Not Sure What To Do With Your Flashy Finisher’s Medal?

Donate it.

For some, the finisher’s medal draped around the neck at the end of a long, hard race is an especially poignant moment. For others, the tradition is an exercise in waste. Many runners don’t know what to do with these things–which can oftentimes weigh as much as a pound.

If you find yourself in the latter group, here’s a solution for your unwanted finisher medal: donate it.

Medals4Mettle is a non-profit organization that facilitates the gifting of these medals.

What do they do with them?

A network of physicians and volunteers take your medal, attach a new ribbon to it, and award it to children and adults who are fighting a debilitating disease and are not capable of completing a running race.

They are competing in their own contest–a struggle just to live.

Medals4Mettle was started by Dr. Steven Isenberg. After completing the 2003 Chicago Marathon, he visited a colleague was was hospitalized. His friend suffered from prostate cancer.

“I want you to have this,” Dr. Isenberg said. “You are running a much more difficult marathon than the one I completed.”

For More: Rome News Tribune