Spring 2024 Finisher Medal Trends: What Runners Are Posting 📸

After scrolling thousands of post-race shots from Tokyo, Boston, and Bangkok Marathons this spring, three medal-design patterns keep showing up in the photos that get shared.

Spinner Centers Get the Reels

Medals with a free-spinning enameled center disc dominate Instagram Reels — the motion is irresistible to scroll past. Production adds about ฿15/unit and one extra week, but for a flagship event medal the engagement payoff is huge. Specify a brass bushing, not plastic, so the spin still feels smooth in year three.

Oversized Bottle-Opener Backs

After-race beer is a universal language, and a medal that opens a bottle gets used long after race day. Cut a CNC slot in the bottom edge of a 70mm+ zinc-alloy medal (about ฿8/unit upcharge) and you double the medal's functional life. Particularly popular at trail and ultra events.