I was looking through a drawer the other day and saw something white in the bottom of the corner. I pulled it out and it was a towel from a race I had put on in the early 1980s. The front of the towel was big letters that read, “I (heart) LOVE TO RUN 10K”. I recalled I had put that race on and gave a nice towel instead of a t-shirt.
My thinking was that I had a shelf full of t-shirts and a nice towel to use after a run would be a nice change. The runners that were established thought it was a good idea. The new-to-the-sport runners were disappointed because they wanted a tshirt. The point is, who keeps a towel from a race over 40 years ago.
I think the towel is in the same category as the first Cinco De Mayo 10K race from 1979. I have to think I have two items that are the last surviving race items. Both are oneof- a-kind I believe since I can’t think of anybody else who would keep a race shirt or towel for that long.
I have my race shirt from the Boston Marathon and a shirt from the Houston Marathon that I had Bill Rogers sign. He wrote, “I’ll see you at Boston, Moe” over his signature. Another oneof- a-kind memory in my collection. One other special item from the race was the Houston Marathon Belt Buckle that was given to the first 100 runners. How many runners have a race belt buckle? I am sure other runners have kept a shirt or an award from a race that they ran that was special to them.
The belt buckle was given to runners who finished the race like medals to all finishers. Any runner who finishes a marathon and even a half marathon deserves something for their efforts. The standard award is a medal on a ribbon. In a sack in that drawer were several medals that I gave to finishers of the Better Half Marathon. The dates were from the years 2000 and 2002 so they are in that over-20-yearold category.
I always wanted to make my race different from the standard medal that every race handed out. We gave nice ballpoint pens that I still have to write. Then we gave nice runners caps knowing that runners always need a nice cap on a long run. I still see the white cap with ‘Moe’s Better Half Marathon’ on the front of it on a runner every so once in a while. The last item given to finishers was a 15-ounce coffee mug with the race logo and the sponsor on each side.
The point of these different finisher awards was that the runner would use them long after the race instead of hanging them on a peg on the wall behind other medals. It is a reminder of the race every time they have a morning coffee or write something on a document and advertise the race and the sponsor.
Inside the sack was one other item that was given to runners in the ‘goodie bag’ along with other sponsored items was a refrigerator magnet with the race logo on it. Almost everyone has a magnet of some kind on their refrigerator and seeing a race logo was another form of advertising the race. I think I have a good half-dozen magnets with different race logos on my refrigerator. The only downside was the magnets were three inches across and took up quite a bit of space on the door of the refrigerator.
Being both a runner and a race director I have too many shirts left over from races and nice shirts from more recent races. In the early 1980s most of the shirts were either cotton or a 50-50 cotton blend and after washing they would lose their shape or the logo would fade. These were race items that were not saved.
The other thing that made a race shirt worth saving or discarding after a time was the race logo on the front. Some were not worthy of good art work and were shirts that a runner wouldn’t wear at another race. A nicelooking logo that was original and stood out are the ones you see at races worn by runners.
This information is for race organizers planning a race and something to think about to keep your race remembered.
