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Where Do Our Racing Memories Go ?
Each race leaves a unique mark on runners. Whether joyful or painful — a brilliant victory, a setback, a weekend shared with friends, a crushing disappointment, a surge of emotion, or an unexpected triumph — competitions shape and define athletes. Bib numbers, medals, shoes, and other sporting relics from the event often turn into symbolic treasures. While some runners barely pay attention to them, others preserve them with great care.
Every race is experienced as a thrilling adventure lasting several weeks, sometimes even months, with race day as its grand finale. Many enthusiasts see the preparation as an intense journey, much like the marathon itself. Once the finish line is crossed, tangible traces of the event take on sentimental value. Some athletes even create a small shrine of memories — like Laurie Maleysson of Velay Athlétisme, who was the first Frenchwoman at the 2024 Paris Marathon and later clocked 2:40:02 in Valencia that same year.
“I keep quite a few symbolic items that remind me of my races, like bib numbers,” explains the athlete coached by Patrice Ducret. I don’t keep every single one — there would be far too many — but I select the most meaningful, the most beautiful, and store them in a folder. They’re usually from the French Championships, marathons, my personal bests, and my most important victories. At first, I used to write the race, my time, and my placing on the back.”
Introduced to running by her father, the runner from Haute-Loire enjoys giving him her trophies — like a personalized display from the 2024 Paris Marathon featuring her bib and medal engraved with her 2:40:02 finish time. He closely follows all of his daughter’s results. “He has a room filled with my cups and medals since my early days in athletics. He’s proud to keep them at his place. His are on one side — because he was a good runner himself — and mine are on the other,” she says. A glance at these keepsakes instantly takes her back to “the emotion of the race, the victory, and sometimes the toughness of a particular effort.” As she puts it, “You grow attached to these little objects.”
| Symbolic Relics, Sometimes Unusual and Unique
Laurie Maleysson shares her life with Pierre Lavernhe, the newly crowned European Masters marathon champion in Finland. Originally from Le Puy-en-Velay, the runner has no shortage of imagination when it comes to preserving memories from iconic races.
His masterstroke during a post-race stroll? Saving a piece of the legendary blue carpet from the finish line of the Valencia Marathon.
« The organizers were dismantling the Valencia Marathon setup. There was a one-square-meter piece of carpet left that was about to be thrown away. The security guard gave us a funny look when we asked for permission — but in the end, he even helped us cut it up. Pierre later turned it into small 42-millimeter squares, each printed with our finish times and the marathon logo. I bought a frame to display them like a trophy. It’s very symbolic for us. »
Laurie Maleysson (Velay Athlétisme)
The marathoner, who has a 34:08 personal best over 10 km, also keeps more discreet mementos — such as French Championship wristbands turned into keychains, or metro tickets, trade show passes, and exhibition stubs tied to her sporting encounters. “We also like lucky charms for race days, like the bracelet Pierre, the kids, and I share. He wore it during his European Marathon Championships. After the race, he took it off to preserve it. I’ll do the same after the 2025 Berlin Marathon. It’s a nod to our shared passion.”
| Running Shoes — or the Memory of Sweat
Pierre Lavernhe is never short on post-marathon ideas. The creator of Borne Podcast stores his Nike Alphafly shoes in a box, writes his finishing time on them, and never wears them again. “It’s a kind of legacy for my children. I also like the thought that these shoes will have a vintage value in a few years.”
Running shoes sometimes carry the memory of a personal best, a particular marathon, or even the grind of a tough training cycle. Julien Rabaca of Athletic Club Secteur Monistrol explains: “I’ve always wanted to keep my worn-out shoes rather than throw them away.”
With a debut marathon time of 2:15:34 in Valencia in 2024, the 24-year-old from Monistrol knows the story behind every single pair. “If one day I manage to reach my goals, these shoes will embody all the work I’ve put in — both in competition and in training.”
« Seeing these shoes is a source of motivation during times when I don’t feel at my best. They remind me of all the work I’ve already put in with them. If one day I achieve my dreams, I’ll be able to say it took an incredible number of shoes to get there.»
Julien Rabaca (Athletic Club Secteur Monistrol.)
His garage houses a shelf with his current running shoes, his trophies, and medals collected not only from running but also from his past in motorcycling. Finisher medals matter little to him — except for those tied to his victories and personal bests. Among them: his debut marathon in Valencia in 2024, his win at the 21 km Run In Lyon, and his medal from the Lille Half Marathon, where the hard worker set the best French U23 performance of the year with 1:03:30. “This place is a kind of museum,” sums up Julien Rabaca.
| Race Relics: Decoration and Motivation
Nélie Clément (Gap Hautes Alpes Athlétisme) collects not only bib numbers from the French, World, and European Championships, as well as from her “big performances,” but also her national titles and French team selections. The 22-year-old from Grenoble already boasts an impressive record: four junior selections and two senior ones (in mountain running, vertical, and cross-country). What the runner particularly treasures are the relics of her battles.
“I laminate my bib numbers to display them on the walls of my room. I add the medals on top, along with cross-country wristbands and accreditations from major championships.” Every corner of her room is a mosaic of her athletic years. The multiple French champion takes great care of her bibs. “I try to keep them clean, without folds or flaws, and I write the race on the back. They mean a lot to me.”
The two-time French mountain running champion in 2024 and 2025 enjoys immersing herself in this setting.
« I love looking at my walls, pausing on a bib, and remembering those events. In a way, I relive them. I pay attention to the numbers that have brought me the most success. That’s also what pushes me to go beyond my limits every day, to experience those moments again »
Nélie Clément (Gap Hautes Alpes Athlétisme)
For the athlete coached by Lucas Lecomte, medals are displayed alongside photos from competitions shared with friends. Her brother gave her a charm holder, while her father built a rack to hang her awards. “My room is filled with all of this,” smiles Nélie Clément.
And the newspaper articles? The athlete leaves those to her mother, who carefully keeps them. For Nélie, the images are more precious.
| Memories Kept Out of Sight
For some, race memories hold a deeply personal and private value. Jade Rodriguez (Entente Athlétique Grenoble 38), a mountain running specialist, keeps her awards out of sight. The bronze medalist at the 2019 Junior World Mountain Running Championships stores the bibs from her “important” races in a large envelope.
« I keep the bibs from races where I succeeded, but also from those where I failed, because that’s part of building my journey. I want to remember the lows just as much as the highs. I also select the medals — I don’t keep them all. »
Jade Rodriguez (Entente Athlétique Grenoble 38)
Having spent her childhood in Font-Romeu, she has three international selections to her name in addition to various national podiums and titles (in mountain running and cross-country). Displaying her victory mementos is a source of reflection for the runner. “I think about how I could showcase my items linked to my national and international podiums, but I haven’t yet found what feels right for me. I find it a bit difficult to display them in my house or bedroom. I feel uncomfortable if people stop and look at them when they come in — it’s something quite personal.” Her medals and charms are stored away in a cabinet, out of sight, alongside symbolic gifts from her family and friends. A choice that mirrors her state of mind.
Jade Rodriguez also explains this choice as a “kind of detachment from the past,” a mindset focused on the present and the future. Her mantra: don’t dwell on what’s gone. A nutritionist by profession, she enjoys remembering the good moments but doesn’t linger on them. “I’m always happy to come across my medals, to go and look at them whenever I want, but I struggle to leave elements of the past on display for too long. I feel the same need for renewal with my photos — I need to update them with recent images.”
Each race leaves a unique mark, sometimes embodied in a medal, a bib number, or another symbolic relic. These objects become reminders of the hours of hard work and the emotions lived through. The years go by, yet the memory of those sporting moments remains vivid. In the end, it is these memories — more than the finish times — that shape the story of a runner and their passion.
Emma BERT
Journaliste
27/09/2025
18/09/2025