Live Medal Engraving for London Marathon Runners
We were honoured to be invited to provide live medal engraving for London Marathon runners at the New Balance store on Oxford Street, London.
We have attended this incredible event for three years, setting up our specialist engraving equipment inside the New Balance store and personalising medals for runners following their achievement at the London Marathon.
After completing the race, runners could bring their medals into the store and have them professionally engraved with their name and official running time, creating a permanent and personal record of one of the biggest achievements in their running journey.
This has become one of the largest and most popular live personalisation events we have ever attended.
Personalised London Marathon Medal Engraving
Completing the London Marathon is an extraordinary achievement, and for many runners their medal becomes a treasured keepsake.
Adding their name and finishing time makes that medal even more personal.
Our team was stationed inside the New Balance Oxford Street store with three specialist metal scribing and engraving machines, allowing us to personalise a large number of medals throughout the event.
Each medal was individually positioned and engraved with the runner’s personal details before being returned to them as a permanent reminder of their London Marathon experience.
One of Our Busiest Live Engraving Events
The response from runners was incredible.
On the first days of the event, queues stretched outside the New Balance store as runners arrived to have their medals personalised. Demand remained exceptionally high, with a constant stream of people waiting for their opportunity to have their London Marathon medal engraved with their name and race time.
It was an amazing atmosphere and easily one of the busiest live events our team has experienced.
For runners who had spent months training for the marathon, having their individual finishing time permanently engraved onto their medal provided the perfect finishing touch to an unforgettable achievement.
Months of Preparation Before the Event
Although customers see the engraving taking place in just a few minutes, a large-scale live medal engraving event requires considerable preparation behind the scenes.
Our involvement begins well before race day.
A couple of months ahead of the London Marathon, we receive a sample of the medal created for that year’s event. Because medal designs can change from year to year, we carefully test the new medal using our engraving equipment before attending the live event.
This allows us to determine the correct positioning and engraving process in advance.
Creating Custom Jigs for Marathon Medals
An essential part of our preparation is creating a bespoke jig specifically for the medal.
The jig securely positions each medal in exactly the right place within the engraving machine. This is particularly important at a high-volume event where hundreds of individual pieces may need to be personalised accurately and efficiently.
Once we have tested the medal, we create the jig, prepare the engraving programme and carry out samples to make sure everything is working correctly.
By the time our team arrives at the New Balance Oxford Street store, the machines, software, positioning and engraving process have already been thoroughly prepared and tested.
This preparation allows our engravers to concentrate on delivering a smooth, accurate and efficient live service when the runners arrive.
Three Engraving Machines for a High-Volume Event
With such high demand, capacity and reliability are essential.
For the London Marathon activation, we brought three metal scribing machines to the New Balance store, creating a dedicated live engraving station capable of handling the substantial number of runners wanting their medals personalised.
Our team managed the engraving process throughout the event, entering each runner’s individual details and permanently engraving their name and finishing time onto their medal.
The combination of advance testing, custom-made jigs, pre-programmed equipment and multiple engraving machines allowed us to provide personalisation at the scale required for such a major sporting event.
Live Engraving for Sporting Events & Brand Activations
Our work at the London Marathon demonstrates what is possible with high-volume live engraving and event personalisation.
From marathon medals and sporting awards to corporate gifts, trophies and branded products, we can prepare and operate specialist engraving equipment directly at an event.
Our service can include pre-event product testing, sample engraving, custom jig creation, machine programming, equipment setup and live on-site engraving, providing a complete solution from initial planning through to the event itself.
We provide live engraving services for sporting events, running events, brand activations, retail stores, corporate events, award ceremonies, product launches and promotional experiences throughout London and the UK.
Creating a Lasting Memory for London Marathon Finishers
For us, this event is about much more than engraving a piece of metal.
Every medal represents months of training, determination and the incredible experience of completing the London Marathon.
Seeing the excitement of runners as their name and personal finishing time are permanently engraved onto their medal makes this an especially rewarding event for our team.
After three years of providing medal engraving at the New Balance Oxford Street store, it remains one of the most memorable, demanding and popular live personalisation events we have had the privilege to work on.
