I've got singlets from 5 colleges along the east coast and wear them during big group runs with my club when everyone feels goofy. Same rules will apply to my Boston Jacket. Is sub 2:40 enough for a running tattoo?
I've got singlets from 5 colleges along the east coast and wear them during big group runs with my club when everyone feels goofy. Same rules will apply to my Boston Jacket. Is sub 2:40 enough for a running tattoo?
I ran Boston after qualifying in my first marathon and bought the jacket. I wore the hell out of that thing and it was worth every penny. All 10,000 of them. But that was 13 years ago. The jacket started to flake on the inside of the netting. Luckily the colors were good that year, so it's not an ugly jacket.
I ran it again two years ago and didn't buy the jacket, mostly because I knew I wouldn't wear it and also because of the cost. And then there's the fact that I've run a qualifying time in every single marathon I've ever run in the last 15 years.
I say buy the jacket. It's your first time, you'll want to remember it. I bought it thinking that I might never be back again and that I was at MY personal peak for the sport. I won't ever wear it again but I can't get rid of it ever.
As far as etiquette goes, wear it where ever you want. Now that you can buy them online, don't wear it until you've run the race. I've seen people wearing the jacket around town (not Boston) a month before the actual race and thought they were douchey. I wouldn't think that about anyone I saw wearing one afterwards though.
I do laugh a little when people wear their medals around all day afterwards or the next day, but again, it's a different level of accomplishment for some people. If you're proud of it, fly that flag. You should be proud.
Buy it, put it in your closet and 20 years from now it might mean something. Never wear it to a race- EVER.
Dont listen to most people on here. Buy the jacket......wear the jacket. There are alot of people out there that dont ever get a chance at it
Tradition Honor Integrity wrote:
I bought one last year on the Adidas website, never ran the race. Just thought it looked cool. It's my rain jacket on long runs.
People who haven't run Boston shouldn't be allowed to buy a jacket. I wish they would only sell them at the expo and you would need to show your registration in order to buy one. This would keep people like this poster from getting one and didn't even run Boston.
not cool wrote:
Tradition Honor Integrity wrote:I bought one last year on the Adidas website, never ran the race. Just thought it looked cool. It's my rain jacket on long runs.
People who haven't run Boston shouldn't be allowed to buy a jacket. I wish they would only sell them at the expo and you would need to show your registration in order to buy one. This would keep people like this poster from getting one and didn't even run Boston.
That's like saying I shouldn't wear a 2017 World Series Cubs jacket because I didn't play in it.
If you qualified buy the jacket whenever you want. I have two from 02 and 04.
I don't wear them that often but they are nice jackets.
If you did not qualify for the race you have no business wearing a Boston jacket because that would be fraud.
In nearly every other circumstance, I would buy the jacket and not wear it until later, but Boston is different.
Buy the jacket, and wear the jacket right away & all weekend!
The citizens of Boston completely embrace the marathon and its runners. They are amazing and will go out of their way to make all of the runners feel as welcome as possible, but they won't know you are running unless you wear the jacket.
Wearing the jacket is a great conversation starter, and wearing the current year jacket kind of lets people know this is your first year or first year in awhile. People are quick to help with directions, offer advice on restaurants and things to do, and I was even given a free beer and collectable glass at one of the bars.
No one but you cares what you wear.
Sincerely,
Everyone else on the planet.
Plenty of good ones on ebay right now.
I don't get the whole Boston jacket thing. Never have. There is one lady that does a lot of races near me and it seems she wears it everywhere. Local small 5k? Wearing it. Grocery store? Wearing it. Middle of snowstorm? She's out there shoveling in it.
Last week I saw a guy wearing a boston jacket. I thought, "look at this hobby jogger. Wonder if he trolls LRC." Then I had the same thought as OP. When/where is boston jacket appropriate. Boston is coming up, totes appropes.
It's not just a jacket. It's a mentality.
Boston, baby, Boston!!
The one true marathon!
czech locomotive wrote:
After several failed attempts I qualified for Boston 2017 and will be making the obligatory commemorative jacket purchase. Are there any unwritten rules regarding where the jacket should/should not be worn, or a statute of limitations on how long after the race it can be worn without looking like an attention hound or a buffoon?
I'm not a complete noob, so I won't be wearing it around the expo and on race day, but it seems like the jacket is seen as a hallowed icon or memento of the race and that it should be worn accordingly.
Are you kidding? the charity fund runners will wear that jacket everywhere, everyday. I watch the red Sox, and you can see the people in the stands wearing those jackets. Many still wear them to races, even when it's not a jacket that'll keep you warm enough. Many wear them to say "look at me!"
I would take a sticker that says "F U Letsrunners" , put it on the jacket, and wear the jacket every waking moment. Even when I am driving down the road in my convertible when the temp is 47°!!
I wear it all the time, mostly as a windbreaker for biking. It's a pricey momento. I really don't have any runners in my life currently, and people always comment on the unicorn.
It's pretty worn which probably takes a lot away from it being potentially snoody by anyone who actually recognizes it. That said, my vote is to lock it away in your closet for when you're older if you can.
Jack-itt wrote:
I buy the jacket every year but refuse to wear any of them until I'm old, at which point they'll be more about nostalgia than anything else.
Personally, I think it looks tacky to wear the jacket on the race weekend or soon afterward. It's like a 16-year-old wearing the concert tee shirt at school the next day - a move that just screams "hey look what I did, please ask me about it so that I get some attention and can talk about myself". It's the same thing as a dorky bumper sticker.
I have respect for anyone who completes months of training and runs a marathon. But the excessive self-congratulation that happens every year in Boston, personified by the ubiquitous jackets, is pretty ridiculous. The worst part, IMO, is at the airport the day after with every fifth person wearing the jacket and their medal while toting a backpack that has the race poster in it. It's fine to have a momento or two, but come on, we're in overkill territory here.
So to answer your question, buy the jacket if you want one. But please keep that thing in your closest until next year or later when you want to reflect back on your memories of the event.
You post the above crap and yet you "buy the jacket every year". You can't see that you're the same as the people you complain about?
Wait until they hit your local TJ Maxx in 6 months and pick one up then.
When to wear it? Whenever you want, including weekend of the race. I very much dislike superstitious people and their 'rules' of not wearing the race shirt (or jacket) before the race. For a lot of local races I will intentionally wear the race shirt during the race just to bother people. If it offends just one person then it was worth it. Especially when I can still win my AG and beat a lot of younger AG winners.
I never buy schwag at any marathons I run. I've run Boston 6 times (first time in 1997) but did buy a jacket in 2005. My sister had qual'd that year and she's the typical woman marathon runner buying mugs, extra shirts, jackets, making sure she gets every free pen and magnet she can stuff into her bag. She harangued me until I bought that jacket. Guess what? Now I'm glad I have it. Don't wear it very often at all, usually just on walks around the neighborhood with my wife, but I do enjoy the memento.
Buy one if you like the specific jacket design. The one I have from a few years ago fit incredibly well and is simply an amazing jacket. I wasn't even the kind of person who thought I should wear the jacket much because it would look like a wannabe bragging, but it was so comfortable I wore it more as the years went on. And I think ultimately for everyone who buys the jackets after a few years and the sensitivity calms down you end up wearing them or not because of fit and design.
WearTheJacket wrote:
In nearly every other circumstance, I would buy the jacket and not wear it until later, but Boston is different.
Buy the jacket, and wear the jacket right away & all weekend!
The citizens of Boston completely embrace the marathon and its runners. They are amazing and will go out of their way to make all of the runners feel as welcome as possible, but they won't know you are running unless you wear the jacket.
Wearing the jacket is a great conversation starter, and wearing the current year jacket kind of lets people know this is your first year or first year in awhile. People are quick to help with directions, offer advice on restaurants and things to do, and I was even given a free beer and collectable glass at one of the bars.
It is a great conversation starter, but PLEASE NO !!! NOT JUST AT BOSTON -_WEAR IT YEAR ROUND. Other than an Olympic outfit, it's the best device know to man for humbler bragging. Here are a few tips:
1. When someone asks if you finished, take your finishers medal out and say "Well, they gave me this medal after I ran 26.2 miles." To show you are one of the people , offer to let the person try it on.
2. If someone asks you how you liked the race, look away wistfully for a few seconds, a bit teary and say , "Now I know why they call it heartbreak hill. That's where the Kenyans got away from me."
3. Take a sharpie and write on the jacket " (YOUR NAME) , you fastest white guy me know, you're pal, Geoffrey Mutai"
4. If someone asks you what the highlight of the trip was say "On the bus ride out to Hopkinton, Alberto Salazar gave me some really great tips on treating a bad thyroid. He is a lot nicer than people say."