Somersault races

[Cupcake Girl]

Anyone know if they hand out generic Somersault medals to their ironman/HIM finishers during their Canadian race weekend or do they have ones that note ironman/HIM finisher/ marathoner etc?

I've heard no matter the race - duathlon, triathlon, kids' fun run, you get the same generic medal.

Thanks

[scrumhalfgirl]

Not sure about the marathon, but for the half and full iron, in the past, they've had special medals. For the other distances - yep, generic (well, they might say "running" or "duathlon" but same shape/dimension/design.

[HCcD]

Yes and No ...

I will double check when I get home, but I believe that the for sprint tri's/du's distances and and 5K, 8K and/or 10K and kids events.. it may be correct that they give out generic event medals ...

But, for the 1/2 Marathon, Marathon, 1/2 Iron and Full Iron Distances, the medals are a wee bit bigger ....

[HCcD]

Here is an excerpt from the e-mail just received today from Somersault ....

2012 Somersault Event Series Calendar:  Check it out now at http://www.somersault.ca <http://www.somersault.ca> and plan your events to enter - online entries opened on
December 1, 2011.  Up until December 31st, you can enjoy 20% off any Somersault event. 

What's new for 2012:

.       New gotta-have-'em medals that includes the Somersault iTab option(read more in upcoming newsletters)
.       Cash prizing returns to Sports4 Emilie's Run
.       We welcome Orleans Cycle to the Cumberland Duathlon and Fall ColoursDuathlon, and Cyclelogik
.       Watch for our 'returning' sponsors announcements in January'snewsletter

Winterman: With little snow on the ground, there is still plenty of runningto get in before Winterman 2012 is upon us Winterman Marathon, Marathon
Relays, Half Marathon, 10Km, 5Km, & 3Km February 19th - Now AcceptingEntries on Line That's right, you can now enter Canada's Winterman Runs.
Winterman is an official Winterlude Collaborators event, and is held on thelast weekend of Winterlude at the Canadian War Museum. You can get more
information on Winterman, and enter at http://www.wintermanmarathon.ca <http://www.wintermanmarathon.ca> Come andjoin the winter fun!

Gift Giving - Gift Certificates:  OK, so there's no snow on the ground (yet), still 'tis the season!  So while you are struggling to get that
perfect gift for that impossible-to-buy-for athlete in your life, why not gift them a Somersault Event Series Gift Certificate?
http://www.somersault.ca/giftcertificates.htm

[Cupcake Girl]

Andy, you never let me down. I thought you'd know something.

HCcD wrote: medals that includes the Somersault iTab option(

never heard of that before.

Life would be so much simpler if they just answered my e-mail. If they did and answered what I want them to answer, then they'd likely get my money.

[HCcD]

Andy, you never let me down. I thought you'd know something.

HCcD wrote: medals that includes the Somersault iTab option(

never heard of that before.

Life would be so much simpler if they just answered my e-mail. If they did and answered what I want them to answer, then they'd likely get my money.

From what I can tell, at least comparing the last 2 years .... the medals are generic to each event, and non-dated .. the lanyards (???) or ribbons, are dated ....

The Ottawa Fall Colours 1/2 ... the medal appeared bigger than the other one's I received, and had 1/2 Marathon inscribed on it, again, non-dated ...

Hope that helps ....

[jes]

Andy, you never let me down. I thought you'd know something.

HCcD wrote: medals that includes the Somersault iTab option(

never heard of that before.

Life would be so much simpler if they just answered my e-mail. If they did and answered what I want them to answer, then they'd likely get my money.

One half of the Somersault management team is recovering from a stroke. I suspect Christine is doing the best she can to keep things afloat.

[carm]

I've seen the Canadian Iron Distance medal and IIRC it's fairly big and distinctive from the regular medals. Your email may have gone into their spam. That happened to me earlier this year repeatedly but Somersault quickly resolved the issue.

[HCcD]

I've seen the Canadian Iron Distance medal and IIRC it's fairly big and distinctive from the regular medals. Your email may have gone into their spam. That happened to me earlier this year repeatedly but Somersault quickly resolved the issue.

From my experience, the fastest way to get a response is to post your question directly on Somersault's and/or Christine's FB wall ....

There was a problem with the online registration to purchase the gift certificates with EventsOnLine .. and, once I mentioned it to her on FB, the problem was resolved within a couple of hours ..

[RobAllen]

Life would be so much simpler if they just answered my e-mail. If they did and answered what I want them to answer, then they'd likely get my money.

Send me an email - I will answer, I want your money!

Seriously though if it is about medals, we (Cornwall Triathlon) are thinking of foregoing medals for something of more use to our athletes. One of the things prevelant in each years post race questionnaire feedback is to drop the medals in favour of savings on the registration costs. So this is what we are probably headed towards. Every finisher will get something special (probably an ice-water filled Specialized Bike Bottle) in lieu of the medal. Generic medals are fairly cheap, custom medals are not (our cost us over $6 each).

The itab is a neat feature but there will be an additional cost for that (my guess is $5-$10) as the itab is created off-site (USA) and mailed to you after the fact. The jeweller we dealt with would do this for free for anyone bringing in their medal post-race. He would only get a couple per year. The cost on the website is $10USD each but that may be reduced with involvement with a race.
http://www.itab.us.com/section.htm?section=iTaB-medal-inserts

[Cupcake Girl]

Send me an email - I will answer, I want your money!

Put in a HIM and I'd be there - the timing is good.

HCcD wrote: From my experience, the fastest way to get a response is to post your question directly on Somersault's and/or Christine's FB wall ....

It likely landed in spam because I sent it directly to the somersault site. I don't do FB.
Stroke sucks, understandable with slow replies.

[RobAllen]

Send me an email - I will answer, I want your money!

Put in a HIM and I'd be there - the timing is good.

I would if we had the space and did not require the number of volunteers we already have. To add a HIM I would have to involve the counties as well as the city and that adds too many levels of government for road closures etc. Currently we have around 160 volunteers on race day, adding a HIM (properly) would jump that up to 200+. Managing 160 is difficult enough. Thanks for taking the time to check us out. If you decide to do the Canadian or Esprit we are perfect timing for a prep race.

Rob

[Endurimil]

Seriously though if it is about medals, we (Cornwall Triathlon) are thinking of foregoing medals for something of more use to our athletes. One of the things prevelant in each years post race questionnaire feedback is to drop the medals in favour of savings on the registration costs. So this is what we are probably headed towards. Every finisher will get something special (probably an ice-water filled Specialized Bike Bottle) in lieu of the medal. Generic medals are fairly cheap, custom medals are not (our cost us over $6 each).

Back in the day's of Royal Lepage series got a T Shirt and the usual goodie bag. No finishers medals.

No clue where any finishers medals I ever got at a race are. And first, second, or third age group medal I know exactly where they are. Rather see useful stuff then another generic finishers medal that ends up in some bin for the dump or goodwill.

[Madame Bourette]

Back in the day's of Royal Lepage series got a T Shirt and the usual goodie bag. No finishers medals.

No clue where any finishers medals I ever got at a race are. And first, second, or third age group medal I know exactly where they are. Rather see useful stuff then another generic finishers medal that ends up in some bin for the dump or goodwill.

Trash the medals and the t-shirts, only noobs want them. It's a waste of resources. I had rather save the money on registration.

I have so many t-shirts that I use the cotton ones to clean my bikes. Most of the technical t-shirts lay in my drawers.

[Irongirl]

okay, does anyone see the irony in this thread?

the OP seems to want to make sure the medal IS special and not just a generic one.

So, for those of you that are saying ditch the medals completely - clearly she is interested in the medal!

[Endurimil]

okay, does anyone see the irony in this thread?

the OP seems to want to make sure the medal IS special and not just a generic one.

So, for those of you that are saying ditch the medals completely - clearly she is interested in the medal!

As mentioned by the RD's post. Race finishers medals cost money. It's cheaper to do generic versions that get given out especially in a series. To make them special would cost more.

Now we run into a problem. That being the cost gets transfered to the athlete's which means a higher race cost. So now we come to the problem of racers complaining it costs so much now to race. Heard this years ago course setting for the 5 Peaks series. Vicious cycle... racers don't want to pay more but want so much more.

One solution... entry forms now have a spot to request a finishers medal and if so your entry fee goes up by $$ the RD decides. Like race shirts and so on.

[MrBond]

[/quote]

Back in the day's of Royal Lepage series got a T Shirt and the usual goodie bag. No finishers medals.

No clue where any finishers medals I ever got at a race are. And first, second, or third age group medal I know exactly where they are. Rather see useful stuff then another generic finishers medal that ends up in some bin for the dump or goodwill.[/quote]

I keep meaning to make a wind chime out of the finishers medals, one of these days...

[La]

okay, does anyone see the irony in this thread?

the OP seems to want to make sure the medal IS special and not just a generic one.

So, for those of you that are saying ditch the medals completely - clearly she is interested in the medal!

As mentioned by the RD's post. Race finishers medals cost money. It's cheaper to do generic versions that get given out especially in a series. To make them special would cost more.

Now we run into a problem. That being the cost gets transfered to the athlete's which means a higher race cost. So now we come to the problem of racers complaining it costs so much now to race. Heard this years ago course setting for the 5 Peaks series. Vicious cycle... racers don't want to pay more but want so much more.

One solution... entry forms now have a spot to request a finishers medal and if so your entry fee goes up by $$ the RD decides. Like race shirts and so on.

Since the thread has already been hijacked...

Every race will have a mix of people, some of whom are long-time racers who have no interest in medals and T-shirts. But you also have people for whom it's their very first race, and they DO want a medal/T-shirt. I don't think it's practical to have people select whether or not they want a medal because it's too difficult to execute at the finish line on race day.