The other night at church, my bride told me she saw several people wearing the 2012 St Jude Marathon race shirt while she was walking the halls. For some reason, I always think that there is some kindred bond that we have when I see someone wearing a shirt of a race that we ran together. A marathon shirt none the less is extra special, because I know the time, effort and pain that can go into a marathon.
So my question to my bride was "who was it? Did you know him?" She then proceeded to name a few guys I knew that ran the race, but then she said this, and I am going to paraphrase. There was one guy I asked about it and he said that he did not run the race, his dad works for the race and he got a lot of free shirts. Automatically, I immediately turn into these guys:
Yes, I turn into Cedric and Bob when I see some wearing a race shirt they did not run (unless it is a spouse, they put up with the other spouse training, so they get a pass) or if I see someone wearing the race shirt prior to finishing the race. Call me superstitious if you want, but you won't catch me in that position!
So, as we were leaving church the guy was walking out right in front of us. My bride nudged me and said "That's the guy, that's the guy who is wearing the shirt who did not run the race!" So I wanted to walk up to him and say in my best Hispanic accent:
So, are you the guy who is wearing the shirt without running the race? Are you going to run the race in order to wear the shirt? I wear the shirt and I ran the race. He ran the race and he is wearing the shirt, we are all wearing the shirts and we all ran the race, so why aren't you going to run the race? I guess we are just going to have to teach him to run the race if he wants to wear the shirt!
But, I didn't. I mean, Yeah, it does bug me to see people wearing race shirts they did not run, or to see people wearing the race shirt before they actually finish the race, but it is a personal hang up of mine. My bride gets on to me because I will not donate race shirts to the needy because they did not run the race and earn the shirts! Maybe this is something I will back off of one day, and maybe I am just kidding about all this!(Not really) Honestly, I am getting so many that I try to give them to my wife to wear, because let's be real, after about 4-5 years of racing, most shirts do not mean as much to me, and I only wear certain ones. I do like to start up a conversation with people if I see they have the same shirt on though!
So, what is your stand on race shirts and people wearing them before a race or wearing them when they did not run the race? Are you a race t-shirt bully like me?
Just print this out and sneak it in his coat pocket
ReplyDeletehttp://tridiesel.blogspot.com/2011/06/t-shirt-etiquette-guidelines.html
Love it! That is a great post!
Delete100% agree....if you didn't do the race, you don't wear the shirt. I don't even wear an M-Dot Logo in public (excpet on my 70.3 finishers shirt). My bike helmet is an Ironman Pro helmet and I have even gone as far as covering the logos on that until I've gone 140.6.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love BDD's link too....especially wearing the shirt you got at packet pick up to the race. It's like wearing an artist T-shirt to the concert....unless its a 100% charity race (Komen, etc). I'll let that one pass.
I guess charity races might be OK, I'd have to get a ruling on that! Maybe of you donated money, then it is OK!
DeleteI used to think the same but have mellowed out over time. I now view it as they are envious of what we have achieved. I find it flattering
ReplyDeleteI need to think of it as flattery, Thanks!
DeleteScott wrote it well - some of his best work ever. Can't wear it unless you earn it.
ReplyDeleteWow, a double comment. Someone must be passionate about this.
ReplyDeleteThere is an organization called WorldVision which accepts the "wrong" tee shirts for most sports events and distributes them to disaster areas or world poverty sites. This is since many of those shirts need to be preprinted to handle immediate demand so thousands of 49er super bowl champion shirts were made for this year. When they didn't win, those shirts go somewhere.
I think that's ok. Don't know about surplus race shirts though. Gotta earn those.
As you said earlier, you gotta earn it!
DeleteIf you didn't run it or volunteer, then don't wear it.
ReplyDeleteCharity? Different story. If someone needs clothing, they can wear whatever the eff they want.
I'm glad there's an exemption for spouses. That's why I let you use my coffee mug/1st place award for my age group in the eyeopener 5k. And now I don't have to feel as guilty drinking out of your NashVegas 70.3 cup!
ReplyDeleteBut you don't drink coffee! I would be fine in leaving it alone if it was a tea cup! :)
DeleteWe might have to go to England to find a race that gives away tea cups for ag awards. Me thinks you might be on to sumthin' governor!
DeleteI spit my hot tea back in my cup after the "I won't donate my shirts to the homeless because they didn't run the race." That is HILARIOUS!
ReplyDeleteI think for us who dedicate blood, sweat, tears and treasure to racing, we "get" how sacred the shirts, hats and medals are. People who never run more than a 5K, in most cases probably don't understand and that's ok too. For me....the ultimate sin is wearing ANYTHING with the Ironman logo on it, even the freaking Timex if you haven't competed in one. If you compete and DNF, it's still ok to wear but don't even think about the MDOT if you haven't raced one.
what about an Ironman that is a 70.3???
DeleteI agree with you 100%. I will NEVER wear a race shirt until I am done, and I feel that it is earned so do not wear it if you did not run it. If you ran and had to withdraw, you can still wear it, but do not wear what you have not ran.
ReplyDelete