Medal display ideas for runners

A hanger is a bar with hooks or a slot for ribbons. Look for a bar long enough that ribbons hang side by side, roughly 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) of bar per medal. Check the weight it is made for. A dozen die-cast medals weigh far more than a dozen thin stamped ones, and the bar and the wall fixings both have to carry it.

Fix it into a stud where you can, or use wall anchors rated for more than the total weight. Hang it at eye height or a little above, where you see it when you lace your shoes. If you like making things, a DIY medal hanger takes an afternoon.

Bars with a slot that ribbons slide into are tidy, but every medal has to come off the end to change the order. Bars with individual hooks let you lift one medal off without touching the rest. If you add medals often, hooks are easier to live with.

A shadow box is a deep frame with room for a medal and whatever goes with it. It suits a race that meant something: a first half marathon, a set you completed, a challenge you finished after an injury.

• The medal, hung by its ribbon or pinned flat.
• The bib, if the event had one.
• A photo from the day, or a screenshot of the finished distance from your app.
• The finisher certificate, printed. On X Challenge it is a digital certificate in the app that you can download.
• A small card with the date, distance and anything you want to remember.

If the back is designed, a wall hides half of what you bought. A small easel or a display stand lets you turn the medal round. Some medals reward the effort. The reverse of ODIN has an eye that lifts off on two magnets to show the ravens beneath, and the city on the back of THOR turns on a dial of runes. Those are worth keeping where you can reach them.

The LOKI medal’s green enamel glows in the dark. Put it somewhere it gets daylight or lamp light, and it keeps glowing for a while after the lights go out.

• Group by set or theme rather than by date, so a collection reads as one thing.
• Hang by ribbon, but leave room. Medals that overlap hide their relief and scratch each other.
• Leave gaps on purpose for medals you have not earned yet. An empty hook is a goal.
• Light them from the side. Relief reads best at an angle, which is also why angled photos show a medal better.
• Keep the box. A gift box stores the ones you are not showing and protects them in a move.

Daylight from a window, coming in from the side, shows relief better than any flash. Put the medal on a dark, plain surface and shoot at a slight angle. For enamel, turn the medal until the colour stops reflecting the light. A phone is plenty.

Take one photo of the front and one of the back, and one of the whole display once a year. It is a simple record of how far you have come, and it is what you will want when a friend asks which medal to start with.

Wipe with a soft, dry cloth. Avoid metal polish, which can strip an antique finish, and avoid water on enamel. Keep medals out of direct sun, which fades ribbons, and out of damp rooms like bathrooms, where plating can dull. Handle them by the edges. If you store them, keep each in its own box so the enamel faces do not rub.

Ribbons collect dust faster than the medals. Every few months, take the ribbons down and brush them gently, or use a lint roller. If a ribbon is badly creased, a cool iron through a cloth usually flattens it. Never iron near the medal itself.

If you are choosing what to collect next, read what makes a good finisher medal, or look at the two sets, Legends of Asgard and The Four Holy Beasts.

A set looks best in its own order, with its own space. Legends Of Asgard runs LOKI, ODIN, THOR, from 5 km to 21 km, and the three read as one story when they hang side by side. The Four Holy Beasts traditionally runs from the dragon to the phoenix. Give each set its own short rail or its own section of a board, with a small label underneath.

If you are partway through a set, hang what you have and leave the hooks for the rest. A gap in a row of medals is one of the best reminders there is.

• Put each medal back in its gift box, or wrap it in a soft cloth, so enamel faces never touch.
• Roll ribbons loosely instead of folding them, which leaves creases.
• Pack the boxes upright and tight in a small carton, so they do not slide.
• Store them somewhere dry. A silica gel packet in the carton helps in a basement or garage.
• Label the carton by set, so you can rebuild the display in the same order.

• How many medals fit on a hanger? Allow about 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) of bar per medal so ribbons hang side by side.
• How do I stop ribbons fading? Keep the display out of direct sun.
• Can I clean a medal with polish? Not one with an antique finish or enamel. A dry cloth is enough.
• How do I show both sides? Use a stand, or hang the medal so it can turn.