I don’t typically post articles on the weekends, but building a display for your race bibs/medals has “Sunday afternoon project” written all over it. Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned runner, you’ve probably accumulated some race bibs and medals.
But where are you keeping them? In a closet or drawer, tucked away for safe keeping? We work hard to earn these small trophies. Why not display them where your friends and family can marvel at your achievements? Besides, they might offer you motivation, inspiration, and courage to get through life’s “little” challenges.
While taking a look online, I found that you can buy displays, frames, and medal holders from a number of different vendors. It appears to be a very lucrative business too, seeing as most of the displays started at $50, and a few exceeded $200.
I’m not willing to fork up that kind of money, so I decided to search Pinterest for ideas. I found this display posted by MonikaRuns. What’s great about it is that it shows all of your medals and bibs in one place. No bibs are hiding the others, giving you a true sense of your achievements.
I decided to use her display as a guide to build my own and that’s exactly what I’m going to show you today. For under $20, you can showcase your race bling too!
Supplies Needed – Building a Display for your Race Bibs/Medals
- 26 inch length board (I used 2 1/2 x 3/4 inch width)
- 20 Screw Hooks (#10)
- Mirror Wire Cord
- 2 Ring Hangers
- 4 Frame Mounting Hooks
- Mailbox Lettering (optional)
Steps for Metal Holder
- Cut your board into 2 pieces (12 inch section for the medals and 14 inch section for the bibs).
- Drill holes in the shorter (12”) piece of board where you want your hooks to go. I figured 20 hooks was a good amount. Drill the holes just deep enough to get the hooks started. Tip: Use a tape measure to get your spacing right.
- Screw the hooks into your board. You can get them started by hand, but will probably need a wrench to get them completely seated into the board. This was probably the toughest (and most time consuming) part of the project.
- Attach two frame mounts to the back of your board making sure that they are evenly balanced.5. Place your lettering at the top to give it some character.
Steps for Bib Holder
- Take your longer piece of board and measure out where you want your wire line to go. I placed mine about an inch from each edge.
- Drill two shallow holes where you want your line to connect.
- Attach your wire to the ring hangers. Hold the hangers up to the drilled holes on the board so that you can determine the length of wire you’ll need. Remember to allow a little slack so that your bibs will droop slightly. I found that using a wrench helped to get the wire wrapped around itself.
- Screw the hangers into the board with your wire attached.
- Attach two frame mounts to the back so that you can attach it to your wall. Be sure to make sure they are evenly placed.
- Using the safety pins that came with your bibs, connect them to the wire by one of their four corners. This makes them spread out nicely, making every bib visible.
Can’t wait to add more medals!
Pretty easy, huh? I hope that this will inspire you to build your own bib/medal display. Please share your displays with us below by leaving a link to your pictures. I would love to see the creative ways you’ve found to showcase your hard work.
