Why is it so hard for race organizers to provide a decent-sized shirt for petite women? Out of my entire collection of race shirts (about 15), there are only two that I would actually wear in public. One is from last year’s A Race For Maggie’s Place which ended up being well worth the $30 race day registration fee for the tech shirt and the great goody bag. Although it wasn’t a women-only race, I attribute the great shirt to the fact that the race is held to benefit women.
The shirt in action during the Lost Dutchman 10k.
Then, there’s the awesome women’s tech shirt from Disney’s Princess Half Marathon. It’s my favorite race shirt because it’s Disney, it’s pink, and it just fits perfectly. Although the race was open to men, it was definitely a female-centric event and I don’t even think there was a male/unisex shirt option available.
I wore my “princess” shirt and a tiara for the Disneyland Family Fun Run 5k.
Of course, not all women’s races get it right. At the Trek Women’s Duathlon, the smallest shirt size was a medium!
For some reason I don’t mind it so much when I get cotton shirts that are too big. At least I can still get some use by wearing them around the house. But there just isn’t anything to do with tech shirts. It also seems like some race organizers use tech shirts as a reason to justify high registration fees. If I’m not going to be able to wear the shirt anyway, I’d rather get a $5-10 discount and no shirt. Like at the Rock ‘n’ Roll races, I already know the “free” shirt won’t fit. They must be getting some kind of huge bulk discount because every race has the same “unisex” Sugoi tech shirts and they’re always blue. With as many participants as they get, you’d think they could provide women’s sizes and different colors for each race.
But the real reason for this post is because of the last two Disney race shirts that I’ve gotten. Here’s a look at the shirt from the Expedition Everest Challenge.
At this angle it looks okay. But the proportions are actually all off. The body’s not too bad, although perhaps just a little short. It’s the sleeves that are crazy. The Disneyland Half Marathon shirt has the same cut. Here’s what it looks like on.
See what I mean about the sleeves? Who would actually look good in this shirt? I don’t know whether the blame lies with Disney or Champion, but both companies have enough expertise with apparel that this shouldn’t happen. It’s worse than if the shirt was just too big overall.
So anyway, that’s my rant for the day. Do you have a favorite race shirt? What are some races that offer shirts in both men’s and women’s sizes?
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