What to give someone who just ran a marathon

In the first days after a marathon, the gifts that help are practical: a meal they do not have to cook, a massage booked for later in the week, or a day with nothing planned. If you want to give something they keep, a medal hanger or a print of their route both work, and those can wait a few weeks.

What helps in the first days

Right after the race, a runner is tired, hungry and sore, and walking down stairs can hurt for several days. Plan around that.

• A meal you book or cook. Choose somewhere close to home that does not involve much walking, and ask what they feel like eating.
• A massage. Book it for a few days after the race, not the same day, and let them pick the time. Tell the therapist they have just run a marathon.
• A day with no plan. Take over something they would normally do, like the school run or the shopping.
• Something for the sofa. Warm socks, a blanket, or a film they have been meaning to watch.

These work whether the race went well or badly, which is useful if you are buying before you know the result.

What they can keep

After the first week or two, something for the wall or a shelf makes more sense.

• A medal hanger or shadow box. A hanger holds several medals on one bar. A shadow box holds the medal and the race number together. Frame shops and online retailers sell both. We do not sell either.
• The race number in a frame. Ask them not to throw the number away. A frame shop can mount it, or you can do it yourself in a standard frame.
• An official race photo. Many races sell photos taken on the course. Let the runner choose which one.
• A print of their route. More on that below.

If they already have several medals, how to display marathon medals goes through hangers, shadow boxes and what to do with the race number.

A print of the route they ran

This is what we make. The poster is drawn from the runner's own recording of the race, on a map background you choose, with one to four numbers under it. Finishing time can be one of them, along with distance, pace, elevation gain, or average heart rate if the watch recorded it. You write the headline yourself, for example the race and the year. The marathon print page shows what it looks like.

Check these before you order:

• It is made from the runner's recording and is not a print of the official course. A watch rarely measures exactly 42.195 km, so the distance on the poster is the watch's number.
• You need their file. We do not fetch anyone else's Strava, so ask the runner to send you a GPX, FIT or TCX file from the race.
• A poster costs from 319 kr (30×40 cm). Museum paper is from 369 kr and a framed print from 799 kr.
• Production takes 2 to 4 working days. Delivery takes 2 to 5 working days in Denmark and 3 to 8 in the rest of the EU. We do not ship outside the EU.
• A personalised print has no cooling-off return. You can cancel for free until the order is released to print, so check the headline and the numbers in the preview before you pay.

If it is for Christmas, the order-by dates are on the Christmas route print page.

What to skip

Running shoes are a bad surprise gift, because fit is personal and most runners want to try a pair on before they commit to it. The same goes for clothes if you are guessing the size.

Be careful with anything that points at the next race, such as a training plan or an entry to another marathon. Some runners want that straight away and some want a break, so ask first.

If this was their first marathon, we have a separate article on a gift for a first marathon. If you are unsure whether to give something before or after the race, see why a gift after the race works better.