What are some of your memorable race awards?

Best: $600 (Canadian) for winning a race in Quebec.

Sentimental favorite: A beautiful, three-foot-long axe with a wooden handle. A local artist painted the handle and blade with a very cool winter scene. I received this for winning a xc-ski race.

I once one a small broom with a plaque on it at a Trick or Treat Trot. Hung it on the wall.

I won a small carved wooden bowl, about the size of a pipe bowl but with no stem, so it wasnt a pipe. I still cant figure out what it was for. A friend of mine won a big concrete bird bath which he somehow managed to stuff into his VW Beatle.

I took 2nd once and got 2 x &20.00 (each) tics to a Bob Dylan concert. 1st place got a little trophy- he asked my if I wanted to trade. I sold the tickets.

A 10 kg box of dried, sliced sweet potatoes (the local specialty) for winning a half marathon last year. I think I was the first foreigner to run the race as the mayor and other race officials were all really worried whether I would be able to eat the potatoes.

Also, a box of 24 500ml cartons of milk for finishing 6th in another half marathon where I had run a PB. I was exhausted and it was really tough to carry the box to the train station and then to get it home.

I had won all kinds of crazy awards, most of them due to my location - in small EU country. For our people, it is too impersonal to just give the envelope with cash, so the race organizers always give trophies (which is OK, most of them are nice, even precious - made of crystal) and most often then not add a personal gift, usually conected with the locality.

Thus I had won live pig, 2 ducks (fed and ready to be slaughtered), 8 chickens, burlap sack with 30kgs of lentils, which I ate for 2 years and had to throw away the remainder because it became moldy, one rabbit, airplane tickets worth 25.000miles, spa vouchers for 2 persons for week stay (I have won it 3 times), and all kinds of vouchers to hotels. Mind you, some of those gifts were pretty valuable, worth many times more than the cash prize (usually between 200 and 1000 dollars at medium races, more at big races). Some of them were plain crazy - like the live pig, which I had immediately sold to the local farmer, and the RD got angry at me for that.

But the best story happened to me in the late nineties in the US: I placed second at a large race, won over 10.000 bucks, but the RD appologized in advance for the delay in payment, because of last moment financial problems caused by the main sponsor. Half a year later I still didn't see a dime, so I just gave up and wrote it off. The RD sent me a personal letter in which he had appologized and invited me for the next year's race. I wasn't sure about coming, despite new sponsor and lots of promises, but 2 months before the race, I had received full amount plus the comped entry and show up incentive. I had written a personal thank you letter to the RD and sponsor as well. The bad thing was that I had to drop out of that race 8 miles in because of injury. I felt so bad, but the RD told me to keep money and return next year. I had been racing there 11 times since then and won on several occassions. Good times, and am good friend with the RD ever since he acted like a classy gentleman.

In the early 80s for the Season Opener 5 Miler, instead of awards NYRRC reserved a Chinese restaurant a few days later and all of the award winners (and guest) got to have a fun time on the Upper East Side.

I won a homemade oven mitt once. Can't really compare to a live pig, though. That's pretty awesome (though maybe not the most practical thing ever).

I once won a set of wind chimes, which is only notable because it was the 20-25 age group prize. Who the hell thought a kid in his 20s would want wind chimes?

Of course, I knew there'd be some guy who'd won livestock wrecking the curve...

Once received a musical smoking set for a race win. Pressed a button on the top and it opened with music to reveal 20 cigarettes thoughtfully already in it.

Are most of you located somewhere other than the United States? I've never heard of winning live animals before. Once I won a mini football helmet because the race was put on by a major university.

I once won a turkey (not a live one) at a local turkey trot. It weighed about fifty pounds. It wouldn't have been a problem, but I was not taking the race seriously and had ran to the race from my house (about three miles) and was planning on running back. I didn't want to walk home in my little running shorts carrying a 50 pound turkey, so I hid it in the woods under some pine straw, ran home, got my car and drove back to the race to pick up my turkey.

I won a really nice navy blue blazer from a clothing store where my family had spent bazillions of dollars over the years, so that was memorable.

I once took a girlfriend to an out-of-town race she wasn't particularly pleased to go, but when I won the race and the prize was dinner for two by the shore, she was happy.

I won a garden hose from a hardware store race in a small town...

I came home and gave it to my parents who were of course very proud.

Some races I've run in the Black Hills have had some unique prizes.

A railroad spike - race is run along/near an old rail line

Garden stepping stones - no idea why they gave them as a prize; organizers had place and time painted on each stone following race

Piece of the local mountain peak - just a rock covered with dirt/moss/roots/etc on a normal trophy block with race name and place

A 3" section of PVC pipe - I think the organizer just had some around and decided he could just cut up some of the pipe, put the race name and place on it, and call it a trophy

A full size Louiseville Slugger baseball bat at the L.A. Dodgers 10k. It was stamped with my place and division. Cool award. The race does not exist anymore, but I keep the bat.

Maybe Frank or Jamie, depending upon who gets the Dodgers, can bring back this race once their divorce is over.

I have on my desk a first-place trophy from the Camp Peary Day 5k.

YOU figure it out...

Sadly I've never won a race, thus I have never had a memorable award.

A half marathon on the island of Tobago (1978): a set of steak knives. I was traveling with only a carry-on bag. The airlines took it from me at the first customs check point. I had to change planes. The set was actually waiting for me at my destination. My Mom still has the set and uses it.