I'm linking up with Erika for TOTR!
Now honestly, I don't find this topic controversial, but I do have a pretty strong opinion on it for myself. When I signed up for my first race, I wore the race's t-shirt because the race organizers asked us to...and it was cotton, to boot.
Since then, I developed the sneaking feeling that I shouldn't wear the shirt until I'd earned it by beginning - and hopefully finishing - the race.
It's also how I felt about owning any kind of 13.1 or 26.2 paraphernalia or putting the distance stickers on my car before I'd completed those races.
There are other, more valid reasons to save the race shirt until after race day.
1. I don't do anything new on race day. It's a good rule for a reason; you have no idea if that new shirt will chafe, bleed color, or otherwise bother you until you've tested it out! Even for a short race, I prefer to wear my tried-and-true racing clothes.
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| One exception to this rule: I bought this tank top the night before Cape Coral because I knew it would be too hot NOT to wear white. I didn't regret it. |
2. Some shirts aren't the right style. Many winter races give out long-sleeved shirts, but it's often in the 70s or warmer on race day! And quite a few races give out cotton shirts, which I absolutely won't run in anymore. Not to mention that I prefer tank tops and very rarely run in any kind of sleeved shirt; I find them annoying.
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| Space Coast was a November race and their shirts were long-sleeved, but the race-day temperature was in the mid-70s! |
3. I put a lot of thought into my race outfits. I spend good money on my cute running clothes and I debate multiple outfits before leaving the house on race day. I factor in temperature, humidity, the possibility of rain, whether it will be partially-cloudy...I'm not going to eschew my perfectly planned, color-coordinated racing ensemble in favor of the race shirt!
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| Just a few "Flat-Ali" pictures. Laying it all out is imperative to planning. The bottom three are each of my marathon outfits! |
4. It's not good fashion. You don't wear the shirt of the band you're seeing to the concert, you know? The same rule-of-fashion applies to races.
Okay, that last one isn't really a valid reason, but it's how I feel!
The truth is that I rarely wear race shirts for anything other than lounging around the house or coaching volleyball. Someday I'll get them made into a quilt, but it hasn't been a priority.
I know plenty of experienced, talented runners who wear the race shirt on race day, but for me, it just never felt right!
Where do you stand on the controversy?
What do you do with all your race shirts?
ABK
PS: Skirt Sports is having their Spring Sweeps giveaway! It's really easy to enter, and they'll be giving away a $100 gift card every day until March 30.
PS: Skirt Sports is having their Spring Sweeps giveaway! It's really easy to enter, and they'll be giving away a $100 gift card every day until March 30.
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| Click here to enter! |
I think it is funny that there is controversy over this! I generally don't wear the shirt at the race but I have done it before. It was a really nice short sleeved tech tee and I was like, ooh this will be good for tomorrow! Haha. I normally don't cause like said said- nothing new on race day. I do have a shirt from a race I did not start that I wear for training. It's a NICE shirt and I paid for it so I don't see why I should let it go to waste. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel like if you paid for the race, and you're wearing the shirt for training, that's okay. I might feel differently about really elite races - like someone wearing a Boston jacket that didn't run Boston - but for most races I don't think that's a big deal!
DeleteI honestly think I'll jinx myself if I wear the race shirt before the race! I'm with you (and probably everyone else) on the nothing new on race day rule and the fact that I spend good money on my regular running clothes so I want to wear them! Most of my race shrits end up at Goodwill, but I do save one or two a year to use as "throwaway" shirts on a cold race morning.
ReplyDeleteI am basically a hoarder and keep all my race shirts whether or not I wear them. I should use them as throwaway shirts! That's really smart. I always mean to donate them and never get around to it.
DeleteYes I totally agree with you on all of it! Especially #4! I almost mentioned the concert rule in my post. If a race gives out a t-shirt I rarely wear it to run. I like to look cute when I race, which is where skirts and nice tops come in. Gotta show off what that money bought!
ReplyDeleteI think looking cute at a race helps mentally, and then you race better. There must be science behind this theory, I'm sure!
DeletePersonally, I would never even wear the shirt until after I ran the race. My parents got me this year's Boston jacket for my birthday and I tried it on (I always do that at the expo just to make sure they didn't do anything weird with the sizing) and hung it right back up in my closet. No. Way. Wearing the shirt before is like jinxing it all.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who has run 50+ marathons and he always wears the shirt to the race. Regardless of weather. The only reason he wouldn't is if it's some really obscure material. He's superstitious that if he doesn't wear it, things will go awry!!
Yep, agreed. I wait until the race is over and I've finished it before I'll wear the shirt. I just need to feel like I've EARNED it.
DeleteI like that your friend seems to have the opposite feeling about jinxing the race than most of the commenters!
Haha! I had to explain this to my friend yesterday who is running her first half marathon in a few weeks. I agree with Alison... it would just jinx the whole thing! I am not normally superstitious, but I am weirdly so about the race shirt. I think it's funny that people get so into this topic though. If you want to wear it on race day, do it!
ReplyDeleteUsually after races, I use the shirt to run in when training. I normally wear tanks or something cute for the race.
I'm not superstitious either, really, but I agree that wearing the shirt early feels like a jinx! But like you said, it's all just what I feel personally. I don't judge people who wear their race shirts on race day!
DeleteI also put alot of thought into my race outfit. But sometimes it doesn't go as planned due to the weather. So I am thankful to have the race shirt bc sometimes I do wear it.
ReplyDeleteWeather can be a big factor. I often wear the race shirt after a race, especially if I'm really sweaty and need a clean top, or if it was cold and I need an extra layer.
DeleteI don't wear the shirt, mostly because I didn't spend so much money on cute running clothes so I could not wear them on my biggest days of the year (your #3 point in action).
ReplyDeleteI know people who throw a fit about this, and I don't get it. Who cares? Why worry so much about what other people do? Save that energy for your race.
I remember at my first marathon, a girl in our local running club wore the race shirt that day. Not a first timer. She BQ'd. Since then I never make assumptions about people I see wearing the race shirt.
Also, I just remembered: at my last marathon, we actually had to pick up our shirts at the finish line. I think there was a tag on our bibs with our size/sex on it or something. A lot of people liked this approach, but then there were some who didn't finish the race (or didn't start) and complained they didn't get the shirt they paid for. For those who didn't start, well, I don't know why you'd want a shirt from a race you didn't actually run, but whatever.
DeleteI do like the idea of picking up the shirt post-race, especially if it's a race of real merit or kind of elite. Like, I don't think people who haven't run Boston should wear a Boston jacket, you know? Same kind of idea.
DeleteI definitely know a LOT of talented runners who wear the race shirts on race day; I might think they're a newbie at the start, but they never fail to show me I'm wrong!
I agree with all your points! I sometimes wear my shirts to bed. I have worn them very rarely on training runs. I also don't like sleeves.
ReplyDeleteI do like wearing them to bed, although sometimes if they're really tech-y material, I feel like I'm slipping all over the place!
DeleteI wish I could be so fashionable when it comes to my running outfits! But I agree - I don't wear the race shirt on race day. I only did it at my first race and my friends shamed me at the finish line! Never again lol.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I'm sorry you were shamed haha! I think you always look really put-together in your race pics!
DeleteI agree on all your points. Love your flat-Ali's... you have some really cute outfits.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've noticed I gravitate toward pink tops and black bottoms haha.
DeleteI really do enjoy training in race shirts. And I've run a few races in a previous race's race shirt -- if it was a good race, I find it really motivating.
ReplyDeleteCourse now I'm stockpiling cute clothes so it might just be while training . . .
I do love wearing a few favorite shirts that remind me of my favorite races!
DeleteI think there came a point when I had done so many races that I just stopped caring about what I wore all together for 90% of them. I just don't wear race shirts because they rarely fit right and they have sleeves.
ReplyDeleteI don't see anything wrong with thinking over what you'll wear to a race, ESPECIALLY considering what a huge factor weather can be. Plus, who doesn't want to look cute in official race pics? :)
DeleteI agree with you. I usually run with tank tops (would be nice if a race had tank tops as the swag), so the shirts usually do not do me good. I probably use the long sleeve ones the most for the winter.
ReplyDeleteI WISH races had a tank option. I did get a tank at a GOTR 5k but it was cotton. Cute for the beach but not to run in.
DeleteI was taught you had to earn it but the real reason is, like you, I can't stand to run in sleeves. Give me a tank with arm warmers any day!
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, when I started running it didn't bother me to run the shirts on race day.
ReplyDeleteNow, I've developed an almost superstitious belief that its a really bad idea to wear the shirt before you've "earned" the right to wear it.