Race shirts. Do they influence which races you choose? Do you have some you love? Loathe? Do you even keep them all? That’s what we’re gabbing about this week on Tuesdays on the Run.
Race Shirt Raves
I’ve got plenty of race shirts I love:
NYCM’s did not disappoint.
MCM’s mock turtle is all kinds of awesome.
Boston’s iconic highlighter colors will always get my nod of approval. No pics of those. My bad.
Race Shirt Rants
I’ve got some race shirts that aren’t quite my taste in the design department.
This burnt orange (it’s more burnt irl) number from the March Madness Half doesn’t light my fire. The logo looks like the brain-child of 70’s era teenagers camped out in a basement smoking weed. No offense to the March Madness peeps cuz I love their ridiculously hard and hilly race. I do. Really, I swear I do. Would I have run it 6 times if I didn’t?
This one from the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon in Springfield, IL tops my weirdo list. I appreciate the originality and the wit…..but hmmmm….I’ve never worn it.
The shirt I most love to hate is this one from the Columbus Marathon. It’s a women’s cut Nike Dry Fit tee so the quality and cut are fine. The graphic is meh, but I think what puts this one on the hate list is the memories of that race. I went out waaay too fast and basically death marched from mile 18 on. Now that time has gotten between me and the Columbus Marathon, I’m thinking perhaps I’ve been a bit harsh. I never fought so hard for a finish time in my life. I got in for a freaking BQ, yet I beat myself up for years for pacing so poorly there. It wasn’t until only recently that I started to appreciate how hard I worked physically and mentally to hold it together enough to save that race. As my friends say A BQ is a BQ.
What race shirt(s) do you love? Not so much? Do they bring back memories for you?
I find myself only liking my tech tees…if they are cotton, I could really care less about them. I am thinking of having my MIL make me a race quilt of the cotton tees that I never wear…
I can totally understand why the Abe Lincoln shirt is not a favorite! That’s a weird one for sure!
I am so picky about my shirts, … cut, color and material that I have never worn one and don’t keep them. Or maybe I do in a drawer somewhere… but I couldn’t tell you where ! So I would never wear one with Lincoln on my chest ! LOL
My favourite is my purple shirt from the Trailffest half marathon. It’s a good fit, only has a small graphic, and I really enjoyed the race.
I only like the fit of a handful of the t-shirts I’ve got, the rest languish at the bottom of my drawer only to be resorted to when I’ve ran out of everything else!
I like Lindsey’s idea of a race quilt though. That’s a brilliant way to re-use t-shirts that you don’t like.
Race shirts absolutely do bring back memories for me & I workout in them & sometimes race in them.
And yes, there are those of us who will never BQ (even if I ran a full), so you should be proud!
I used to really love race shirts but I feel more blah about them these days. Not to mention they usually don’t really match all of my crazy tights and capris that I wear in the winter!
I kind of like that Abe shirt..the quirkiness makes me smile. But I’m with you. I don’t know that I’d wear it!
My biggest complain about race shirts is when they don’t fit well. But thats usually my fault for picking the wrong size. I have gotten a few jackets and long sleeved shirts that have worked out really well and I run in them all the time!
Yeah, I can see why you’ve never worn your Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon shirt. I turn those into my PJ’s!
I have a few race shirts that I really love to wear and then there are some others that stay at the bottom of the pile – mainly if they are non-tech shirts. The Annapolis Classic Half Marathon had a really nice tech zip pullover in 2015 with thumbholes! The Lincoln shirt is funny but the medal looks incredible!
I didn’t have time to draft a post to link with this…but, I have a lot of RSF’s (Race Shirt Fails) in my collection. Actually, most of those are probably now residing in someone else’s closet because they’ve been donated. I’m very picky about my race/running gear…I want a “fitted” fit (no sagging or bagging), and I want tech fabric. ANd, of course, I want (need?) pretty colors. I wrote a blog many moons ago about being a race shirt snob (or something along those lines)…..and I admitted to sometimes actually “forgetting” the shirt at the packet-pickup table if, especially it was cotton. (#mysnobbybad)
This might be sacrilegious, but I hate my MCM mock neck. I know that they are the tradition, but they are terrible!
I don’t like white race shirts and I don’t like when there is not a women’s cut- which is actually rare nowadays, but I have a lot of old HUGE dry tech shirts from races that I just never wear because they are big and boxy.
I think how we perform on race day definitely influences our opinion of the shirt! Your Columbus Marathon shirt doesn’t look bad at all!
Race shirts are either hit or miss. I’ve got a few that I do wear in lounge in, all the time (long sleeves +winter!), but the others are a nope. I know there’s the possibility of a shirt blanket in the future, but I need to acquire more shirts.
Love the mock turtle neck 🙂 and the NY colors, so pretty! The Lincoln is strange lol I ditched all my old thick cotton shirts. I love when I get a tech shirt, but I have a few that have such heavy decals areas, like my Princess Half one, it feels weird to wear it.
My first 10K shirt is my least favorite. It’s sheer, white, boring and small. That Lincoln shirt is weirdly fascinating 🙂
That Lincoln one. I always want to love it but I just…it doesn’t even fit right, and it’s DEFINITELY weird. A little better than their bright yellow from the previous year, I guess?
I was worried about the LA shirt because the Skechers one from Houston a few years ago was terrible. The shirt was super cute – Valentines theme – red and nice design. Phew.
I have some winners and some losers. Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 and Quarryman have had recent losers. I mean come on – you torture me and then give me a lame shirt!? NO bueno.
Honestly, there are so few race shirts I wear but… I LOVE the Abe shirt!! Me & my friends wear it all the time! I like it for its weirdness, makes me feel fun. Not to mention the material and fit is fantastic. Now the previous years gold and green ones from Springfield went into the garage sale before it was ever worn. lol
I keep every race shirt I have even if it sucks. Lol! I have plans to get a quilt made one of these days but I haven’t yet which means the shirts just keep piling up… Someday!
What a fun topic this week Marcia! I think the only place for the Abe shirt is in the drawer! It is kind of odd, but you could say the same thing about the Tupelo, MS race shirts, they have skulls and the past few years tie dyed long sleeves. Quite unique but I do love them! Thanks for the link up!
That Lincoln Half shirt is hysterical! The race medal is really cool!!
My NYC Marathon shirts are some of my favorites. But I have to disagree on the MCM shirt. I do not love mock turtlenecks. The last time I did it (2014) it was poop brown too, which isn’t a good look. But I still kept it for sentimental reasons (it was the 10th anniversary of my first marathon, which was also MCM).
That Lincoln shirt is definitely a strange one! The medal however is fabulous!
I honestly think I would wear that Lincoln shirt every President’s Day! It is pretty gruesome awesome!
Ha this is hilarious. My least favorite race shirt is actually a clear cut winner. The NJ half marathon from 2 years ago has a star that somehow hits you right on the boob.
I really don’t wear too many of my race shirts. Usually they’re just not something that I like. But there are a couple that I hate and go straight in the bin. Gold Coast marathon does a truly dreadful one. They are all the same shape – men and women – doesn’t matter that it’s one of the biggest events in Australia and the number of women outstrip the men. It’s just laziness on behalf of the race organisers.
i hate getting cotton shirts but love when they are nice tech materials! I actually wear my race shirts alot as I train in them.
the Lincoln shirt is quite creepy! never run NYCM but the NYRR shirts are usually nice 😉 even the lime green one I got for the NYC Half wasn’t too bad, for being lime green and all
That LPHM shirt is so funny. I would never wear it. My sons probably would just for the weirdness factor. I do love the MCM mock turtle, although the year I did it the color was light grey, which wasn’t as nice in my opinion. I did give that one to my son.
Anything in white is a hate. They get gross and sweaty so fast.
My favorites are the NYRR Brooklyn half marathon tshirts – they are just so cool looking and they’re tech, too. I’ve run a lot of miles in them! I don’t understand why cotton race shirts are even made – that said, I use them as pajamas or lounging around the house, so I guess they serve their purpose! That Lincoln one is both cool and bizarre!!
I do love my race shirts and appreciate something a little different too! Your Lincoln shirt, too different- LOL! Have you ever run a Hot Chocolate race? I did the 15K in Phoenix and you get a very nice fleece z-up, you know us Florida runners don’t get many of those!
The medal from Lincoln Presidential is awesome, but the shirt? OMG it’s horrendous! Yeah, I think you should cut yourself some slack on your BQ finish time. Does it really matter how it played out? I think not. What I wouldn’t give for a BQ!
Maybe I’m too strange for myself…. I really like the President Lincoln shirt!
I like to think of the memories of the race more than the shirt… since I get tons of yellow and ton of cotton shirts!