org/) that re-purposes the medals to little kids with serious illnesses. (Totally makes me feel terrible for keeping mine but thought you might like to know about the program since you’re not especially attached to yours.) Personally I keep almost all of my race bibs, or at least the ones that earned me a PR or were especially fun and I love my bling.
I keep them and my fridge is currently covered in them. not sure what to really do with them but I’ve only tossed 2 or 3 and I regret it!
-not a hoarder
Just found your blog a few weeks ago so I wanted to say “hi” and tell you that I cracked up at this post. Like you, I have no heart either because I threw all of my swimming medals and trophies away after moving out of my parents house 🙂 I’d probably toss it too so I don’t have any stellar ideas for you. 🙂 However, I’ve never run a marathon so if I ever did, I might frame that one just to prove to people that I finished!
Great blog!!
Thanks Olivia! Glad you found RER 🙂
I get really annoyed when bibs get crinkled because I’m uptight like that. There are the nice ones, the NY Roadrunner ones that all look the same, and then the generic ones from small races. They all go in a folder and I raid them for safety pins and the really nice looking ones serve as fridge decor.
If/When I get to the point where I don’t have an insane attachment to my medals, I won’t toss them–I’ll donate them to Medals4Mettle.
SENTIMENTAL is my middle name! Although I am trying to be better about not keeping EVERYTHING, I do keep my race bibs. I have a folder that I keep them in along with my finishing time from the website and the Finishers Certificate, if one is provided. (thank you Rock ‘n’ Roll for those)
Mine are on my fridge. They are the only thing on my fridge I think!
I am fairly sentimental. I blame my mother for that. I do keep my bibs in a binder. Maybe one day I will stop saving them but for now I want them.
I have a metal hanger like yours that says “I WORK OUT” with my bibs and medals hanging. It is a mess because they are attached to each other with pins now because I ran out of hangers, oh well!
I guess I’m a closet “race bib hoarder”…I write the date & my finish time on the back of each & put them in a drawer. Sometimes I like to look through them for the memories. I’m a dork 🙂
I only have one medal and one bib from Warrior Dash and even though the bib was filthy I washed it off and kept it. I also kept my chip timer and it was almost impossible to get off my mud caked shoe! I’m a scrapbooker so I have plans for them just as soon as I get free time they are going in a book!
Mine are actually hanging (pinned) to my window curtain in our guest room -aka our walk in closet. I love to look and them and see all the races/accomplishments, however, I do need to do something better with them. My 7 yr old niece is fascinated with them, that makes me feel good!
I give my medals to my nieces and toss my race bibs! The only medal I kept was the one from Shamrock, which has a bottle opener on it. 😀 I never really understand things like the Disney Princess Whatever Challenge where the big selling point is that you get SIX MEDALS.
I’ve been working on a race book since I ran my first race last year and I’ve been saving all my bibs. This is entirely for me because racing has been a huge thing for me and I love having them as memorabilia to remember that race, especially since they don’t all end with medals and most of the tshirts will probably be donated.
I feel you on the race bibs. My race bibs tend to get dirty and sweaty and ripped anyway by the time I’m done, so I’m more than ready to toss them. I despise clutter, so maybe that contributes to my lack of sentimentality.
I love keeping my stuff. One day I will probably want to prove to my children that I did run those marathons, so this is proof! 🙂 I put them in a clear plastic binder to stay safe.
First of all, I love LOVE your Christmas t-shirt with the Mustache! Where did you get that??
Okay, race bibs? I never really considered myself a sentimental person, but I do keep my race bibs so I guess that makes me sentimental. I haven’t really done anything with them yet but maybe one day I will.
I also have a custom medal hanger
http://i1.wp.com/thepandapost.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/IMG_4261.jpg
Gotta be proud!!
I have kept every medal and bib ever earned lol – I have a bulletin board and I have bib holder from the company Running on the Wall. I love displaying my stuff 🙂
I keep mine. I usually keep stuff for the sentiments, but then when it starts cluttering my room, I’m a cleaning machine and most things get tossed.
I only have 3bibs and 2 medals, so they’re not taking up much room yet… I don’t think I could throw away a medal, though. I have a ton from my volleyball years, and I still have em. Ill prob won’t regret keeping them when I’m an old lady 😉
I am not very sentimental, either. My race bibs are covered in sweat and mud at the end of my adventure races. Heck, most of them get ripped off me during some of the obstacles. I do keep my medals, shirts, caps, etc.
LOL, every time I read one of your posts, I think that we’d be great friends. I’m pretty sure I don’t have any of my old race bibs, and my response is “meh” to a lot of emotional attachment-type issues that a lot of my girlfriends care about. Ah well!
Hubs and I keep ours. We have a “game room” and hang them along the wall. It’s fun to quiz each other on what bib was from what race. I can understand not keeping them also. You are just not attached to “stuff” – very healthy. I’m not – I have a lot of “stuff”. Makes moving (and cleaning) very unpleasant. You’re better off. 😉
I keep my medals (on a hook in the back of my closet, behind all my clothes…) but I toss race bibs. The medal stands for the race, for me. Race bibs are just extra papery clutter.
I bet you could make a quilt with race bibs 🙂
Mine are in random spots all over the house – in my bedroom, in the garage, on my bookshelf, on the microwave…it’s ridiculous really. I need to get them all together. I like to keep them because running is hard for me and it shows me the accomplishments that I’ve made. I also keep all of my race t-shirts even though I never wear them. On second thought, maybe I’m just a hoarder…
This post is hilarious. Tiny Heartitis. Ha! You described me in a nutshell.
I keep my bibs but I’m not really sentimental about them. If they disappeared, I wouldn’t shed a tear. I like the idea of the coasters but at this point, that’s a lot of damn coasters cluttering up my house. Maybe I’ll pick one special race to make coasters out of and toss the rest.
If I PR I keep ’em for about a week, then just like you, I toss ’em. I hate clutter–in my brain or on my desk.
Monica, I just started reading your blog and am now a regular! Love it, and your sense of humor 🙂
Quick question:
I am training for my very first marathon in October, and am following a training plan a friend of mine (a marathoner) gave me from a book she has read. The plan is 18 weeks long. Since I have started training so far ahead of time, I will technically be doing the plan once all the way through and then complete the second half of the plan over again. The plan has me running 3 times during the week shorter distances, and one long run on Saturdays with a day of cross training in between.
My question is: on the days that I have shorter runs, if I am feeling up to it, is it okay to make these shorter runs a little longer? I have been feeling like running 3-4 miles during the week isn’t cutting it, and I want to run further, like what I’m used to.
Thanks!
2012 was the first year I was really into racing, so I made a race book (you can check it out at http://runnermegan.blogspot.com/2013/03/race-book-2012.html) and I really like it so at least for the foreseeable future, I intend to make one like this every year. It was a blast! 🙂
You have the pictures as a reminder and memory, not necessary to keep all the stuff.
I throw mine away & I throw away all sorts of things most people keep. My mom is somewhat of a hoarder & I try to throw her stuff away when i visit & she’s not looking, woops! Im pretty proud of my medals currently though, but I’m new to racing & only have 3 so that may change in the future.
The only bib I have kept was from my first half marathon
I toss mine also. People always want to try to make me keep them but I just don’t know what to do with them. Just seems like something else I would have to try to keep up with.
I save all my race bibs and my medals! I can’t bring myself to throw them away. I have the bibs in a scrapbook and I have my medals hanging on a hanger in my kitchen. I only have two medals so far though!
Little black heart it is…people are different anyways,and that’s you.
I toss bibs and rarely take medals at the finish. I used to geek out over the race stuff, but after doing enough of them I realized I didn’t need/want all that. I would keep a bib/medal from a big race like Boston, but otherwise the memory of the event is plenty.
That is an awesome medal hanger, I want one! I don’t keep bibs, but I do keep medals, obviously. They are cool looking!
Ha! I love this post! Even though you’re not sentimental with race bibs, I appreciate the links to creative ways for re-purposing them. I used to pencil my times on the backs of my race bibs before storing them neatly away in their own little shoe box (I have hundreds of race bibs in that shoebox). But now I can actually find a bunch lying around my room and I’m not paranoid about them accidentally getting thrown away at all. (Well, maybe I’m paranoid about losing my Broad Street bib… better put that one away…)
Er I toss them out too or rather put them together with paper for recycling. And the medals…I pass them to my mom (yeah, totally the opposite from ya!) and she keeps them in a container or box – there’s just too many of them. See over here, you get a medal (most times anyway) for every race (not just for 21km or 42km).
I totally toss mine. Metals too.
All of mine are pinned on my wall in my room. They’ll probably stay there after I move out too…unless my parents completely change my room.
I am not a sentimental person either. I toss my bibs but keep the medals cuz I have a cool medal rack too!
I could never throw them out!!! I’m such a hoarder. At the moment I do nothing with them but put them in piles, which drives my boyfriend insane but I do intend on turning them into a book like Meghann has. It’s on my to-do-list for this Summer!
I once went into a guy from my running club’s house to find that the ceiling throughout the entire house and all of the beams were covered with race numbers. EVERYWHERE! To start with I thought it was pretty cool and then I was like “Wow. I feel pretty sorry for your wife!”
Toss everything! I have kept one memento from each of my two exes and threw EVERYTHING else.
I also think to save things like race bibs you need to either be crafty or a hoarder. And I’m neither.
🙂 But I feel the love!
I have kept mine (all 5, lol) but I haven’t run nearly as many races as you!
I keep mine. I just have them taped to the back of my bedroom door. Nothing too fancy or anything, but kind of cool to look at!
Oh no! Don’t throw away your medals.
I keep every memorabilia i have on anything. Sometimes, i think im a hoarder but i just like to keep things for memories. 🙂
I write down the date (if not already printed on the bib) and my chip time. I guess it’s the old skool way to keep track of my running times but it works for me. LOL
I am so not sentimental. I hate junk so I throw tons of “saveable” crap out!
I’m not sentimental about things either.
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/616i/
We have a “wall of fame” in my kids room. We literally paste ALL family race bibs there and eventually someday I’ll get all medals hung too. I can pawn off my sentimentality on the kids and the kids think the bibs make amazing wallpaper.
ut-oh! This must mean I’m part of the tiny heart condition team! I toss race bibs almost immediately and I have no idea where a good majority of my medals and other awards are! I used to tape them to the wall in college, but then there were too many and after a teammate and I stole a finish line banner it was deemed WAY better than hanging our race bibs (most of which were just numbers, no race info). You know as huge as that finish line was, I kinda wish I still had it…but again, that’s gone to the unknown too. I think the boys’ team inherited it. I appreciate the walk down memory lane on this one. Long message to tell you, I’m right there with you, toss em!
Maybe I have a tiny heart too because I totally throw them away. I throw away a lot of stuff come to think of it. Don’t want to end up on that show hoarders! But really I think the medal is enough and by the time I am done with a race I have spilled more water and sports drink on myself than I have ingested and am drenched in sweat so the bib doesn’t fare too well.
I do try to keep my bibs and any medals. I enjoy seeing what I have accomplished. I never thought about what I would do with them one day. I like the idea of having hooks and hanging up medals or awards.
I have never clean my car syndrome so I think they’re all probably in there somewhere…
I keep all my race bibs! In tape them up on our garage walls. I love seeing them every time I get in the car! My husband probably doesnt love that I keep taking up more and more wall space but oh well!
I keep em! I write the race, date, and my race time on the back….My PR ones go in this frame beside my treadmill with a pic from the race and my medal until the next PR!:) Im chessy lame…I know!;)
I don’t think that’s cheesy lame Sarah! Good for you. I bet it helps keep you motivated.
That’s a good idea! I always forget my race times 🙂
I throw them away too! (And also receive dirty looks from friends for it.)
I am big on keeping my race stuff! I made a medal hanger out of scanned copies of my bibs.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/216279_10200094772071935_1657332734_n.jpg
Oooo, I like this too!
I love the medal hanger!!
That’s an awesome idea! I love that!
Oh, that is cool! Can I “borrow” this idea???
Sure! Have fun! 🙂
I toss ’em, too! It is just paper and its usually gross and wrinkled after the race. I have the medal, shirt, bag, memories, etc. I have moved around and across the country a lot to know that less sentimental stuff (and stuff in general) is better. Way better. Thank you!