Adding on-site medal engraving takes one scoping call, a footprint in your finish festival, and a data connection to your timing provider. Start roughly 8–12 weeks out if you want engraving offered as a registration add-on; a straight race-day setup can come together faster. Your team's job on race morning is close to nothing — the vendor arrives self-contained.
When should you start planning?
Eight to twelve weeks is comfortable. The long pole is not the equipment — it is getting engraving in front of runners during registration, which needs your registration platform updated before entries close. A race-day-only setup with on-site payment needs far less lead time.
| When | What happens | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| 8–12 weeks out | Scoping call: field size, finish layout, funding model, station count | You + vendor |
| 6–10 weeks out | Engraving added to registration as an add-on (optional but recommended) | You / your registration platform |
| 4–6 weeks out | Medal sample reviewed for engravability; footprint and power confirmed | Vendor |
| 2–3 weeks out | Timing-data connection agreed with your timing provider | Vendor + timing provider |
| Race week | Load-in plan, crew schedule, signage confirmed | Vendor |
| Race day | Setup, run the line, live throughput reporting, teardown | Vendor |
| After | Wrap report: medals engraved, throughput, engagement | Vendor |
What does the vendor need from your timing provider?
A way to look up a runner's name and official finish time by bib number. That is the entire integration. It means the runner never has to remember their time or spell their own name under pressure, and what goes on the medal matches the official record.
Most timing providers already expose results in a usable form, so this is normally a short conversation rather than a project. Introduce the two parties early and it stops being a race-week problem.
How much space and power does it need?
A stall-sized footprint in the finish festival, near enough to the medal handout that runners find it without hunting. Power requirements are modest and the vendor should arrive with its own distribution. Stations run in parallel, so the footprint scales with your field rather than being fixed.
Placement matters more than size. The engraving line works best where runners already are — between the medal handout and the family meet-up area — not tucked behind the sponsor row where nobody walks.
What does your team have to do on race day?
Very little, and that is the point. A good engraving vendor arrives self-contained: equipment, trained crew, signage, setup, and teardown. Your staff should not be stuffing envelopes or troubleshooting a laser while the gun is about to go off.
Ask any vendor directly how much support they need from your team, and treat a vague answer as a red flag. Our checklist for that conversation is here: how to brief an on-site engraving vendor.
Who pays for it?
Either the runner or a sponsoring brand — the race pays nothing in both models. In a race-day activation runners pay per medal, on-site or at registration. In a brand-sponsored activation a sponsor funds it and engraving is free to every finisher.
The full breakdown is in how much medal engraving costs. If you have a sponsor looking for finish-festival inventory, the brand activation model is usually an easy sell.
What should you check before signing?
- Throughput per station and how station count scales to your field.
- Insurance. Ask for the certificate. We carry $2M commercial liability.
- Accuracy. Does the runner confirm the text on screen before engraving?
- Weather plan. Finish festivals get rained on. Ask what happens then.
- References from race directors at events your size.
- Post-event reporting. You should get real numbers, not a thank-you email.
Finish Line Engravers has run on-site engraving since 2013 — more than 100,000 medals across the United States and Canada. See how race-day engraving works, or tell us about your event and we will come back with a station plan.