Great Urban Race 1

This is probably the best shirt I've gotten to date.  It has a fantastic logo and an exquisite use of color.

I mean, look at that.  It is awe-inspiring. 

Okay, they may not be awe-inspiring, but they aren't bad in my humble opinion.

These are the shirts that we made for our run in the 2010 Great Urban Race.  Teammates are supposed to match, so we bought some $3 t-shirts and some inkjet iron-on transfers at AC Moore.  We then whipped up a logo and affixed it to the shirts.  It was a bit of a challenge, because the transfers are white, so you have to either design the edges to be white or come up with something where you can completely wipe out any white.  We chose the latter.

We coordinated the backs as well:

In case you don't get the name "My Ox Is Broken" I've included this handy video from The Amazing Race (about 40 seconds in):

I'll post the shirts we got at the race in a few days.  They are pretty sharp.

I will refrain from grading the shirt, but I will say that the logos on the back could have been placed a little better, and that they don't breathe all that well when running around carrying a backpack.

Yiasou Greek Festival 5K

This was a fun race.  The course was nice and flat and went through some interesting neighborhoods.  You also get a free ticket to the Greek Festival.  Oh, and the shirt is pretty nice.  It has a nice dark red color.  In fact, I don't have any other shirts this color which makes this a nice addition.  The logo is pretty nice as well.  It is a little hard to see in the picture, but that is a photo of the church in the center.   It also says "orthopaedic" on the front.  I think most people would agree that "orthopaedic" is a pretty cool word.

The only complaint is that it isn't tagless.  Of course that is a problem which is easily solved

Grade: A-

Jingle Jog 5K

Of my collection of race T-shirts, this one gets the most use.  That might have something to do with the fact that I don't have very many long sleeve T-shirts and that this winter was the coldest one in the 6 years I've lived in Charlotte.

It probably also has something to do with the fact that is isn't hidously ugly.  I tend to wear shirts more frequently if they are moderately attractive than if they make me embarrased to be wearing them.  You might be thinking to yourself "self, that the logo doesn't look like it belongs with something called the 'Jingle Jog'" and on another day you would right.  But not today, my friend.  The Jingle Jog is held in conjunction with Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon so the tire tracks and checkered flags tie in nicely.

For some reason, the fact that this shirt is white doesn't bother me.  Maybe it is because it is long-sleeve. I only have a couple of minor quibbles with this shirt.  The tag was really itchy, but a pair of scissors took care of that.  The material isn't 100% cotton, so it isn't as comfortable as it might be.   The shirt I received also had a tiny pinhead sized stain on it when I received it.  It really isn't noticable to anyone, but I know it is there.  Wearing a stained shirt lowers my self-esteem.

Grade: B+

Tour de Tots

This is one of my nicer shirts. It almost makes up for the fact that they didn't actually measure the 36-mile bike ride before advertising it as 31. Nice colors, Fruit of the Loom - the only problem is it runs a little small. The back has the various sponsors listed. The best thing about this shirt is that when you are standing in front of a mirror, you see the word POOS.

Grade: A

Summer Breeze 5K

As you might have guessed, this shirt comes from 2009's Summer Breeze 5K. You might also be able to tell by the wrinkles that this shirt has not been worn in a while. It is a Hanes tagless tee. So it has that going for it, which is nice. On the other hand it is white and the logo leaves a little something to be desired.

I will cut this shirt some slack, though. The sponsors pulled out so the local running store stepped in to save the day. They were good enough to save the race so it would be unfair to be too critical of the less-than-spectacular shirt.

Grade: C-

Great Harvest Bread 5K

So here's my first race t-shirt. It is probably the best one I have as well. It is from the 2009 Great Harvest Bread 5K in Charlotte, NC.

Let's see what it has going for it:

1. It isn't white
2. It is tagless
3. It is a Hanes T-shirt. Quality!
4. The logo isn't bad

It is pretty simple. The name of the race, the year, the logo, and nothing else.

The back is the usual list of sponsors.

Grade: A

Welcome

Welcome to the Race Shirts blog. I started running last year and after a few months I began to run some races. My closet quickly began to fill up with race t-shirts. I thought it might be fun to begin to catalog the shirts in an online archive.

I never choose a race based on the shirt, but I must admit I get a little jealous when I hear that this race or that race has a really nice shirt since I'd have to classify my shirts anywhere from "so-so" to "absolutely unwearable".

It's understandable since most of these races are for charity and I'd rather not have the organizers waste a bunch of money on a t-shirt design when the money could be going to a better cause. It would be nice if they were something I would actually like to wear, though.

I want to see your shirts, too. Send your shirt picture to raceshirt@gmail.com and I'll put them on the site.