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Marathon Collectibles from SportsPottery.com
 | Searching for a unique and memorable souvenir from your favorite marathon? Look no further than SportsPottery.com (www.sportspottery.com). Created by Sharna Fulton, SportsPottery.com features a full assortment of hand-painted ceramics, including the stylish ING New York City Marathon Picture Frame pictured here. Other items include Mugs, Goblets, Plates and Gift Balls.
Sports Pottery is an official licensee for the Boston Marathon, the ING New York City Marathon and the P.F. Chang Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. They also create custom pieces for any race.
“I believe the gift market is saturated with the ‘same old, same old’,” says Sharna. “I am committed to offering gift givers something different, something made with attention to detail and quality, something they are proud to give.”
Sharna’s business partner is husband Rob Blaszkiewicz, or Coach B as he is known to the students at Atlanta’s Loganville High School, where he coaches cross country. Rob has completed several marathons, as has his father-in-law Bob Sr, and SportsPottery.com’s web designer, Chuck Howard. So although Sharna doesn’t run marathons (she prefers tennis), she has received much inspiration from marathon runners.
The origins of Sports Pottery go back to the 1990s when Sharna was selling tennis and golf teapots and platters to local Atlanta country clubs. At the suggestion of her husband, she created ceramic items for the 1999 Peachtree Road Race, a popular run in the Atlanta area. Her mugs, frames and gift balls were a huge success at the pre-race expo. Buoyed by that success, Sharna decided to go after the marathon market, starting with the Marine Corps Marathon in 2000.
“Though I wasn’t running the race, they were people I felt I could relate to. I was so impressed by this group of people. Marathoners, both men and women, are very disciplined, goal-oriented, well-rounded, intelligent and ‘love life’ kind of people,” Sharna said. “When they buy something from us, I feel totally honored.”
She has since brought her wares to several marathon expos, including Boston, Chicago and New York.
How is Sports Pottery made? Greenware is handpainted according to specifications, then fired at 1,400 degrees for 8 hours and cooled for another 6 hours. It’s then glazed to make it shiny and re-fired for another 6 hours with more cooling time. Finally, each piece is dressed with a coordinating ribbon and put in a gift box along with a card. In all, roughly 28 hours goes into making each piece.
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