Medals and Merch: A take-home message.
Completing a race like the Dragon's Back Race® is an achievement worth celebrating. You might want to hang your photos on the wall, display your trophy in pride of place, or wear your event t-shirt every time you leave the house. The things we all use to remember our races are precious, but what price do they come at? At Ourea, we've been asking ourselves what the impact of our purchases, and how we can make little changes to ensure those important take-home items are still sustainable.
2024 Lakes Traverse trophy ©No Limits Photography
The most sustainable thing we can do is reduce our consumption overall. We want to cut back on wasted products, ensure we don't over-order, and always give people the choice to opt out of additional products. When we do buy t-shirts, medals, prizes, and other keepsakes, we want to ensure they're coming from sustainable sources as much as we possibly can. This involves taking a good look at our existing supply chain, and exploring new options when they arise.
Medals and trophies are one of the most obvious pieces of take-home merchandise, and for many runners, they are the most important symbols of completing a race. At Ourea, we've made a conscious effort to change our attitude to medals and trophies and to shift towards more sustainable purchases wherever possible.
In 2024, we purchased through several different medals suppliers, trying out a range of sustainable options. Back in April finishers on the Northern, Lakes, Dales and Moors Traverses received a wooden medal, handmade locally in Kendal. In September, on the Dragon's Back Race, finishers were given a miniature dragon trophy cast in resin. These are made by Lakeland Mouldings, who are local to the Lake District where Ourea are based. On the Salomon Buttermere Skyline, finishers received a fully recycled medal for the first time, produced in the UK using waste plastics collected in schools. Finally, in November, the winners of the adidas TERREX Kendal Trail Race and THE NORTH FACE Kendal Skyline Ultra received handmade glass trophies made by Kendal artist Jo Vincent. The hand-crafted glass shards were set into bases made from local slate.
Salomon Buttermere Skyline medal ©No Limits Photography
As we head into 2025, and plan for another year of racing, we're making efforts to think carefully about these take-home items: clothing, medals, and merchandise. The emissions associated with these items makes up over 3.5% of Ourea's total carbon footprint, so they are not to be taken lightly. They are, however, clearly very valuable to our runners. We will continue to look for this balance between celebration and sustainability in 2025, and are open to any thoughts on input on what our runners would like to see from us in this regard.
Lakes Traverse wooden medals 2024 ©No Limits Photography