On Tuesday I wrote about how annoying it is that even though women are quickly making up for half the foot race population, race directors are still giving us unisex sized race shirts. While I recognize this is totally a #firstworldproblem, it's still a problem all the same, and it's time we make a stand! I asked you to send me or post about your best and worst shirts from races and here's what y'all came up with:
Christy over at It Just Looks Like Slow Motion sent over this size "small" gem from the Mayor's Half Marathon in Anchorage. (As in Alaska. Brrr!)
Maybe they thought the extra material would keep her warm?Next up we have my beloved Boo who was excited for this awesomely pink Cleveland Half Marathon shirt right up until she got her size "medium" and realized they must have meant medium in giant sizing.
Maybe she could use it for wind resistance training?Missy over at Sugar Coated Athlete sent over a couple of examples of how "small" is relative. To the left we have what she referred to as "stuffed sausage" tight and follows it up on the right with what I would call "drowning in tech gear" loose.
Thankfully at least one race got it right and she scored this great fitting top that fits perfect:
Poor Allison over at Runner In Progress, her marathon PR race shirt from the Philly Marathon last year is so big on her that it's only taking up space in her drawer instead of being sported proudly on the regular. She had further thoughts on the matter so make sure you check out her post HERE.
It literally WAS the best "time" (PR!) of her life!My girl Christy over at 25 before 25 also got stuck with the oversized Philly shirt shown above and she PR'd that race too. Rude indeed Christy! Remember when I talked about my sadness over the BAA 5k shirt not fitting? Well Christy has 2011's shirt and it was just as oversized! Evidence below:
No joke, this is size "small"See the rest of her shirts HERE
(Including some awesome ones I'm totally green eyeing!)
Kathrin over at Bark Less, Tri More posted quite a few of her best and worst of both cotton and tech shirts she's received, but these two get my vote overall in their respective divisions:
Fits like a glove on the left! Notsomuch on the right.My fellow Michigander Bari, over at Live, Laugh, Run, Breath, had a plethora of shirts to show off but my favorite was this "upgraded" tech shirt she got at a local race that only had men's sizing. How is that an upgrade?
At least it's... um... I got nothing.
Finally, although "That Pink Girl" didn't blog specifically about this, she did post Monday about her oversized Cowtown Marathon shirt which actually triggered this whole shirt tangent I'm on to begin with.
If I didn't know it ahead of time I would swear she's wearing a red sweatshirt!So there you have it folks, a collection of ladies of all different shapes and sizes that have one thing in common: They all want to see more women's cut race shirts!
The demand is there so why aren't race organizers picking up what we're putting down? I'd love to hear from some race directors/organizers about how they decide what kind of shirts to order and why. Anyone out there know someone I could talk to? Anyone have any other ideas on how we can make this bigger and get the word out? Come one ladies, help me make a stand for all of us!
The demand is there so why aren't race organizers picking up what we're putting down? I'd love to hear from some race directors/organizers about how they decide what kind of shirts to order and why. Anyone out there know someone I could talk to? Anyone have any other ideas on how we can make this bigger and get the word out? Come one ladies, help me make a stand for all of us!
#onesizedoesnotfitall #sizematters #unisexraceshirtssuck
30 comments:
You know what I find especially irritating about the "unisex" (read: Men's) fit? Is the neck/collar. Don't you feel like you're being choked? Even when the shirt is too big, the cut is all wrong and it makes the collar super uncomfortable no matter what.
That just goes to prove that racing is a BIG girl's sport! I am personally going to mention this to all the Race Directors that I know..... SO expect a hike in the entry fee. LOL
The WORST is when they say "custom women's and men's shirt/jacket" and the only difference is the COLOR not the SIZE...
Absolutely LOVE this post!!!!
great post girl! and way to start a movement. i see this going global! ;)
Great idea and very cool to get all those responses. I always give my shirts to my wife and she wears them around the house. She tried to give a bunch of them away, but I would not let them go since whoever would have gotten that shirt didn't earn it! At least my wife supported me during the race and on all the training!
I agree with this response! Hate tight necks!
I agree with this response! Hate tight necks!
I recently ordered 200 shirts for a work event. I specifically ordered a small for myself and the rest were L, XL and a few XXL because it was VERY male dominated. In the end I was told that I should have only ordered XL and XXL. Sorry, I must have forgotten that I live in America, home of the morbidly obese.
Obviously this was not for runners, and really just a rant of my own about tshirt sizing.
What I want to know is why race directors even bother with asking for your size during registration if they're just going to order giant shirts anyway. *sigh*
This was so fun - you could almost do a whole additional post on the awfulness that is COTTON race t-shirts. How many runners do you know that actually RUN in cotton shirts????
It really is annoying, especially since race fees continue to climb. I am on the board of my local running club and we sponsor about 5 races per year. Because we have about 1/2 of our board members female, we have made sure that we always offer women's sizing. This has been popular, believe me!
Thanks for getting this discussion started!
I totally agree with the men's cut shirts. Size small is not small enough and there's generally not enough to go around. But, what about the *&*!# Nike women's shirts that are so long and skinny, you much be a 6' tall, size 2 to wear? I recently ran the Austin Half Marathon. It appeared that everyone picked up their shirt and marched over to the shirt exchange table to swap for a larger size. My size L is none too big, except in the shoulders & length.
I totally agree that unisex shirts are horrible! They never get any wear, I just give them away. Boooooo!
this issue IS right up there with that KONY stuff going on... hahaha.
i'm sorry i didn't do my photos in time. i still have to take some of them. :( i will post about it i guess later. obviously. since i haven't done it yet.
some of my too-big shirts i still run in. they just probably make me look like a man while i am running since it takes away the boob factor.
Talk about a cause I can get behind!
Stupid unisex big dumb shirts.
That sucks! I feel bad for all you ladies :(
If you are in or around Boulder, Chicago or NorCal/Bay Area check out the womens only, womens shirt T9ks...fun and shirts that are made for women!
http://www.titlenine.com/images/t9k/index.html
I love this post...but as I'm a tall and curvy girl (read: big), I actually like the sizing (but need longer sleeves on the long sleeve tees) but hate the fit....in my ideal world I would love the men's sizing but a tapered waist!!
I find that most events that offer men's and women's sizing - the women's run small! All women events tend to be good - but for the most part 90% of my race shirts go straight to the goodwill. I would rather have them spend money else where then on that.
I recently organized a small 5K mainly for my office of around 8,000 people we let in anyone else that wanted as well...it was our first year and we considered getting men's and women's shirts but it would have put us way over budget. We ended up having about 350 people and 75 of them signed up after we placed the shirt order. Which made it even more difficult to gauge gender.
It's probably mainly due to cost and the hassle of dealing with so many different shirt sizes. I don't see why bigger races can't offer women's as both orders would be very large. Some smaller races I can understand.
I have the opposite problem sometimes. I order an XL and the XL fits more like a medium.
Thank you to the person above who pointed out the unisex means that it is a shirt for men. So darn true!
I actually prefer unisex bc I know what to expect. I have a big chest for a runner so women's sizing to me = won't fit. Either I can get it around my chest but then the neck and sides and bottom are wayy too big or I better wear a really tight sportsbra to squeeze into it. I do feel for you though and the majority of lady runners who just want something fitted and flattering.
Those are some ILL FITTED shirts! Booo!
Boo bad race shirts. Hopefully we have raised awareness and we can stop the insanity. ;-)
I KNOW! I never know what size to get because if it's unisex I need to ask for a smaller size when I register for the race. They should definitely spend a little more money and get WOMENS shirts!
Oh my gosh, VERY funny. I was going to send you two (same race, different year - last year was a circus tent and they wised up and gave out super cute women's cuts this year) but my week got away with me! Love this post!!
I got here from a friend's blog, and all these shirts pretty much look better than what they give here. Pretty sure some of the races here are the models for what NOT to do when operating a race.
Almost every race, it's a white cotton shirt. They're ALL too big for me, and we actually have one race in town that has given the same. exact. shirt (there's no year or date on it) for the past three years.
I also did a race that did not give overall awards for females. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place were all dudes, as to be expected. Then found out the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place overall females just got age group awards...
I love how you're going to Runner's World with this too. Maybe then some people will catch on. More and more women are running these days and I don't see why the shirts can't be women's sizes- or either the race should offer a no-shirt option.
Amy Lauren
I don't so much mind the unisex cotton race shirts. USUALLY they all have pretty much the same fit. And like someone said above and as a previous race director myself, ordering women's cut tees for a small local race can really mess with your budget. However, larger events that are offering tech shirts should really offer women's cut shirts. My first and second half (MB Mini and Georgia Half) didn't and I wasn't able to wear the shirts, even in a size small. They almost hit my knees. The Gate River Run in Jacksonville, FL and Rock N Roll series both offer great fitting and nicely made tech shirts. I wear mine all the time and would happily pay a little more to get more shirts like those.
And on a side note--if a race decides to offer tech shirts, invest the money in getting tech shirts that don't feel cheap and actually do their job. I'd rather wear a cotton tee any day over a cheap tech shirt.
This is a joke...
Why do you run, for a t-shirt? Have you ever organized a race?
The only races that I would expect to have a good fitting shirt is from Boston, New York, Disney and other various for profit races that are pretty expensive.
If your shirts don't fit, take them to goodwill and allow someone that isn't as fortunate as you to benefit from it. You will still have the memories of the event to stay with you. I would much rather races cut the shirt expense and put it towards a charity and then have an optional purchased shirt.
I just found a really cool blog from pinterest.
http://www.andreasteed.com/node/1266#.T1V0YOcfn4w.pinterest
Large T-Shirt to Fitted Tee Tutorial
If that web address doesn't get you to the blog.
As I was reading the blog I was thinking about this t-shirt post and thought there might be some hope for your huge race t shirts.
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