Why dont more people race shirtless?

No, thats how guys in Alaska race mountains. Theres actually more shirts in that photo than there typically is in recent years. I recognize at least a dozen people in that photo, so it was easy to trace the year of that Mount Marathon to 2007.

Going by bib number, the overdressed guy finished almost an hour back in a 46 minute race in the last 10% of the finishers and was 18 at the time — one of those noobs who sprint for 50m at the start of a race and then dies. If he knew any better he’d have gone shirtless.

more proof that younger male are becoming more feminine every year.....

Pinning a number on shorts is a pain and its annoying there too. Singlet is fine.

USATF Rule #143

In Spain no one runs shirtless except on the beach and occasionally on trails on very hot days. Today I ran for two hours in 95+F and every runner I passed had a shirt on. It's considered inappropriate for men to go shirtless in general.

without shirt, what are you supposed to use to wipe sweat from the brow?

I’m don’t feel as hot without a shirt during a run.

I trained and road raced shirtless almost year around for 36 years in Miami. Coached high school kids - and ran with them in practice - and we never wore shirts. They did, of course, for meets.

Before road races - which were always 10K or longer back then - I took an empty half gallon milk jug, filled it with cold water, and poured it over my head just before the start. Pretty sight? No! But if I didn't do it I would be a hot, wet, sweaty mess a lot sooner, so my goal was to put it off as long as possible.

Before Cross Country meets my kids would pour cups of cold water over their heads, to at least start out cool. Other teams saw us do it. I mentioned it sometimes at coaching clinics. My kids won the Miami Dade County Youth Fair Championships (the defacto County championships back then) five out of six years and won State 5 times between 1982 and 1997. And I never saw any other team give "watering down" - as we called it - a try. Though at State in 1988, on a brutally hot day in St. Petersburg, the #1 ranked kid, on another team. asked if he could have some cold water and my kids let him. And he won. Which, yeah, he might well have done anyway. 😀

It seemed so obvious, but only in recent years have cool vests become available. A wee bit more classy than cups of ice water and my own half gallon-over-my-head tactic.

I always wear a shirt unless it’s near the end of a long run and I’m completely drenched in sweat. Two reasons: 1. I always use my shirt to wipe the sweat from my eyes. It’s probably just a weird habit, but it really annoys me to run without a shirt. 2. I don’t find that taking my shirt off cools me down enough to overcome the sweaty eye annoyance.

Dermatologist told me it is a bad idea. ….But Letsrun tends to be a DYOR place so they do not listen to people with public health credentials ….case in point Covid-19

It is a tough decision. The dermatologist would want long sleeves and long pants and wide brimmed hats. So.... skin cancer might kill you when you are old or heat stroke might do it now. Sun block creams? To clog up the pores and interfere with perspiration/cooling, as I suspect they do. (Correct me if I am mistaken.)

I have had several basal and squamous cell skin cancer removed over the last ten years. So far, so good. Can't run now - both hips replaced (c. 70,000 miles on mostly Miami pavement) - but I always wear long sleeves and long pants and a wide brimmed hat while mowing and doing other yard work. And sun glasses!!! (Cataract avoidance.)

To our friends outside the USA: Very few American men race shirtless.

I say we start the bottomless trend!

Or better yet - I propose we cut V-necks into the tops of our half-tights.

That way we'd get plenty of "dong-cleave" - and if we catch anyone's eyes drifting down, we'll be able to sanctimoniously call them out on it.

After all, I wear my "dong-cleave' tights for me, and not to be ogled by some creepos.

I don't know the rules for all competitions but for the European championship you get disqualified if you run shirtless.

In my case it depends on the style of the race, specifically how many people (read men) are going to be physically close to me. So in a track race, where I will be with women and a few male officials, I wear as little as the weather allows. In a road race where one starts in a big group and runs with a number of men I wear more.

I’ve run shirtless for a handful of FL summer 5K type races. Most of my training runs from March through October are shirtless.

It does feel weird and kind of douchey to run shirtless in a real race. I don’t want to stand elbow to elbow with a shirtless dude at the start line, and I’d imagine most others feel the same.

that is not true, we go shirtless and playing volleyball barefoot on hainan island

Very often I am the only shirtless guy in a race but I don’t care because it is THE most comfortable as long as it’s above 60 degrees!