Racing in full make-up

This is genuine curiosity, not a criticism. Admittedly I've never been a very girly girl, but I always find it surprising when I'm at races and other women runners have gone to the trouble of applying full make-up. If I'm getting up on a freezing cold December morning to run 13.1 miles, you're lucky if I even bother having a wash. And I even saw one very carefully groomed young woman just before a muddy 6km cross country race. No idea what she looked like afterwards.

So, women: what I want to know is: how many of you put on make-up before a race? If you do, do you just do it as part of your normal routine, or do you take more care over it because it feels like an occasion? And doesn't it just come off when you sweat anyway?

I never wear make up so certainly not for a race. Sometimes I see people wearing make-up in the swimming pool - now what is that about?

absolutly not!!!....something I have never understood either....although I do feel like a bit of a bog rat standing next to these very groomed women at the begining of the race!!!!......However we all look the same at the end, just some of us with less mascara down our faces....!......x

the women with full makeup son't sweat... they glow.

 i only wear makeup...once or twice a year...

No way! I don't see the point. Although admittedly, I do feel a bit naked without my eyeliner on

I glow buckets. Never wear makeup.

Apparently Jordan has run Brighton half. Wonder what she wore?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/weird-celeb-news/katie-price-runs-half-marathon-691003

A lot of pink, apparently. Anyway, glad it's not just me and I'd forgotten about the glowing! Though I'm starting to suspect 'being a woman on a running forum' and 'being a woman who runs in make-up' are two separate things.

I've wondered about this too, and those in the gym applying their make-up before a class. Personally it feels like a waste of time unless for a special occasion - a friend's wedding or similar. I like to be able to 'scrub up well' as my grandma would have said.

well, clearly everyone on this thread is so breathtakingly gorgeous already that we just don't need it

Women of all types run, but we all look knackered when we cross the finishing line, and the last thing i am thinking about is how i look. Maybe thats a male thing. I will never forgot when i did the Boxhill ultra half, and this one girl, almost like supermodel, and perfect make up. Her appearance didnt flicker even when she crossed the finishing line. Maybe she got a taxi there.

Women of a ll types run. Good point.

When I was watching the Olympics I got to wondering why some sports, like boxing and judo, have different categories whilst other don't. The main one I was thinking about was basketball. It really does disadvantage the short and I would have height categories. Under 5 feet, 5-5.5 feet, 5.5-6 and giants.

Thinking about running and women I think having age group categories is rubbish. They should have categories based on bust size. I have noticed that women at the front usually have flat chest and women at the back have large ones. The 1st Double G runner was, would be much fairer.

Ghostrider wrote (see)

Apparently Jordan has run Brighton half. Wonder what she wore?

i stood with her on the start line of the silverstone half 2 years ago and chatted for a bit, she was actually sans make up (or at least obvious make up) and pretty excited and vocal about her training and the race. came over as a pretty nice person actually, i must admit i was quite surprised. 

each to their own i say

I'm a girly girl but there's no way I would wear make-up to go running.  

If you're so vain that you can't draw some sort of distinction between how you look when you're going to work, going out etc. and how you look when you're exercising then you're a bit flipping weird IMO.

Definitely each to their own, I don't wear an awful lot of makeup, but I do wear some, and sometimes wear a bit at races... who cares?  I LOVE nail varnish too and have a collection of some fairly vivid through to frankly quite girly colours but this does not detract from the fact that I love getting muddy, most of my running is done off-road, trails and hill; pre-kids I was a serious rock-climbr and mountaineer and I LOVE mountain marathons as well as my ultras.  Have on occasion had to spend more than several days with no access to proper washing facilities. Does this mean it's wrong to wear make-up? I don't think so ...

If it makes someone feel better about themselves, which is also what running is often about, then I say anything goes.

That said, I do not get people who overwhelm themselves with deodorant and then climb into the swimming pool - inhaling lungfuls of that is NOT pleasant

I never wear makeup for running.  I wear makeup for going out, when I want to look nicer than usual!

If you wear a faceload of slap all the time, how do you make it different for special occasions?

I regularly do spinning classes with a woman who starts off looking like a woman wearing lots of eye make-up, and finishes looking like Alice Cooper.  I can't fault her efforts on the bike.