Opinions on a race memento please.

All races should have something to put in your hand after the finish, even if only a voucher for a free pint or £3 off your next meal at a cafe.  You need something for your achievement.

An official photo as a memento is a novel idea.   Would have to be somewhere during the event though, not after the finish.  Most race photographers charge £10-20 for a race photo which is stupid money, so getting one "free" I would have thought might be popular.

Hi Donna.

Sounds like you are running this on a very tight budget, for a good cause (to re-invest into the club) and that the photographer is hoping to make a profit from extra photo's purchased. Why not sell the run based on the fact that £10 is excellent value so you can't afford goodies so that the club gets a reasonable cut - most people will understand and I'm sure you'll get plenty of runners. Or you could state how much money you want to go to the club and any excess profit to go to a local charity? You'll never please everyone any way, but I do think a cup of tea and some cakes (provided by club members?) always goes down well!

you know what i;d like at the end of a race, a small towel or a new pair of running socks, tshirts are handed out in sizes, i'm sure bins of fresh socks could be too, what better thing to give someone who's feet are probably hot and sweaty etc.

oooor some race branded flipflops, cheap and cheerfull, great after a run.

Ooh yes, socks would be good.

And a stiff g&t.

I did a race once that offered a photo from the official photographer - was an offroad messy affair (where the Hellrunner is run) and tbh I don't think that many supporters would have made the trek into the woods to get me looking dreadful.
The photos were all of high quality (even if my running style isn't), and if you were to buy them officially I imagine they would charge a tenner. Thats why I don't buy official race photos anymore.

Maybe try it this year and see what the reaction is. I have a boxful of medals, although nice, not too fussed. T-shirts, echo others sentiments, OK but unless they are half decent quality.... Socks is perhaps a good idea, never had those before.
cake and beer always go down well
or a g&t...

T Rex wrote (see)

All races should have something to put in your hand after the finish, even if only a voucher for a free pint or £3 off your next meal at a cafe.  You need something for your achievement.

 

Do you only feel you've achieved something if you get a cheap gift?  I always feel I've achieved something if I get out there are finish the race!

Donna Hawcroft wrote (see)

 . Doesnt help me with the other 200 people who want medals and t shirts built into there entry 

 

I don't see why it doesn't help you ?   The race I should have done the other week was  £15 without tech T shirt and I think £22 with....  Doesn't that sort out both points of view ?

For my first race I felt a memento was very important - something to show I'd done it. I got a medal and I paid extra for a technical t-shirt.

Having now done about 20 races, I'm really not too bothered. The memento on offer is no longer a significant factor in deciding to enter a race (location, time, and good reviews are).

Personally, I'd much rather have a medal, t-shirt, mug, etc than a photo. I've got loads of photos of me running (most parkruns have a photographer) and I haven't felt the urge to print any of those.

donna - like the options you get at helsby,  the telford 10k in dec offers the choice of £8 with no medal or £10 with.  this is a choice you make at entering.  For this price i didnt get chip timing but did get a well organised race with a bottle of water at the end.  Dont think there were any complaints.  That said the medal was pretty basic.  the way to tell who wanted a medal at the end was the numbers had a red line on them drawn on by marker pen

in every race i run there is normally a photographer and in my region Bryan Dale who gives them away for free.  I have never bought/taken a free photo except in my first race when running was a bit of a novelty.   So i probably wouldnt take a free photo from your race although i would give credit for thinking out side the norm!

I do still have the cotton t-shirt I got at my first-ever race in 1999 

But that's because it's nice t-shirt, with a good design:

Thank you all for your input, Its been interesting and an eye opener.  The photo is probably a no go.  Ive just spoken to a small local cake maker and cake could be a possibility.  So thats cake, water and lucozade (both donated) Reading through the thread thats should keep the majority happy (and if there's cake for the oragnisers, all well and good ) Cheers again folks x

Oh and Ive noted socks for next year 

Donna, make sure on your entry info you tell people there is no medal/tshirt but instead is cake.  As you know people will moan if not told beforehand

Hi Dean,

It would appear people will moan either way,  .  I think we will have to put a Coaster in too as we need something to put the sponsors on, Fairly naff but Reasonably priced

The achievement is finishing the race. Personally I'd much rather race organisers abandoned the idea of a race memento and goody bag, and just concentrated on delivering a really well organised race, getting correct results out as soon as possible, and keeping the cost down.

I have to say the medal is the thing you look forward to, you get it as you cross the line and you admire it for years after. I had a wonderful as I crossed the line at the Liverpool Marathon this year as I was handed my medal my dad was stood waiting there for me with his Liverpool Marathon Medal from 30 years earlier - you can’t buy that kind of moment (or the photograph that was taken of us both holding our medals!)

Last year I collected 15 medals, some T-shirts, a gold coloured Asics Shoe trophy from the inaugral Folkestone 10k and a few other bits but the one that stands out is the Ashford Tri 666 which was a wonderful race but didn’t have the medal. The race was really quite tough and deserving of a memento of a lovely achievement. They took some nice photographs as you crossed the finish line (which I have printed at home I must say) but my partner was also there taking pictures of me and the race in general (I know not everyone does this).

Whatever you decide as a race memento we as runners will be really grateful but the lure of bling is sadly a deciding factor in whether I will run or not. To that end when I ran the Velocity End of the Year race I emailed to ask if medals were included - they said yes - I signed up

PS. I'd pay extra for a nice medal