What is the worst prize you have ever won at a race?

I heard that if you win the Las Vegas Rock n' Roll 5k, you get a hand job from Suzy Favor Hamilton.

Won a "winter race" 2x. Second year, they gave me a bag of used golf balls.

No joke.

I got 1st place overall in some road 5k back in high school. Received a picture of a lighthouse. That was it. Every other finisher received medals in their age categories and the "heavy runners" category received a full raw turkey. No medal or turkey for the winner though.

I've never won shit hahahaha I suck.

MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:

Finished in 2nd place overall. Got a set of steak knives. You will NEVER guess what 1st place got....

MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:

A Cadillac El Dorado?

Third place?

There are two that come to mind. One time I won $10 for 3rd overall at a 5K that cost $15 to enter. Seemed random that they wouldn't at least give me the entry fee back. Another time I won a visor for a 5k. (Personally I hate visors). Then to make things worse, they messed up the age groups when presenting awards and a week later they mailed me another visor since they didn't think i got one after the race.

Sesamoiditis wrote:

I won a 30k race and the prize was a nice jacket. Only problem was it was size XL. How many size XL guys are winning 30k races? It is now my brother's golf jacket. He's gotten some other large clothing that I've won too.

You're not alone.

Every single piece of clothing I've ever won at a road race was size XL. Windbreakers, shirts, nylon running pants. They always went in the donate pile at the end of the year.

Many races only have size XL shirts for registering as well.

Easy to forget that even at road races skinny people aren't that common.

Recently won a 5 mile race with over 1k participants. 1st prize was a pair of socks.

Print copy of a shitty water painting for winning a 5k in Florida. Age groupers got the same thing but a smaller size. I hung it up in my office as a joke, sitting next to a huge horse trophy I got for winning a 5k at my University horse farms. The latter was a charity event that I ran as a tempo, I donate to them annually so I was figured I would kill two birds with one stone and ended up with this hilarious trophy. They also gave me a hoola hoop.

I've gotten a lot of $5-$10 gift certificates at places that you can't walk out of for less than $100, coupon codes for discounts on online retailers, and various other shit that usually comes in race bags. Most races my slow ass can win just give me a pat on the back and an awkward interview that no one will see.

There is a 10k/5k double here that second and third place always get massages. I had a buddy sign up and I didn't even try to challenge unbeknownst to him. He ended up with an extra $50 in gift certificates at the local running shop as well as some cheap merchandise like a BWW shirt, but I got two free massages out of it. He was pretty pissed.

1st time I won something I got a coupon for a haircut! (or maybe 50% off) never went. It was a place called BJ's and I didn't want anything cut.

I came second (got same prize as first) got a t-shirt (which I kinda like though a bit large), a flashlight - free batteries! a razor (everyone's gotta shave). The t-shirt is about the only thing I remember.

I've been told I won an age group before and I could pick up a little 10c trophy from the local running room. Wasn't going to go out of my way for that.

Actually the 'best' prizes I've won are for a race that gives 1,2, and 4th place prizes. Screw 3rd you suck.

Like throwaway gloves, hats and stuff to bring to your next race. They may have been new though.

Won an ultra once. It was a multi-loop course and I could see the RD looking like he had lost something in the woods each time I passed the start/finish.

Turned out he was picking up rocks and "creating" awards by writing on the rocks with a sharpie.

20% off (full priced item) coupon to REI. It was an out of town race where I was literally leaving right after the race. I don't have an REI within 3 hours of where I live.

Won a 5K and got a $100 certificate to go learn how to shoot a gun!

A unicycle.

I flew out to Los Angeles to visit my sister for a week. I ran a 10k for fun, and was second place overall. I couldn't take the unicycle back on the plane with me (even if I wanted to). So my sister sold it for me. I think she got $40 for it, so it worked out alright. I can't remember exactly, but I think first place got plane tickets.

Ran in a hometown 5K where for the previous 15 years they'd given plaques for the top 10 overall finishers. They also have a 10-mile race, but always did the award ceremonies for the 5K just as they finished. My buddies always won plaques, but I never did. One year, I finished 4th and was jacked to get my plaque. For some reason, they waited until after the 10-milers were finished to hand out the awards. I waited two hours (it was my hometown, so I knew people and was having an okay time). They do the 10-mile awards first, and give out 10 plaques. Then they do the 5K awards...and only hand out three plaques. I'm sitting there waiting for them to call me up for fourth place, but the announcer just says, "Okay, that's it for awards!" I was so freaking pissed.

Also went to a 5K where they gave top three medals for the overall winners and for the age groups. But if you got an overall medal, they took you out of the age group medals. A buddy of mine got second overall, and I got like 11th. He got a silver medal and I got a gold one. We were in the same age group. He was pissed.

At one road race in college they had cans of Red Bull at the finish line. Unlimited. We took about 15, bought some Jagermeister, and had a hell of a time.

Anybody remember the ceramic tiles you'd get for placing top 3 at the Hancock Games track meet in Santa Maria? There was really no good way to display them. If the whole team pooled their winnings, you could probably refinish a bathroom with them.

A rubber chicken for winning the EnviroSports Big Sur Trail Marathon in a new course record.

The problem I see is that you seem to be running for the prizes.

If you make you living as a runner(Rupp, Farah, et al... raise your hand) this makes sense.

If not, (and we can probably conclude that 99.99% of LRC falls into this category) whining that you wanted a better T-shirt, or a bike, or a washing machine, is pretty weak. You will never be satisfied, because you are trying to justify your hobby/obsession in your own mind.

Look- I won a toaster oven!