Running gifts tend to be practical: another pair of socks, a foam roller, a water bottle. Personalised running cufflinks are different. They celebrate the achievement rather than the training, and they turn a single race day into something he can wear for years. Whether he's just finished his first 5k or his tenth marathon, it's his run, his time and his memory on his cuffs.
Races worth putting on a cuff
- The first marathon. London, Manchester, Edinburgh or a small-town marathon with forty runners: the first one is always special.
- A personal best. The day he finally went under four hours, or under twenty minutes at parkrun.
- A charity run. A race done in memory of someone, or to raise money for a cause close to him.
- The ultra or the fell race. Runs where finishing was the whole point.
- A running milestone. A hundredth parkrun, a year of run-streaking or a club championship.
Give them on the evening of the race, at the club's end-of-year dinner, on his birthday, or as a thank-you to a pacer or coach who got him round. They also work beautifully for the supporter's side of the story: if you stood at mile twenty with a homemade sign, a photo of that sign is a design he will grin at every time he fastens his cuffs.
Finish lines, splits and medals: what to print
The finish-line photo is the obvious choice for a reason. Arms up, clock behind him, the most emotional second of the day. Official race photos are usually well lit and sharp.
His finish time in big digits, perhaps with the race name and date underneath, is clean and understated. It suits a man who'd rather not wear his own face on his cuffs.
The medal itself. Lay it on a plain, dark cloth and photograph it from directly above in daylight. The ribbon colours often add a nice touch.
The course map. A marathon route has a shape that runners come to know by heart, and a simple line drawing of it looks surprisingly elegant.
His race bib. A close crop of the number, especially if it has his name printed on it, is a lovely nod to the day.
Preparing a race photo for a small square
Race photos often show him small in a crowd. Before you upload, crop around him so he fills the frame from roughly the chest up. If you've bought the official photos, use the full-resolution download rather than the watermarked preview, since the preview's watermark will print too. We print from your original file, so the better the source, the sharper the result.
If you're combining elements, such as his time over a medal photo, do it in a simple editing app first and keep the text large. Small lettering beneath a photo can be hard to read on a cufflink, so fewer words set bigger is usually better.
Kitting out the running club
Running clubs often mark the season with awards and a dinner, and a set of running cufflinks for committee members, coaches or race winners makes a thoughtful change from another trophy. Pairs cost £15 each when you order 5 or more, plus £5 shipping per order, so five pairs come to £80. Different designs can go in one basket, so every runner could have his own finish photo. A single pair is £40 with shipping included.
Ordering running cufflinks
Start by uploading your image. The live preview shows it on both cufflinks instantly, and you can drag and zoom to line it up so his face, his time or the medal sits in the middle of the square. When it looks right, order through our secure checkout.
Each pair is printed in our Cornwall workshop from your full-resolution upload and sent in a gift box, so there's nothing to wrap. All you need to do is decide which run deserves to be remembered.