The last time I was in town during cross country season, I ran with his kids. When I was running with them, I noticed the craziness of clothing they were wearing. One girl had on velour fashion pants on with really worn out running shoes and a huge cotton t-shirt. Another kid looked like he was on his way to basketball practice. They were good runners, but didn’t have the running gear to back them up.
I got home and went through all of my running clothes and decided to bag up half of it to give to my brother to give to his runners. If these kids are going to run, they need to look like runners! Plus I used to (and still do) LOVE getting free stuff, especially sporting clothing. My brother handed out my stuff at practice and the kids LOVED it, as I expected. One girl said, “Coach, this is better than Christmas! I never imagined how much I loved running clothes!” A girl after my own heart, as I spend 75% of my allotted clothing budget on running clothes.
I don’t know about you, but when I wear actual running clothes, I FEEL like a runner. And when I feel like a runner, I typically perform better. Running clothes are meant for running; they fit well, wick sweat, etc. so you can concentrate on running and not worry about your clothes.
In my mind, my small contribution made these kids feel more like runners and maybe, just maybe, made them a little faster.I am headed to Kansas City and will go to my brother’s high school track practice on Friday. I have with me some running clothes to give out. Unfortunately I don’t have as much this time because I gave it all away last time. I wish I had more to give.
This got me thinking, I should ask runners to start going through their running clothes and put aside the shirts and shorts that they don’t really wear or maybe don’t fit anymore. Instead of throwing that stuff away or giving it to Goodwill, runners should save it to give to high school runners that would appreciate it more and some who really need it. Maybe I should use this blog to do some good? I could call it “Recycled Runners.”
What do you think???
3 comments:
Great idea. I bet there are high schools in your area that would be in need also. Maybe that is an idea for local running clubs to give back to the community and help potential runners.
I think that's a brilliant idea. I'd contribute! (With running shoes, there's the Soles for Souls project. I imagine the same concept could work for clothing!)
I was able to go to my brother's track practice today and the girls were all so thankful. It made me feel so good and in fact made me want to coach! I actually saw they have a www.RecycledRunners.com for recycling shoes. But nothing is out there specifically for running clothes.
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