Why don't top marathoners race shirtless

If you were a 5'10" 118lb grown man would you want to run around shirtless?

That, plus their sponsors encourage product placement.

Arabian Horse wrote:

If heat dissipation is a factor then you'd think they'd want to uncover as much surface area as they could

Don't know of any rule against it

Why not?

Why do the Bedouins wear robes while they ride Arabian horses? Wouldn't they be cooler if they were naked?

SMJO wrote:

Arabian Horse wrote:

If heat dissipation is a factor then you'd think they'd want to uncover as much surface area as they could

Don't know of any rule against it

Why not?

Why do the Bedouins wear robes while they ride Arabian horses? Wouldn't they be cooler if they were naked?

Those things aint racin a marathon are they? If they are then I can't give you a good answer for that

Hobo Mojo wrote:

If you were a 5'10" 118lb grown man would you want to run around shirtless?

That, plus their sponsors encourage product placement.

Maybe they'll let them go the Nick Symmonds route and get some temp tattoo instead?

Maybe Symmonds himself will do this?

And what about the ones who are competitive but not sponsored? What if Jason Hartman ran shirtless? Now that would get attention!

Because it's obscene.

Arabian Horses wrote:

SMJO wrote:

Why do the Bedouins wear robes while they ride Arabian horses? Wouldn't they be cooler if they were naked?

Those things aint racin a marathon are they? If they are then I can't give you a good answer for that

No but if they wear robes just to walk around maybe they would wear snowsuits to run a marathon.

Hobo Mojo wrote:

If you were a 5'10" 118lb grown man would you want to run around shirtless?

You've come to the wrong place if you think the answer to that question is "no".

Because Coppertone doesn't sponsor elite runners.

If you get cold you fall down and can't stop shaking for 45 minutes.

110-pounders in only underwear-shorts is not a pretty sight

I've actually been wondering the same thing.

It does help a great deal when it's hot outside. The difference between shirtless and even just a racing singlet is pretty big in my experience. Evaporative cooling just works!

Because they are ashamed of their man boobs.

stay cool in the summer heat wrote:

I've actually been wondering the same thing.

It does help a great deal when it's hot outside. The difference between shirtless and even just a racing singlet is pretty big in my experience. Evaporative cooling just works!

Yep, if most runners do it in training you would think they would when performance counts the most

I've raced hot marathons with and without a singlet. A white singlet actually feels cooler than going shirtless, as the retained sweat helps cool you off, along with reflection of light from being white.

Ultra runners often wear a lot of white garb (even longsleeve)- there was a great interview with last year's women's Western States winner. She ran with a shortsleeve cotton t-shirt and kept it soaked as much as possible. As others started to fall back in the heat, she kept on trucking.

But to get to the truth of your post, Nike and Adidas pay the bills for most elite marathoners.

As alluded to above, that's a long time to be out there exposed to UVA rays or whatever they are that cause skin cancer. Perhaps a light colored shirt keeping the sun off your body is 'cooler' than going shirtless.

Because they aren't man enough to pin the bib directly to their bodies.

retain the sweat wrote:

I've raced hot marathons with and without a singlet. A white singlet actually feels cooler than going shirtless, as the retained sweat helps cool you off, along with reflection of light from being white.

Ultra runners often wear a lot of white garb (even longsleeve)- there was a great interview with last year's women's Western States winner. She ran with a shortsleeve cotton t-shirt and kept it soaked as much as possible. As others started to fall back in the heat, she kept on trucking.

But to get to the truth of your post, Nike and Adidas pay the bills for most elite marathoners.

+1

[quote]retain the sweat wrote:

I've raced hot marathons with and without a singlet. A white singlet actually feels cooler than going shirtless, as the retained sweat helps cool you off, along with reflection of light from being white.

Ultra runners often wear a lot of white garb (even longsleeve)- there was a great interview with last year's women's Western States winner. She ran with a shortsleeve cotton t-shirt and kept it soaked as much as possible. As others started to fall back in the heat, she kept on trucking.

This no mach my experience. On a shirtless run, once I start sweating the evaporative heat loss is so effective, my skin becomes cool to touch in certain places.

Doesn't happen in a singlet.

But, I've also read about that Western States winner.

First, I think you can't really compare a hundred miler like WS to a marathon. For the average white person it would be suicidal to be out in the sun for that long without protection.

Second, the point here is *cotton*. It needs to be cotton for this to work, as cotton retains water very well. Any sort of quick dry material is going to start working as a wicking material, wicking the water away from your body.

What she did is making sure her cotton T was soaked at all times. At that point it starts working like one of those pot-in-pot fridges,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot-in-pot_refrigerator

.

stay cool in the summer heat wrote:

I've actually been wondering the same thing.

It does help a great deal when it's hot outside. The difference between shirtless and even just a racing singlet is pretty big in my experience. Evaporative cooling just works!

I think it's mostly mental. A wicking singlet is covering maybe 40% of your skin across the meat of your upper body - chest, shoulders and upper arms. I would think the mental game would be worth well more than the few seconds gained by the physiological improvement.