my marathon shadow box

Nearly a year later, (this year’s Boston Marathon is on Monday April 16th!) I’ve finally completed my marathon running shadow box. It took me forever because I wanted to make sure to get it perfect.

I had tried a few other shadow boxes, but they were just too small and things were too crowded. So I went big. I picked up this almost 16″ x 20″ one on super sale and with a coupon. It’s original price was $44.99, I paid something like $16 or $17.

I knew when I bought it I’d be painting it white, but it was much cheaper to buy the wood colored one than the white finished one. I used a can of glossy white Krylon spray paint. I put newspaper on the glass and taped it down with painters tape. Would have been helpful if I took a photo of that step…

I had collected all the things I wanted in the shadow box a long while ago. Now it was just a matter of laying them out and putting it together. I included my bib number, photo of me crossing the finish line, my medal, my official race time certificate and my official race splits card.

You’ll also see a hair elastic. Or maybe you can’t see it, but it’s that black circle in the certificate. That was an extra hair tie I had on my wrist just in case. A few miles into the race I started playing with it as I ran. I was holding it, stretching it, rolling it around with my pointer finger and thumb.

Turns out I did that for almost 22 miles. So by the time I finished I felt like I had to keep it. It was almost like a distraction to me while running. If I focused on that I wouldn’t focus on the miles to come, the pain or anything else.

You probably can’t see it in these photos, but in the official finish line photo you can see the hair tie on my fingers.

Anyway, I love how it turned out. And it fits perfectly on a narrow wall in our living room.

Some day I’d love to have it hung in an office or workout room. But for now while it’s still fresh, front in center in the living room is where it’ll be!