The Next Best Thing to Race Bling

As most people know, I am a blingaholic.  I live for race bling.  However, I have also developed a second collection of race memorabilia that is close to my heart.  No - I don't mean race jackets and T-shirts, although that collection is also quite impressive.  My home has become a marathon poster art gallery.  Enough so that I have moved the majority of the marathon posters to adorn the walls of my garage. This blog post is a celebration of my marathon posters.

I discovered early on that it is way way way too expensive to frame inexpensive or free marathon posters.  I simply go to Michael's and buy a premade frame in the closest size to the poster.  Slightly tacky, yes, but for a garage gallery a $10 frame beats a $100 frame. 

Poster 1:  Kansas City Marathon 2006

The Kansas City Marathon is dear to my heart.  It was my first marathon.  Oddly, it took me until 2010 to actually frame the poster.  I have always liked the play on running and jazz.  The runners are the music notes on this sheet of music. This poster hangs in the entry way from my garage.

 Poster 2:  2009 Country Music Marathon

The 2009 Country Music Marathon was actually my third marathon.  The experience was horrific.  I ended up walking almost the entire 2nd half because the temperatures were excessively hot for the end of April.  This is the only one of the posters that I paid to have custom framed.  After paying $10 for the poster and $90 for the frame, I decided buying the el cheapo frames at Michaels that somewhat fit the posters works well for me.  This one actually hangs in my bedroom, which is kind of funny, since seeing it always reminds me of that nightmarish marathon.



Poster 3:  2009 Twin Cities Marathon

The Twin Cities Marathon was my fourth marathon.  I absolutely love the course, and I absolutely love how they captured the fall colors in this poster.  This poster has the honor of hanging in a cheap frame from college, but has the prestige of hanging in my home office. 



Poster 4:  2010 Little Rock Marathon

Huge medal.  Teeny tiny free poster. 



Poster 5:  2010 Lincoln Marathon

I was on a roll for free posters in 2010.  The Lincoln Marathon was my sixth marathon.  This poster plays off the Gettysburg Address.  "One Score and 6.2 Miles of Perseverance."  I like the creativity of the poster, but it's nothing much to look at.  Even so, since it was one of my first posters, it is hanging in my home office.



Poster 6:  2010 Chicago Marathon

Yikes.  This bad boy was a freebie.  I used to have in the laundry closet, but it kind of scared me when I would open the doors.  Now it's in the garage and is one of the first things I see when I pull in.  Did I mention it was free?

Poster 7:  2011 Walt Disney World Marathon

This poster is a celebration of the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge.  It's in my basement along side all of my marathon medals.



Poster 8:  2011 Flying Pig Marathon

This is just a fun poster. I love the piggie, so it also is showcased in my home office. The Flying Pig Marathon is great in that they give you a nice free shirt, a wonderful free backpack, a free poster, and an awesome piggie medal. I love the pig.

 















Poster 9:  Missoula Marathon Poster

I started running out of room at home, so this one is on my desk at work.  The Missoula Marathon is my second favorite marathon next to Disney.  This poster reminds me of the beautiful scenery running over the bridge on the way in to Missoula.



Poster 10: 2011 Disneyland Half Marathon

This is the only half marathon poster that I have in my collection.  I bought the 2011 Disneyland Half Marathon poster to balance out the 2011 Disney World Marathon Weekend poster.  It hangs in the basement on the wall with my half marathon medals.  Along with the Disney Coast to Coast medal, it is a fun reminder of my year of the Disney races.



















Poster 11:  2011 Kansas City Marathon

This poster is currently in the stage of getting flattened so that I can place it more evenly in the frame.  I like how this poster is a running shoe print with all of the KC landmarks featured.  Unfortunately the poster is such a funky size it is next to impossible to find a premade frame that somewhat suits it.  This poster will end up in the garage.



Poster 12:  2012 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon

My latest acquisition in the "free" category.  You get what you pay for...  The poster is SO much better than the shirt.  The free shirt tried to feature this shoe with the Pegasus wing and shape of the race course.  It works better on the poster.  I like the faint outline of the Louisville skyline in the background.  One I get it better situated in the frame, this one will reside in the garage gallery.