Proper Race T-Shirt Wearing Etiquette (according to Bad Ben)

The often-hilarious trail runner/blogger Bad Ben of the KC Trail Running Nerds has updated his awesome post of proper race t-shirt wearing etiquette. It's worth a read (or listen via podcast), and I found myself laughing out loud throughout the read.

(Some of Bad Ben's samples, courtesy of Bad Ben)

A sample of the 21 rules of race t-shirt wearing:

"2. Any race tee, less than a marathon distance, shouldn’t be worn to an ultramarathon event. This goes double for the wearing of sprint-tri shirts to Ironman and Half-Ironman events. It simply doesn’t represent a high enough "cool factor " and sends a red flag regarding your rookiness. It's like taking a knife to a gunfight....

6. A DNF’er may wear a race shirt if... the letters DNF are boldly written on the shirt in question (using a fat Sharpie or a Marks-A-Lot).

20. This next one is a big one, and has something to do with the need for more good taste and asthetics in this sometimes ugly world. Never wear a shirt that is so old, thin, and threadbare that you can see the color of your nipples or chest hair through it. This seems to be just a "guy thing," especially and old-codger-runner-guy thing. Here's the test guys: if you're too scared to machine-wash your 1978 Tab Ten-Miler shirt for fear of it wafting down the drain as meer subatomic particles, then it's probably too transparent to wear in public..."

Be sure to read the whole post for the full comical effect! I'm not sure how many of these rules apply to t-shirt quilts, but I'm thinking at least half do.

SD

Too Many T-shirts? Make a quilt!

If you're like me, you've got enough race shwag in the attic to outfit a small town. T-shirts, sweatshirts, and jerseys galore - you don't wear them, but they have too much sentimental value for you to part with them. What to do?

This holiday season, I got a gift that solved this dilemma in very cozy way. Using the services from CampusQuilt.com, we had a king-size quilt made of most of my race t-shirts (7 x 7 = 49 shirts). Now we have a cozy blanket that brings back all kinds of memories!

(My "race quilt" - recognize any of these shirts?)

The process was fairly painless, although it took longer than expected (about five weeks end to end, vs the advertised 2-3 weeks). They take a deposit of $100 and send you a kit where you plot the layout of the quilt, choose fabrics and borders, and let them know of any special needs. You send in the shirts, and about three weeks later, a quilt comes back in the mail.

I was very pleased with the end product. They had a good eye for the best way to cut the 14" x 14" squares, including taking the sleeve pattern from the Boston Marathon shirts and getting them in the square. The blanket is actually "quilted", meaning there is a sewn pattern of loops across all the shirts, so it doesn't feel like it was cheaply tacked together.

(If you look close, you can see the quilting pattern on the shirts)

The whole thing set us back about $420, which to a sewing novice like me, feels like a bargain. But best of all, I now have a way to "use" those shirts. I bet it would be a great way to assemble concert t-shirts, fraternity/sorority party shirts, or even corporate t-shirts. Ross Common Quilts and a few others have similar services (and ironically they all seem to be in the same area of Kentucky), so depending on your needs, you may want to look around.

(Sophie loves snoozing with the new blankie)

Do you have other creative uses for your race t-shirts? I know some of you could probably make a hot air balloon with the 100's you have amassed. If you have some ideas, let us know!

Thanks, SD