FAQ

1. How far in advance should I order medals for a running race?
   You should order custom race medals 4 to 12 weeks before your event, depending on your budget and design needs.

We offer two production timelines:

• Standard Service (10–12 weeks): Requires final design and quantity approval. This option saves you up to 5% on costs.
• Express Service (4 weeks): Fast-track production for tight deadlines.

Pro-Tip: Start the design conversation as early as possible. Finalized medal artwork is a powerful tool for your social media and marketing campaigns.

2. Can I order standard race medals and top up final numbers with express service?
   Yes, you can split your medal order between standard and express timelines to save money and prevent leftover inventory.

To use this strategy:

1. Order 80% to 90% of your projected registration needs using our Standard Service timeline.
2. Submit your final registration adjustments 4 weeks before your required delivery date using our Express Medals Service.

3. How far in advance should I order custom screen-printed race shirts?
   You should order screen-printed race shirts 2 to 3 weeks before your delivery date, following final design approval.

Keep these seasonal timeline adjustments in mind:

• Peak Season (Spring & Fall): Allow extra time due to high industry volume.
• Large Orders (1000+ shirts): Start the design process early to ensure bulk production windows.

Pro-Tip: Finalize your shirt design early so you can use the digital mock-ups for attendee marketing and registration pushes.

3. How far in advance should I order custom sublimated full printed race shirts?

You should order sublimation printed race shirts 10-12 weeks before your delivery date, following final design approval.  Similar to medals, we have standard and express race shirt delivery time lines.

Keep these seasonal timeline adjustments in mind:

• Peak Season (Spring & Fall): Allow extra time due to high industry volume.
• Large Orders (1000+ shirts): Start the design process early to ensure bulk production windows.

Pro-Tip: Finalize your shirt design early so you can use the digital mock-ups for attendee marketing and registration pushes.

3. What’s the rush turnaround time if I’m ordering close to my event date? We offer rush production for time-sensitive orders, with turnaround as fast as 1 week for shirts or merchandise or 10 days for stock medals.   Depending on product and quantity. Contact us directly with your event date,  we’ll give you options for what’s possible.
4. Do you offer expedited or rush production for last-minute orders? Yes. While we always recommend ordering early, we understand plans change. Reach out with your timeline and we’ll work with you to find a solution, including rush options where available.  Some merchandise items can be produced in just 2-3 days!
5. What happens if my event merch shipment is delayed? We build buffer time into every order and have backup plans (including personally picking up and delivering shipments) to make sure your merch arrives on time.  
6. How does order timeline change for a large event (2,000+ participants) vs. a small one? Larger orders generally need more lead time.  Small orders might take 1-2 weeks, larger orders, plan for 3-4 weeks.  We’ll give you a specific timeline once we know your event size and product mix.

7. How much does it cost to make custom race medals? Medal pricing depends on size, quantity and any special features like 3D relief, spinners or number of enamel colour fills.  Generally, you should budget $6-8 per medal for 250-500 medals with costs going down with higher volumes.  We’ll give you an exact quote once we understand your design and quantity. 

Pro-Tip: Keeping the medal design consistent across race distances with different colour ribbons indicating the race distance will help to keep medal costs lower.  

8. What’s the minimum order quantity for custom medals? Our minimum order for fully custom medals is 250. Smaller races can also choose from semi-custom stock medal options with a custom ribbon or insert, which often have lower minimums.  
9. Can I get custom medals for a small local race? Yes.  We work with races of all sizes, from small local 5Ks to large multi-thousand-participant events. Even smaller races can get a fully custom look through semi-custom options like custom ribbons or center inserts.
10. What’s the difference between stock medals and custom-designed medals? Stock medals use a pre-existing cast design with a custom ribbon or center insert added featuring your race.  These faster and can be more affordable. Fully custom medals are designed from scratch to match your event’s brand, theme, or cause, offering a more unique, memorable result.
11. Do you design triathlon, swim, and track medals, or only running medals? We design and produce medals for running races, triathlons, swim meets, and track meets, any event that required an award for achievement can benefit from an award medal.  We will tailor the design to fit each sport’s look and audience, not just producing a generic finisher medal.
12. Can medals be designed to match a charity or cause’s branding (e.g., ribbon colors)? Yes. We regularly design medals with ribbon colors, shapes, or details that reflect a charity’s cause or awareness color (e.g., pink for breast cancer, teal for ovarian cancer) to reinforce the mission behind the event.
13. How long does custom medal design and production typically take? From initial concept to final delivery, custom medals typically take 5-12 weeks, including design, proofing, and manufacturing. Rush timelines may be available depending on the design’s complexity.
14. Can you produce medals from an AI-generated design concept? Yes.  We can take an AI-generated concept as a starting point and refine it into a production-ready medal design, adjusting for manufacturing requirements like metal thickness, enamel colors, and mold feasibility that AI tools don’t account for.

14. What’s the difference between screen printing, sublimation, DTF, and embroidery for event shirts?

• Screen printing is the most durable and cost-effective option for bulk orders of simple designs.  We can print on cotton, tri-blend and polyester shirts
• Sublimation is a full color full edge-to-edge print technique.  It allows for unlimited colors and bright brilliant graphics to be printed completely over the entire garment.  This is the process we use for example on brightly colored cycling jerseys.  Sublimation can only be used on polyester wicking materials.
• DTF handles any fabric color or type with strong detail and is often more efficient for smaller runs.   DTF allows for unlimited full color printing and typically is the fastest turnaround time, as little as 1 week.
• Embroidery gives a premium, long-lasting finish, best suited to spot logos rather than full graphics. Typically embroidery is used on polo shirts, fleece or jackets.  

15. How do I choose the right shirt material for a running event? Technical/moisture-wicking fabric is standard for competitive races, since participants wear it while running (which is great for social media!). Cotton or cotton tri-blend shirts work well for charity walks or events where comfort post-race matters more than performance.   We’ll help match the fabric to your event type and budget.
16. Can you print shirts for different sizes/fits (men’s, women’s, youth)? Draft: Yes, we offer men’s, women’s, and youth cuts and sizing across our shirt options, so participants of all ages and body types get a shirt that actually fits well.
17. What’s the minimum order quantity for custom event shirts? Draft: Our minimum order for screen-printed shirts is [X units]. Smaller quantities may be available using DTF printing, which has lower minimums than screen printing.
18. How much do custom screen-printed race shirts cost per unit? Draft: Pricing depends on shirt style, print colors, and order quantity — generally [X-X] per shirt at typical race quantities. Larger orders bring the per-unit cost down significantly due to screen printing’s bulk efficiency.
19. Do you offer design services for custom race shirts, or do I need to provide my own artwork?
    Yes, we provide full graphic design services to help you create your race shirts, whether you have a rough sketch or no design at all. 

Here is how our race shirt design process works:

• Design Assistance: Our team can build a custom, print-ready layout based on your race theme, logos, and sponsor requirements.
• Customer-Provided Artwork: If you already have a design, submit it in vector format (such as .AI, .EPS, or print-ready .PDF) with all fonts outlined. 
• Sponsor Logo Integration: Send us your sponsor logos in high-resolution formats, and we will seamlessly incorporate them into the shirt layout.

Pro-Tip: Finalizing your shirt design early gives you a high-quality digital mock-up to feature on your registration page and boost early sign-ups.  

Gold medal Tip: Design is the #1 best way to maximize your ROI.  On the same physical shirts, a great design that resonants with your participants is your winning edge.