LRC Note: We like to have one thread per subject. We've merged two threads on this into 1 and kept the original thread title. The 2nd thread was titled, "Tracksmith Decides: When Digging a Hole Make It Bigger."
I got the BQ Singlet the year I finally qualified and got in. I don't see anything wrong with having something like this reserved just for the people that earned it by getting in through qualification. They will also have regular Boston merch if anyone wants it but this one item is just for people that earned it.
I mean this is a pleasure to make fun of, but for the life of me I've thankfully never seen a human wear such a sad singlet. Most people aren't dumb enough to be swindled but to each their own.
I'd put this in the same vein as people with "name your local marathon - finisher" shirts. They paid money to tell the world they ran a marathon.
We all know there's only 1 person who even cares about what you do running wise (yourself) and a handful of others who care a little.
All these standards do is inflate the ego of a few and bruise the ego of a few more.
Off topic maybe, but my bigger concern with Tracksmith is their stuff is vastly overrated.
The VC products and many others chafe my nipples like nothing else, most of their gear holds sweat like nobody's business, and the amount of rips and tears in the materials spell cheap production.
They have an 'excellent' customer service team because they need it. I'd say 60-75% of their stuff ends up getting returned for a refund. One day that will all stop and it will be death for the brand.
There are like 1-2 things that are actually good. But again, you can get so many other pieces from any other company and have more reliability.
The elitism is Tracksmith’s brand! And the text sentiment is lifted from the page where they sell the singlet. It is an exclusive, made for the purpose of acknowledging the exclusivity of qualifying (and registering) for the Boston Marathon!
They first offered the BQ singlet since at least 2016 and it was interesting because they actually checked to see if you were registered. This is unlike Adidas, which has been offering a “qualifier” shirt and hoodie for YEARS, without verifying whether anyone is actually a qualifier, yet where was the outrage? And, they sell out every year. For a while, they sold the shirt as a qualifier shirt but it didn’t have QUALIFIER written on it. Now it does.
Maybe I should alert the influencer crowd so they can start slamming Adidas. Idiots.
Sister is a teacher in a school where they tried to eliminate sports keeping score so there would be no winners and losers, the world is going mad to not "hurt feelings".
TS has been selling BQ singlets for years. Were the previous years available for anyone, and were asuming that only BQers would buy it? or was it also a requirement to have been registered for the race like this year (to have made the cut-off)? or is it because this year's cut off is the biggest and so you have more BQers left out?
I was technically "qualified" to go to Harvard Medical School, but i wasn't accepted and i didn't go. I have no desire to buy and wear a Harvard teeshirt. Why are people so upset that a Boston marathon item is just for Boston marathon runners?
What they are missing is the fact that big races like this are incredibly exclusionary. Going to Boston is cost-prohibitive for many people, imagine the waves of Kenyans, Ethiopians, ugandans etc. that would have no problem getting under the BQ cutoff lol.
Because your comparison isn't the same. No one complains about race organizers giving participants exclusive apparel when race participants qualify/sign up. But Tracksmith is a 3rd party company making this clothing available to purchase for everyone on the condition that they upload a PDF of their qualification letter. Unis don't do that because that would be ridiculous. Harvard lets anyone who wants to buy their clothes buy their clothes. Just because you have no desire to do so, doesn't make it wrong for others to show their support for Unis by wearing their apparel.
I mean, are you really so sensitive that you care what clothing people wear? Students already get their own special, exclusive clothing for free. If you're going to sell something to the public, of course you're going to rile people up if you limit it to customers who upload valid documentation of their achievements.
The sky is orange and it's your responsibility to prove me wrong. Also, no matter what you say I'll have an excuse for why your point is not just wrong but actually illegitimate, so that I don't even have to make a counterargument (which I could totally do, don't get me wrong!) but can simply dismiss it out of hand. Ok, go! Still waiting for someone to prove me wrong...
The funny thing is I have found tracksmith to be the definition of elitist since they first started selling appeal.. they stink of east coast rich liberty Nimby's how have never had to struggle for money. Someone that thinks 200$ for a piece of clothing made from the most sub optimal material that is also the cheapest material to procure is normal because that most have been what daddy had to pay for my clothes growing up.
Of all the comments I just see a bunch of ultra runners who don't work hard enough to get in complaining... which fits the above definition pretty well too... let them infight. Every example that is given using what-a-boutism is hilarious stupid argument... There isn't a sole on earth that has run as many miles as I have in the last 5 years who can't BQ. That doesn't make them non human.. just means they have had other priorities for the past 20 years than I have and that's fine... they probably have better things in life than me in other aspects and I'm not crying about that.
This almost made me want to buy the singlet from the elitists.. but then I remember I have known this about them since day 1
While I get most of the people in the comments are mostly "running" influences who are probably just trying to get attention and might not really believe what they're saying. The craziest thing to me is the fact that they think the fact that they require you to run (at the absolute fastest) a 3:00 marathon to buy their crappy shirt, but not the fact that the cheapest shirts on their website are like $75. That's totally not elitist at all.
It just shows you how narcissistic, privileged, and sheltered all these influencers are. They are the scourge of the Earth to be brutally honest.
I get so annoyed by the IG influencers who talk about how you dont need to lose weight or have a large running base to get faster. People want to be lied to. Its shameful.
Off topic maybe, but my bigger concern with Tracksmith is their stuff is vastly overrated.
The VC products and many others chafe my nipples like nothing else, most of their gear holds sweat like nobody's business, and the amount of rips and tears in the materials spell cheap production.
They have an 'excellent' customer service team because they need it. I'd say 60-75% of their stuff ends up getting returned for a refund. One day that will all stop and it will be death for the brand.
There are like 1-2 things that are actually good. But again, you can get so many other pieces from any other company and have more reliability.
Agreed. The material is such poor quality. Heavy and pretty coarse considering they're technical fabrics. A basic Nike Dri-Fit singlet is more comfortable.
At that price point, Soar apparel is the way to go. Incredibly high quality. Some of On's gear is pretty good too, such as the performance t-shirts. Just wait until they're on sale
Off topic maybe, but my bigger concern with Tracksmith is their stuff is vastly overrated.
The VC products and many others chafe my nipples like nothing else, most of their gear holds sweat like nobody's business, and the amount of rips and tears in the materials spell cheap production.
They have an 'excellent' customer service team because they need it. I'd say 60-75% of their stuff ends up getting returned for a refund. One day that will all stop and it will be death for the brand.
There are like 1-2 things that are actually good. But again, you can get so many other pieces from any other company and have more reliability.
I'm guessing their customer service isn't as excellent as it once was. That team was laid off in a large layoff a couple months ago. Now they contract it out to save some money
I get so annoyed by the IG influencers who talk about how you dont need to lose weight or have a large running base to get faster. People want to be lied to. Its shameful.
You don't need to follow the IG influencers to get told you don't need to lose weight. Right on here on LRC we have a huge chubby chaser contingent who blast every thread where someone is trying to lose a few pounds.
I get so annoyed by the IG influencers who talk about how you dont need to lose weight or have a large running base to get faster. People want to be lied to. Its shameful.
You don't need to follow the IG influencers to get told you don't need to lose weight. Right on here on LRC we have a huge chubby chaser contingent who blast every thread where someone is trying to lose a few pounds.
haha. My point is that the two easiest ways to gain speed is through weight loss and high weekly mileage. Its just absurd to pretend that these two factors are irrelevant.
What a sad statement of the entitlement mentality of so many people. ‘I didn’t accomplish what you did but I deserve all the rewards too.’ I would bet that the majority of complainers would not buy the singlet if they were given the chance. Then they would complain it was too expensive.
Who cares what some company puts on social media. It is an advertisement. Any engagement is because people have nothing more important to do with their lives (like me responding to this LR thread).