Ever toss your race shirt straight into the charity bin?
davemunger
Posts: 1,139 Member
My drawers are overflowing with race shirts -- some technical, some cotton. I like to keep the nice ones but lately I've had a string of duds. Even when I do well in a race I don't want to wear a crappy cotton shirt just because the race name is on it. So lately I have just been throwing them straight into the bin we use to collect clothing we are planning to give to charity.
Somehow it seems wrong, though. Anyone else do this? Any other ideas for what to do with unwanted race shirts?
Somehow it seems wrong, though. Anyone else do this? Any other ideas for what to do with unwanted race shirts?
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Replies
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Once I get enough, I want to make a quilt out of all my race shirts!0
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No judgement but aughhhh this makes me sad lol. I'm not very fast and have only been running competitively for 13 months but I cannot imagine not keeping every single race momento! I wear the cotton ones (kind of rare for me) when I'm running errands, cleaning, lounging and the tech ones when I'm training. Maybe find someone that quilts? That would be AMAZING to have a quilt made of all your races!0
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Dang it kavery has faster thumbs and isn't as long winded as me. Lol.0
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No judgement but aughhhh this makes me sad lol. I'm not very fast and have only been running competitively for 13 months but I cannot imagine not keeping every single race momento!
I was just like you a few years ago, but then I just started getting so many! Then I started replacing the old ones with newer ones and now I kind of regret not saving some of the older shirts. So now I'm trying to be picky and only getting rid of shirts that aren't as nice. I do keep all of my marathon shirts, though!0 -
Tech shirts I keep, cotton go to my kids to wear as jammers. If they don't have something that will meet those requirements I'll just not take the shirt.
Different subject but I am really starting to like races that do things other than shirts. My last half gave out some pretty nice hats and a glass; if you do their whole series you get a matching growler.0 -
I absolutely charity bin some of mine. Not all of my shirts actually fit me - I'm small, so the sizing is sometimes off. I totally want someone else who needs but maybe can't afford a nicer tech shirt to be able to run in one.
It's no big deal to me, I have the memories I need. Now what I feel guilty about is getting rid of medals, but I was thinking of sending them to that charity that gives them to kids. I could definitely live with that.0 -
I have just not taken shirts a couple times. I know I paid for it in the registration fee, sometimes if it's ugly, I just don't want it. I save all my bibs as those mean more to me than most of my shirts.
I like it when they give you the option to purchase the shirts.0 -
Nope ... Those I don't like I have used for 1) yard work or 2) mowing or 3) cut them up and used them to clean furniture.
However I have saved all my bibs.0 -
Sorry to sidetrack but I saw a bib in the trash after a race a week or two ago. I seriously almost got teary eyed. All my bibs are hanging on my "running wall of fame" with all my medals and other such stuff ❤️0
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I just cleaned out my closet and gave all the cotton ones to my daughter's to wear as pajamas. They love it.0
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Sorry to sidetrack but I saw a bib in the trash after a race a week or two ago. I seriously almost got teary eyed. All my bibs are hanging on my "running wall of fame" with all my medals and other such stuff ❤️
Somehow the bibs don't do it for me. I know some runners keep notebooks of them and write down their time / place on them, but I figure I have all that on Garmin so I don't need it.
I do keep all my marathon and half marathon finish medals, plus any awards from shorter races (until I run out of room that is).
[also apparently an ethernet USB adapter, lol!]0 -
I do not have that many so do not have that problem.0
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Lately all I am getting is crappy tech-tees, so I have been excited when I get a race shirt that is actually cotton. The last MTB race I did, the race shirt was a super soft cotton t-shirt. It was very nice.
I use the crappy shirts for work/painting shirts and they go into the trash after they get nasty.0 -
alot of mine end up in the charity bin because i have found out that a 'runner sized XL' doesn't actually mean a real life XL and alot of race shirts don't even fit over my shoulders.
i keep most of my race medals though and the medal from my most recent race is hanging from my rear view of mirror of my car.0 -
For the first time, just the other day. It was a bit painful to do, as I've not been running long so each is still 'special.' :ohwell:
But it was huge (most have been either too small or right on target for sizing), not a very nice color, and had huge lettering of <religion I have issues with> all over the shirt (which I wasn't aware of when I signed up for the race).
I keep all my finisher medals and bibs, though.0 -
Back in my earlier running days, I did a special needs awareness 5k, and bless their hearts, they let one of the kids design the shirt and it's horrendous. I just can't be seen in it, but I can't bring myself to trash it either lol.
I'm starting to want cotton shirts and notice a lot of races are giving out cottons and selling tech tees, or vice versa. I feel like a jock sniffer wearing a tech tee out in public if I'm not racing, and let's face it, I like to take my time in Target.0 -
A good question I keep mine even though I don't wear them so it will probably go in a bin, just cause I need some room in my drawers though I will keep the cool ones.0
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When I first started running and learned that technical fabric was WAY better than cotton for running I BOUGHT a bunch of donated race technical shirts from our charity store. LOL So, thanks for your donations - because they've helped get me started.
I don't do a lot of races, in fact I'm only coming up on my 2nd road race, so I only have 1 technical tee, and I wear it running. The cotton shirt that I got from the mud run last year I cut the neckline to make it a looser tee for sleeping in.
My 2 medals and my bib are on the mirror above my dresser and I cherish them.0 -
No, but I did throw the shirt I was wearing straight into the trash after my ultra.alot of mine end up in the charity bin because i have found out that a 'runner sized XL' doesn't actually mean a real life XL and alot of race shirts don't even fit over my shoulders.
Yeah, I have a few XLs that I can't wear. I'm hanging on to them to see how I feel about them after some weight loss.0 -
I only keep the ones I like. My last half gave out white tech shirts that were far too see-through for my liking, I couldn't imagine ever wearing it in public so it went straight to the charity bin.
I wish I had kept my bibs. My first one was from a Tough Mudder so it was wrecked by the end, and it didn't occur to me to keep bibs in other races after that. But I do engrave my times on the backs of my medals.0 -
I think most race shirts are ugly. I've kept a few long sleeved ones but the majority of them go straight to Goodwill.
I have a display rack at home for my finisher medals and my bibs are pinned to the walls of my office cubicle.0 -
Wait....you're supposed to get a shirt??0
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Tech shirts as long as they're not a billboard I keep and use. As far as hanging onto them as a memento, no. Finisher medals are what I like, also hang onto my bibs.0
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My wife runs lots of races and she thinks the majority of shirts they hand out are crappy, so she throws them and only keeps the few good ones.
I am someone who gets attached to shirts/clothes and wants to keep them all. So, what I do to make parting easier is to put the clothes/shirts I am pretty sure I don't wear much, or at all, into a bag that goes in the basement or the garage. That way I am not actually throwing them out, but they are not clutter anymore. After a few months, I realize I have not even missed them, and I can toos the bags without pangs of misgiving.
You're just being sentimental. Look at the shirts hard; you know if you are ever going to choose that shirt from the drawer, or not, when you have other choices. If not, give it the ol' heave-ho!0 -
I have them all. I wear two. This thread makes me think though.0
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I toss most of my shirts and only keep the really special ones (good quality or the race was awesome!)
Every couple of months I donate the majority of my medals to a charity that hands them to sick kids after their cancer treatments.
I am a data junkie. I hoard my Garmin data and any race photos I can get my hands on.0 -
First I see if my dad wants them.
Then they go to Goodwill or some other charity. I do need to purge again.
Personally I wish races would offer a "no shirt" option.0 -
I use mine for sleep shirts, so I don't care too much how attractive or well-fitting they are. Very few tech shirts-- mostly cotton. Every year or so I'll go through them and get rid of the ones I'm not wearing or don't care about.0
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Sorry to sidetrack but I saw a bib in the trash after a race a week or two ago. I seriously almost got teary eyed. All my bibs are hanging on my "running wall of fame" with all my medals and other such stuff ❤️
I'm relatively new to running so I have kept all of my race bibs and its almost obsessive.
I agree with the quilt idea. Thats really cool 0
