One of my verrrry minor bugbears is people who show up to 3k or 5k fun runs wearing gear promoting events well above the event's level.
Like "okay dude, that's a nice Antarctica Marathon t-shirt but it's not going to make you look cooler in the Buttfucknowheresville Gala 5k", or "settle down Mrs London Marathon windbreaker over your Kona Ironman tech tee, you're going up against someone with a cotton T-shirt from Asda and thick shorts that are going to build up enough charge to power a small African country".
Big respect to the effort they put in to earn the gear, but who are they honestly trying to impress?
I'm not the caliber of athlete you're talking about having only done local runs, but I can't say I pay attention to what other people are wearing enough to read the words on their shirts. I'm more focused on elbowing in to get a free banana before they're all gone or making sure my bib isn't pinned on upside down.
However, if this is a common enough thing, how is there no an industry of making over-the-top fake race shirts to parody those folks you're talking about?
I'm thinking things like:
- Kessel Run 2021 - 12 parsecs or die!
- 500 miler: What I would walk (to be with you)
- Lake Laogai 5k - surprisingly forgetable!
I mean... Where the hell else are they going to wear running gear, branded or not? I'm nowhere near that level, but I absolutely have favorite running gear that I prefer to wear, no matter the distance of the race.
I suppose everyone has their own preferences. If people reaaaally want to wear their Death Run 69420miler UltraPersistence shirt to a two-lap-round-the-village local 5k race then go wild I guess, ain't nothing stopping you, just feels a bit tone deaf to me.
As for wearing running shirts, I guess it depends. I have a few plain Brooks or New Balance shirts that I just enjoy wearing on warm days, or even a Disneyland Paris wicking shirt that's just quite comfortable.
That said, I personally purposefully don't wear any of my "achievement" finisher shirts, I just hang them up above my gym mats in my garage - perhaps as a source of inspiration.
Having a "favourite" running gear is awesome though. I've got a couple of shirts and pairs of shirts myself and it's awesome having a set of gear that just works when you're out on tarmac.
One of my coworkers does ultra marathons, once did 100 mile run, straight thru the mountains. Hes won boston qualifier marathons. Dude is a machine. But he shows up to those short races too. His favorite is the mile. Theyre not there to compete with people who are there just to complete, theyre there because they fucking love to run and want EVERY opportunity to run. Its not about "you," its about them.
This. People who have never been a high performance athlete just don't understand the mentality. It becomes everything, and it's not about the time difference between you and the next guy just the delta between your time and your last time.
I respect the man who ran a 28 minute 10k last weekend for one of the charity events the city outs on. Beat the next guy by almost 4 minutes.
I feel attacked.
But seriously, I just like some of the race shirts. I don't typically wear it for anyone but me, though I do like seeing other peoples race gear. I've found out about a lot of cool races because someone had a shirt.
I have some gear like that, but only because I bought it all cheaply when one of the manufacturers did a warehouse clearance.
I use my marathon tshirt at lots of sport occasions, also under a jacket when its cold. It's nice and comfortable and I'm not gonna buy another t-shirt when I have one that's perfectly fine. It's not for showing off, I use it because I hate shopping.
The worst are the triathletes. Always trying to work it into every conversation. Ugh.
Also, any other triathletes around?
Oh and he uses Arch BTW..
A vegan crossfit marathoner who uses Arch btw and trades crypto: his head might burst before he figures out which one he wants to talk your ear off about.
slow clap
You "have ran"?
Running a marathon must be tough. I say that because it's physically draining, not because it's hard; I mean, it's not exactly brain surgery is it?
I was expecting some tips to run a marathon in the comment section.
Something they won't tell you is that you should start with short marathons. And work slowly to longer ones as you get better at it.
I've heard tape on nipples helps with friction. I don't run marathons though. That takes way too long.
You mean there are other uses???
Bonus points for casually mentioning your pace or VO2_max.
I wasn't going to talk about it, but since you brought it up, my VO2 max is...
Actually, as a marathoner I care more about my threshold pace.
That's because it's fucking amazing tho foreals =X!
Bonus points for mentioning CrossFit.
You mean CrossShit?
