I went to this meet hosted by this rich private school once. I wasn't expecting anything special just a medal you know. But what do I get...flip flops. The flip flops weren't even some super cool flip flops from Nike they were the type you see salons give girls when they get pedicures. I was so confused.
I won a 5k where only the top three finishers got prizes. Not top three per gender, but top 3 overall. My girlfriend won the women's race and got NOTHING.
I kid you not - The prize I got for winning.....a girls running shirt!
After a week I received lousy pictures of my victory from the race director.
Won a 5k overall and got a women's small half marathon shirt mailed to me 4 months later. Probably a leftover.
Won another 5k and the results separated the top 3 overall from the age group winners. Except there were no overall awards. So they gave out awards to all the AG winners and the top 3 went home with nothing.
Best: won a pro sports team's 5k fun run and got VIP pass to go on the field before the game and they put me on video in front of 40k people.
A team mate of mine when she was 14 she placed 3rd in one the capital regions biggest races and they gave her a pencil instead of the normal pottery prize because they didn't think that runners under 18 should run there event.
Thread ever
once i got a medal with a swimmer on it for placing 3rd in a high school cross race.
thfkmn wrote:
blechh wrote:Beef jerky, for 1st at a 10k. Not just a single bag even but epic amounts of the stuff--two giant boxes of it plus various bags of different flavor jerkies.
I hate jerky.
You ungrateful sonova ....haha did you give it to anyone and if so did they say whether it was good, id enter a race if that was the prize
I gave it to a friend who does a lot of hiking. He seemed slightly alarmed by the quantity but it sounds like it tasted ok...
A Ham wrote:
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.
And you don't have the Internet, either?
than not then wrote:
D-Rash wrote:I'd rather have a gift certificate for a cup of coffee then a trophy or medal.
.
then = a moment in time
than = a method of comparison
You read it wrong.
D-Rash would like to be presented with a gift certificate for a cup of coffee, and then, after that, be presented with a trophy or medal.
Greedy? Yes.
Grammatically incorrect? No.
I placed in my age group at a decent sized 10K (1000 people) and got a cheap metal platter. I serve cheese on it sometimes. The next year I won a duffel bag, I like the bag. I once won a gallon of Round-Up weed killer for placing third in my age group at a small 5 mile. I killed weeds that afternoon.
Fendi belt. Too ugly to wear so I threw it out.
Had some interesting experiences running as a master in Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama...
Won an inaugural local 5k that sponsored by a the Rotary and a shoe shop, and got a single running shoe with a medal attached...
Got third in a state road mile championship when I was 52 (this was the south!). Got $20 for third overall. In the next heat a guy in his 40s ran about 30 secs slower and got $100 for first master...
Was second overall in a 5k in my 50s, and instead of going "next one down" for awards they gave me trophies for second overall, first master, and first in age group, which was a bit embarrassing....
On the plus side, in a 10k in Tupelo, they paid out cash for first grandmaster (50+), but also gave cash for the first three 40+, even if you won the grandmaster prize, and I ended up with about $400.
hsfdhsdfh wrote:
I'll ignore cash won.
Large hand made glass bowl for winning a half-marathon. I didn't think anything of it until I got home and looked up the company. Turns out the bowl was/is worth ~$1000 USD. They also offered to have it engraved and I declined. Glad I did because anything I would have come up with standing in a tent after a half-marathon would have probably ruined it. The bowl now proudly holds fruit on my kitchen table.
On two occasions I won free nights/dinner at a boutique resort. Rooms over $500 a night with dinner for two being easily over $200. Bottle of champagne on ice in the room upon check-in. Got some strange looks when I rolled up in my car with in-state tags and checked in. Being a skinny 20-something didn't help either. Every other car was out of state BMW/Merc/Porsche, and we were the youngest people there by about 30 years. The proprietor politely asked how I came across the gift card. Was really excited when he found out a local won the race and was staying. Treated us great the whole time, lots of free drinks.
I call B.S. on this one. If this is "the worst," as the thread is titled, what did you get that's better.?
I have to add another "worst," a frigid, new England 5-mile race in snowy March, sponsored by a car dealership. Somehow, the trophy's weren't delivered on time, (I got a poor third place so didn't care) intstead we were allowed to share "all the coffee and donuts" that are in the showroom, with their sales staff. This was back in the day, guys in gaudy, bellbottom suits, patent leather white shoes and as you could guess, stale donuts and coffee made in their own urn that tasted like it was tainted with battery acid. Since we were dressed in sweats and looked like shit we were soon ushered out of the Chrysler showroom to the garage and "were allowed to change in the mechanics' mens room.
In weird foodstuff prizes category, I once won a 10k and got 30 pounds of sugar.
In another race last year I got 5 old CDs from the 90s by bands I'd never heard of. Actually there were only 4 CDs, one was just an empty case.
I'm a 16 year old female and one day I won an u18 womens 5k race. The prize was a $100 consultation voucher to see a lawyer. Not usual for the majority of the population let alone a young female.
Someone asked for best road race prizes, and these two came to mind. Obviously not bad prizes.
When I lived in Boston, I won a 10 miler up in New Hampshire. The prize was a gallon of cider. It was a couple hour drive back and I was thirsty so I drank almost the whole gallon on the ride back. I barely made it back home before the "effects" of a gallon of cider struck. Spent the rest of the day on the toilet cleaning out my colon.
The best and worst prizes at the same time... Every year my family races in a local 5k for special Olympics. The age group prizes are hand made, painted "shapes". So terribly crude that some you can hardly read the place painted on it. Then it is handed to you by the young special Olympian who made it personally for you. It melts your heart to see the pride in their work. We proudly display our funky looking awards. And hope to win more.
CaliforniaDreamin wrote:
I call B.S. on this one. If this is "the worst," as the thread is titled, what did you get that's better.?
You should have looked at what he was replying too. He was replying to the guy that said lets make this a BEST prize, cash excluded, thread.
In high school I won a small local 5K. I set a PR, edged out a local rival in the final 50m, and recorded my first overall win. There was less than 100 runners but I was still stoked.
Come awards time I receive my age group award but NO OVERALL WINNER AWARD. 15 years later that race is still the only road race I've won and I don't have an award to prove it. Still bitter.