I started a morning practice session that's been going on for about 10 or 11 years now.
We collect self-reported records and tabulate points each week,
and based on the cumulative total, we prepare modest prizes at year-end.
Since ranking by points tends to result in strong riders taking everything,
I switched it to a lottery system at some point.
That said, if you're in the top positions for points, you do get a few more lottery tickets,
so there's still some "advantage to the strong."
Last year, we held the lottery drawing at year-end too,
but we also had an awards ceremony yesterday, separate from that.
To honor the top 5 riders by cumulative points from last year,
I give out trophies,
but I thought just hanging trophies would be boring,
so I special-ordered ones with the athletes' names engraved on the base plaques.
With certificates, you can write in names immediately after seeing race results,
but trophies don't work that way.
Some hill climb races do send name-engraved trophies to the address on your entry form afterward,
but that's exceptional.
So I think name-engraved trophies are pretty rare.
↑Left to right in the image:
something for size comparison, and trophies for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place.
Since they have individual names and the event name written on them,
I photographed them from the reverse side of the plaques.
I made sure they were sized such that they wouldn't end up
straight in a closet or the trash can.
The 1st place winner is a regular at winning and placing in hill climb races,
so they have over 100 trophies and display them
in their bike room, which doubles as a trophy room.
They told me they bought glass display cases for trophies (each one costs tens of thousands of yen) — two of them —
and that they'd bought more acrylic cases about 160cm tall.
Hearing that, I thought, why not—
I ordered the biggest four-pillar trophy available.
It's just under 160cm tall.
Right after I submitted the order,
the trophy shop called and said,
"The size doesn't match with other trophies we've received orders for,
so could there have been a model number mistake?"
Yeah, I'd think so too.
They mentioned maybe if we removed all the shelves from that acrylic case, it might fit?
But I'm hoping it'll come up short by a few centimeters and not fit.
The title "Container VS Contents" refers to that.
By the way, I intended it as kind of a mean-spirited prank,
but they actually loved it and kept thanking me repeatedly. Damn!
They happily had several photos taken hugging it and were absolutely thrilled,
but I don't think many people would be happy receiving something like that.
（Since they're happy with it, I guess it's fine.）
I'm done giving out trophies. I'm sick of it.
Pointless addendum:
This trophy is made by Asako, a major manufacturer of flags and cups,
and their headquarters is just across the street from our shop — 30 seconds on foot.
They apparently do assembly and wholesale from there too,
but since I ordered this from a Tokyo shop online,
I can't help but feel a strange sense of wonder thinking it traced the path
Minamisengasho 1-chome → Tokyo → Minamisengasho 1-chome.
We collect self-reported records and tabulate points each week,
and based on the cumulative total, we prepare modest prizes at year-end.
Since ranking by points tends to result in strong riders taking everything,
I switched it to a lottery system at some point.
That said, if you're in the top positions for points, you do get a few more lottery tickets,
so there's still some "advantage to the strong."
Last year, we held the lottery drawing at year-end too,
but we also had an awards ceremony yesterday, separate from that.
To honor the top 5 riders by cumulative points from last year,
I give out trophies,
but I thought just hanging trophies would be boring,
so I special-ordered ones with the athletes' names engraved on the base plaques.
With certificates, you can write in names immediately after seeing race results,
but trophies don't work that way.
Some hill climb races do send name-engraved trophies to the address on your entry form afterward,
but that's exceptional.
So I think name-engraved trophies are pretty rare.
↑Left to right in the image:
something for size comparison, and trophies for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place.
Since they have individual names and the event name written on them,
I photographed them from the reverse side of the plaques.
I made sure they were sized such that they wouldn't end up
straight in a closet or the trash can.
The 1st place winner is a regular at winning and placing in hill climb races,
so they have over 100 trophies and display them
in their bike room, which doubles as a trophy room.
They told me they bought glass display cases for trophies (each one costs tens of thousands of yen) — two of them —
and that they'd bought more acrylic cases about 160cm tall.
Hearing that, I thought, why not—
I ordered the biggest four-pillar trophy available.
It's just under 160cm tall.
Right after I submitted the order,
the trophy shop called and said,
"The size doesn't match with other trophies we've received orders for,
so could there have been a model number mistake?"
Yeah, I'd think so too.
They mentioned maybe if we removed all the shelves from that acrylic case, it might fit?
But I'm hoping it'll come up short by a few centimeters and not fit.
The title "Container VS Contents" refers to that.
By the way, I intended it as kind of a mean-spirited prank,
but they actually loved it and kept thanking me repeatedly. Damn!
They happily had several photos taken hugging it and were absolutely thrilled,
but I don't think many people would be happy receiving something like that.
（Since they're happy with it, I guess it's fine.）
I'm done giving out trophies. I'm sick of it.
Pointless addendum:
This trophy is made by Asako, a major manufacturer of flags and cups,
and their headquarters is just across the street from our shop — 30 seconds on foot.
They apparently do assembly and wholesale from there too,
but since I ordered this from a Tokyo shop online,
I can't help but feel a strange sense of wonder thinking it traced the path
Minamisengasho 1-chome → Tokyo → Minamisengasho 1-chome.