How Sublimated Ceramic Medals Created a Different Finish for the UKOCR Race Series

Obstacle racing is not exactly a gentle sport.

Competitors are running, climbing, carrying, crawling and fighting their way through obstacles, so the awards handed out at the end need to feel appropriate to the level of competition.

For the UKOCR Race Series 2025, we produced custom sublimated ceramic medals for the age group winners.

Ceramic gave the organisers something very different from a standard wooden or metal medal: a solid, smooth award with a full-colour printed finish that could carry the UKOCR branding clearly.

About the UKOCR Race Series

The UKOCR Race Series brings together competitive obstacle course racers across a range of categories, including elite, pro and age group athletes.

Competitors take on demanding courses designed to test endurance, grip strength, agility and the ability to keep moving when fatigue starts to set in.

With multiple events and categories across the series, the awards need to be clear, consistent and strong enough visually to represent a high-level competition.

The Design Challenge

The age group winner medal needed to feel different from an ordinary finisher medal.

It needed to immediately communicate that the athlete had achieved a competitive result across a demanding OCR event.

The medal therefore needed to:

• Clearly display the UKOCR branding.
• Carry full-colour artwork cleanly.
• Feel solid and substantial.
• Stand apart from a standard participation medal.
• Work consistently across age group categories.

Why Ceramic Was a Good Fit

Ceramic sits in a very different place to both wood and slate.

It has a smooth, solid surface that works particularly well for sublimated artwork, allowing full-colour graphics to become part of the medal face.

What Is a Sublimated Ceramic Medal?

Sublimation is a full-colour printing process that transfers artwork onto a specially prepared surface using heat.

For a ceramic medal, that means the event design can cover the front face with crisp colour rather than being restricted to engraved linework.

It is particularly useful when the artwork includes:

• Detailed event logos.
• Multiple brand colours.
• Gradients.
• Background graphics.
• Category wording.
• More intricate visual elements.

That makes ceramic a useful option for organisers who want a clean, fully branded award but do not necessarily want the natural appearance of wood or slate.

Why Sublimation Instead of Engraving?

Engraving and sublimation create completely different results.

Engraving works brilliantly when the artwork is simple and the material itself is part of the design.

Sublimation makes more sense when colour is important.

For UKOCR, the ability to produce a clean branded winner medal made sublimated ceramic a strong fit.

Making Winner Medals Feel Different

One useful lesson from the UKOCR project is that every award at an event does not have to use exactly the same material.

An organiser may want one style for general finishers and another for people who reach the podium or win their category.

That could mean:

• Wooden medals for general finishers.
• Ceramic medals for category winners.
• Metallic slate for first, second and third positions.
• Matching trophies for overall champions.

Using different materials in a planned way creates a clear award hierarchy without losing consistency across the event.

Why Ceramic Works Well for Competitive Events

Ceramic is particularly useful where the award needs to look clean and professional rather than rustic or heavily textured.

That can make it a good fit for:

• Obstacle course racing.
• Running competitions.
• Club championships.
• Martial arts events.
• Sports tournaments.
• Age group awards.
• Series winner medals.

The smooth surface allows the organiser's branding to remain the main visual focus.

Think About the Ribbon at the Same Time

The ribbon is a major part of how the final medal looks when it is presented.

For a strongly branded medal like UKOCR, the ribbon can either stay deliberately simple or continue the event artwork.

Depending on the event, organisers can consider:

• Plain ribbon in a core brand colour.
• Foil printed ribbon with event wording.
• Full-colour printed ribbon.
• Sponsor branding.
• Different colours for award categories.

Ceramic vs Wood vs Slate

There is no single medal material that works best for every event.

What Other OCR Organisers Can Learn

UKOCR is a useful example of thinking about the role of the award before choosing the material.

Before ordering medals for a competitive OCR event, consider:

• Are these finisher medals or winner medals?
• Does the event branding depend heavily on colour?
• Do age group winners need to be clearly differentiated?
• Would a different material help create a stronger award hierarchy?
• Does the medal need a smooth printed surface or a natural texture?
• Should the ribbon carry additional branding or category information?

Those decisions should come before simply choosing whichever medal style was used the previous year.

Case Study Summary

The Final Result

The finished ceramic medal gave UKOCR a clean, distinctive award for its age group winners.

Sublimation allowed the branding to remain clear and colourful, while the ceramic base gave the medal a different physical feel from a standard wooden or metal award.

Most importantly, the medal clearly felt like a winner's award rather than simply another finisher medal.

Want to Compare Ceramic With Our Other Medal Options?

If you are unsure whether ceramic, wood or slate is the best fit for your event, our sample pack is a good place to start.

You can compare the different materials, weights and finishes before deciding which direction works best for your participants.

Planning an OCR or Sporting Event?

If you are organising an obstacle race, championship, tournament or race series, we can help you decide which medal material best fits each level of award.

Send us your event branding, quantities and category structure and we can suggest a practical design direction.