Three handy ways to display your race medals and bibs

Some run for sanity or health. Some run for the cool race T-shirts. And yet others run for the hardware.

Case in point, one of my runner friends just ran a 5K, 10K, half and full marathon in a row just to get an extra medal for completing all of them in four days.

Because I've been injured so many times, I've not run very many races in the past three years. Other than my half marathon this past fall, I've run eight (and walked one) 5Ks or marathon relays.

Even so, it warms my heart to see my race bibs (and a handful of medals) behind my computer station at work.

Anyone who's talked to me for more than five minutes knows that I'm a runner (cue the large Garmin watch and the Road ID bracelet). So it should come as no surprise that I display my race bibs. But is throwing them up on a bulletin board the right way to treat those hard-earned badges of honor?

After significant research (read: time on Pinterest), here are some ideas I'm considering instead.

This is probably my favorite because you can easily keep track of personal records or write your favorite quote. This blogger gives step-by-step directions. Unfortunately, I couldn't find her "about me" information. Oops.

For a ready-made option, this company offers frames to hold your precious.

Source: New Line Cinema

Um, not that precious. 

Source: http://racerusa.com/

Lastly, here's another display worthy of holding your bibs and medals. Especially for those of us who are not remotely crafty. That's what Etsy is for, no?

Source: RunRilla

Spendy? Maybe a little but certainly worth it if it's going to motivate you to get out for a run when you'd rather stay home and eat all the donuts. Plus, where else are you going to spend your money?

Oh, wait. Because remember, chicos and chicas, runners lie.

How do you display your medals and/or bibs? Are you crafty? What's your favorite medal?

Shout-out to the humble hat

What do you see here?

Three hats.

You see them, too?

Yeah. I left all three at home before heading out on my run. It's 29 degrees out there tonight with a 19-degree (F) windchill. Not terribly cold by Michigan standards, but the wind was really blowing and I thought my ears were going to fall off. They may have. I still can't feel them.

Between the other runner in the house (my favorite 15-year-old) and I, we have five running hats. Most of them are conveniently located in a clear plastic shoe organizer hanging in the coat closet next to the front door.

The same organizer that also holds my ChapStick, headphones, gloves and reusable hand warmers. All of which I grabbed on the way out.

I could tell right away that I'd made a tactical mistake. And, yet, I ran away from the house instead of running back in to grab a hat.

It won't be so bad, I told myself. I'll warm up when I start running.

While my neighbors' Christmas-light-show-programmed-to-blaring-music-that-sounds-like-the-ice-cream-truck did distract me for a few moments, the rest of my 30-minute run/walk tonight was pretty miserable.

My core was warm and my hands were toasty (even without using the hand-warmers). But my head and ears were suffering.

There's a saying in Puerto Rico that comes to mind: "El vago trabaja doble." Loosely translated, it means the lazy man works twice as hard.

Whoever came up with that was probably a runner.

Mental note: Grab a hat! Or at least, turn around and grab a hat if you forgot it.

In the meantime, if you see my ears, can you please ship them to Lansing, Mich.?

Do you ever forget a key piece of gear? Do you ever go back for it? Seriously, have you seen my ears?