A marathon takes months of early alarms, long Saturday runs and sore legs, and race day is over in a few hours. The medal goes on a hook and the shirt goes in the drawer. The gifts below are made from the race itself, from their own watch and their own times, so the effort behind the finish line has a place to live.
The Finish, their race drawn from their own GPS
The Finish is the race they trained all year for, drawn from their own watch. The course follows their real route, colored mile by mile by their pace, with every split, the halfway time, the elevation they climbed and the finish time huge across the top. You can see where they went out fast, where the hills were and where they found a second wind. Give us their bib number and color and a replica of their bib sits at the top, safety pins and all. It works for a marathon, a half, a 10K or any distance. No GPS file? Type in the splits and we draw the race as a pace chart instead. From $45.
It is especially good for a first marathon, when every mile was new, and for a big-city marathon they waited years to get into.
Every Race I've Run, for the runner with a drawer full of bibs
For the runner who has been at it for years, Every Race I've Run collects every start line on one print. Each race is listed in a refined ledger with its date, city, distance, finish time and pace. Personal bests at 5K, 10K, half and marathon are worked out for you, along with total races, race miles, states and years. An elegant timeline draws every race as a dot sized by its distance, so the marathons stand out from the Thanksgiving 5Ks. It is a good fit for a runner who just finished their tenth marathon, or a 50-states runner partway through the list. From $45.
Milestone Certificate, for a first race finish
Not every finish is a marathon, and not every finish needs a big print. The Milestone Certificate marks a first race finish with their name, the date, the place, the details and the witnesses, on a certificate worth framing. It suits a teenager's first 5K, a parent's comeback race, or a group of friends who finished their first half together. It is also an easy, affordable gift from a running club to every first-timer. From $24.
The Ride, for the runner who also rides
Plenty of runners cross-train on a bike, and many triathletes care as much about their longest ride as their marathon. The Ride draws their biggest ride from their own bike computer: the route as a bold line of art, the climbs found and labeled on a stage-style elevation profile, and the numbers that matter (miles, feet climbed, ride time, average speed and high point). Century rides, gran fondos, gravel races and a first 100-miler all work. Paired with The Finish, it makes a matching set for the wall. From $45.
Choosing between them
- One race that mattered most: The Finish.
- A whole running life: Every Race I've Run.
- A first finish, or a gift from a club or group: the Milestone Certificate.
- A big day on the bike: The Ride.
Getting the GPS file
For The Finish and The Ride, the best result comes from the activity file their watch or bike computer recorded. Most running and cycling apps can export an activity as a file; if you are buying as a surprise, a training partner may be able to help. If that isn't possible, the official results page for most races lists the finish time and often the splits, and we can draw the race as a pace chart from those.
Ordering tips
- What we need: the runner's name and the race; the GPS file or the splits for The Finish; the list of races with date, city, distance and finish time for Every Race I've Run.
- Checked by hand: every order is checked by hand before it prints.
- Timing: made to order and shipped in 3 to 7 business days, with free shipping in the US.
- Christmas: order framed pieces by December 8.
Ran one of the big ones? The course is already drawn
For twelve of the country's best-known marathons the real course is already in our library, so you only need the runner's name, the date and the finish time: New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Philadelphia, Houston, Big Sur, Seattle, Flying Pig, Pittsburgh and Colfax. Add the bib and the splits from the results page and the course is colored by their pace. Independent keepsakes, not affiliated with the races.
See everything we make for runners and cyclists in the Running and Cycling collection.