Race Shirts

I used to do a lot of road cycling, but these days, all I ride is my Tunturi stationary bike, a fan substituting for the natural wind in my hair. I bought my Tunturi in 1984, my first big purchase after graduating law school. It has been a sturdy and reliable workhorse ever since.

For the past 20-plus years, whenever I ride that stationary bike (at least weekly, often several times per week), I wear an old, long-sleeved race t-shirt. I have three I’ve set aside just for this purpose, earned in the 1980s or early 1990s. Yesterday, while pulling one of them over my head to prepare for a “ride” I noticed how thin and worn it has become, with holes appearing.

Looking more closely, I saw it was from one of my early triathlons, in Sunnyside, Washington, in 1986. Sunnyside is the agricultural community in central Washington I moved to for my first law job. There are no lakes nearby, so the swim leg was in the town pool, which was uncovered and open only during the warmer months. The race had a staggered start, with racers taking turns using the pool lanes, one swimmer per lane. Finishing that leg, they went off to do the bike and run legs. You didn’t know how you were doing in relation to other racers until everyone finished. I was hooked on multi-sport events.

I find it remarkable I can still wear that t-shirt, given how many times (hundreds) I’ve worn it while riding my stationary bike. Think of all the sweat it has absorbed, all the machine washings it’s been through! Yet, it persists, as do I.

I started running road races while in law school, 1980-83. I think my first race was in 1981, likely a 5K. It was while dealing with the stress of law school that I discovered the benefits of setting goals and training for races. I found a community of other runners to train and race with. I dabbled in trail running, and loved it. The same month I graduated, I ran my first marathon.

I kept every single race shirt I earned.

Back then, with each road race, runners got some sort of swag, whether or not they won/placed: a ribbon, a medal, a shirt. If one placed or won, they often also received a trophy or plaque.

To this day, some of the best swag I received was from a 1984 race hosted by Quail Run Vintners during those early years of my law career in Sunnyside. It was run on a mix of pavement and dirt between rows of grapevines. A tough event!

I won a “trophy” created from an empty wine bottle. I’ve always loved it for its tongue-in-cheek creativity.

I use the bottle as a stand to hold many of the race ribbons and medals I received over the years. I received a second wine bottle trophy, earned the next year, but it wasn’t as creative or pretty, so—along with most of the trophies and plaques I received and kept in a box in a closet—it didn’t make the move to Vermont.

I’m glad I kept the ribbons, though, because otherwise I wouldn’t remember the races or the times I ran them in (recorded on the back of the ribbon). In fact, it’s only because I kept the ribbon from the Quail Run Vintners race where I received the wine bottle trophy that I know I came in second overall.

Lots of runners, smarter than me, kept their race bib numbers from each race, recording their times on the bib. So much easier to keep—and move—over the years.

Through the 1980s, I continued running races, trying longer distances. Seeking extra fun and challenge, I started doing multi-sport races.

One of the other shirts I’ve been wearing all these years while riding my stationary bike was from a 50-mile event in Washington called Lions Vision Journey for Diabetes (put on by a Lions Club raising funds for those whose vision was affected by diabetes).

I forget the distances for each leg, but it started with a run, then a bike, then a swim (in a pool), then another bike, finishing with a run. The event was designed as a team relay race. They didn’t advertise a solo division, so I called the race director and asked if I could do the whole thing on my own. I’d have a friend meet me at each exchange point, I assured him, ferrying my bike when needed. The guy said he’d get back to me. When he did, he said I could try it (I could tell he didn’t believe I could finish), but they’d have someone on a motorcycle shadowing me. Whatever. I showed up, ran/rode/swam/rode/ran the event, and became their first “iron” competitor finisher. The next year, I had two solo men as competition. I came in second overall in the iron division. And I wasn’t followed by a race official on a motorcycle.

I also found events that had a better mix of events: Around 1985, I learned about the Ridge to River event in Wenatchee, Washington. It started at Mission Ridge ski resort with a chairlift ride to the summit for the first leg of downhill skiing, then xc skiing to the parking area, then a bike down the mountain to a park on the Wenatchee River where the kayak leg started, to a take out for a run to the finish. So fun! I learned to xc ski just so I could do that event. (The race was last held in 2010.)

Around the same time, I found a similar event in Yakima, Washington, called Gap2Gap: 1-mile field run, 6.5-mile kayak, 18-mile road bike, 8.5-mile mountain bike, 4.5-mile run. It’s still happening. I loved those multi-sport events, but renting a kayak and recruiting a crew to meet me at each exchange point was a huge ask.

In 1990 I took up trail running in earnest. That year, I also had the opportunity to run in the Goodwill Games* marathon, held in Seattle and other venues across Washington state.

The marathon was open to the public. What a thrill, to run the same course at the same time as some of the world’s elite marathoners, finishing at Husky Stadium to the cheers of a large crowd.

Trail running swag typically consisted of a long-sleeved t-shirt, sometimes a sweatshirt. Some shirts required more effort to earn, and so were more “valuable” to me. One of my favorites was a bright red, long-sleeved shirt from Western States 100, which I ran in 1993. Sadly, a year or two later, while on vacation, it disappeared from my luggage in a motel room, something I didn’t realize until I got home. I do still have a sponsor’s golf-style shirt that every entrant received that year. I’ve never worn it. Maybe it’s time to start.

In fact, for many years, I rarely wore race shirts in public. It felt like bragging, I guess. Now? At 67 years of age, my racing years long behind me, I realize it’s time I wore some of those shirts. What am I waiting for? I earned them, and all these years later, they spark fond memories of a much younger me who loved to push the envelope of her endurance.

I sleep in a few, with colors or logos I like. Others hang in my closet, ready to wear in public. Still more, including the Ridge to River and Gap2Gap shirts, are in my “quilt” bag.

The quilt bag is a black plastic garbage bag full of race t-shirts. They go all the way back to those first races while in law school, although I culled several and donated them to Goodwill. I hauled that bag (it’s heavy!) from Washington to Idaho in 2005, and from Idaho to Vermont in 2021. I intend to have someone cut the race names/logos out and combine them all into a quilt, but I keep forgetting to follow through. Out of sight, out of mind.

That Sunnyside triathlon shirt will never make it into a quilt. It’s too worn. Instead, I’ll rely on this photo of it, and this post, as memory prompts.

*The 1990 Goodwill Games was the second edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held between July 20 and August 5, 1990. Following an inaugural edition in Moscow, the second games took place in Seattle, United States, highlighting the competition’s role in fostering good Soviet–U.S. relations. The games were opened at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium with a speech by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, as well as an address by Arnold Schwarzenegger and performances by the Moody Blues and Gorky Park. Wikipedia.

Feature photo: the Sunnyside triathlon t-shirt from 1986.