In the US today, there are over 700 marathons run annually.  As any runner can attest, all bling is not created equal, and a substantial percentage of participants will choose one race over another just because of the attributes of the medal. Think about it: Walk into many runners’ homes and you’ll see a rack (or, in some cases, an entire room) filled with their race mementos. Your eyes are always drawn to the biggest, shiniest, and coolest-looking medals, no matter how many there may be, and those are usually the ones the participant will show off first. The bland, nondescript, and often low-quality medals are tucked behind the shiny ones. In most cases, a bad medal diminishes the overall feeling a runner walks away with at the end of race. Nobody likes to give a race everything they’ve got, only to end up with a disappointing medal.

Mainly Marathons is keenly aware of how important bling is to runners, and we always go above and beyond to assure everyone has a medal to be proud of, one worthy of prominent display. From our very first series, the inaugural Dust Bowl Series in 2013, we have striven to provide the very best, most unique bling for all finishers. The Dust Bowl medal was the first of its kind, a very large circular metal with charms of each of the five states (TX, OK, KS, CO, NM) dangling off the back. Next came the Center of the Nation Series, with an even grander, larger set of individual state medallions. With each subsequent series, the bling has become more impressive and unique in its own way.

All of the participants in our races rave about the bling, and we agree that we have some of the best medals out there, but don’t just take our word for it: Marathon and Beyond magazine agrees, placing two of our medals on its ‘Top 25″ list of best medals.

Whether you run for the bling or any other reason, we’re sure you will want the medal you earn from a Mainly Marathons race prominently displayed for everyone to see. We believe a great accomplishment deserves a great reward, and that starts with great bling. We hope to see you out on the course, and we can’t wait to present you with one of the best medals of any marathon, anywhere!

Awards for Amazing Accomplishments and Loonatic Level-Ups