Finishers T-shirt VLM - Spring Marathon

Vanessa Beesley 3

23/04/2012 at 18:28

I wonder if anybody else is as dissapointed as me with the t-shirt that was in the goodie bag at the end of the marathon yesterday.

I was really looking forward to wearing it with pride, but it's a 'one size' t-shirt its so large on me I could wear it as a dress!

Very dissapointing.

cougie

pirate

23/04/2012 at 18:39

Always has been the way I'm afraid. But sign up for Liverpool. Technical tees and in different sizes too !! *

*best check that but that's what they had for the half.

Neuv

23/04/2012 at 18:58

I agree Vanessa - The only thing I can fault.

GNR has more people and they can do it - thing is of all the things they organise, that would be one of the easiest things!!

Edith

23/04/2012 at 19:32

The T-Shirt.

It is the single complaint I ever had of the London Marathon. Good knows why but it is always the same issue and I doubt it will ever change. The t-shirt is for medium size men. Period.

However, everything else is just superbly organised, 2 goody bags, fantastic medal, etc...

kaffeeg

23/04/2012 at 20:55

agree. organisation is spectacular. the marshalls at the end should get a big cheer. getting my foil blanket out of my bag; wrapping me up in the foil blanket; re-wrapping me up in my foil blanket as i managed to un-wrap myself; sending me on in the right direction; giving me support when i was completely @&*%$"&!.

but the finishers t-shirt it shit.

Emma McGlynn

23/04/2012 at 21:40

I'm still wearing mine right now though!

3:30 or bust

23/04/2012 at 21:47

I have always though that a good quality polo shirt should be available to order for all finishers - as well as the freebie

The polo shirt would be good quality and would have the VLM logo and be embrodered with your race number and finish time. Obviously this would be paid for but would be a big seller I believe

Tommygun2

pirate

23/04/2012 at 21:48

I'm a medium sized man and I am pleased with the t-shirt fits just fine

At least it better quality than previous years I hear

kaffeeg

23/04/2012 at 22:02

Emma - ha! Yeah, I wore mine to the pub last night (as a t-shirt dress). AND my medal.

Phatboyrunning

24/04/2012 at 07:58

Yup, t-shirt is a disappointment. Why they can't stretch to a technical tee I don' know!

And.....i was even more disappointed when I got it out the bag, as it is identical to a tee I bought at the Expo for £15, with the added word 'Finisher'

Could have saved myself £15 and printed the word myself!

Tre4

24/04/2012 at 08:42

Vanessa et al,

Sorry to hear about your disappointment, however I think it is one of the better freebie T's I've had. (The best so far was a cotton one from a Coventry Half in 2008 that I still wear.)

May I suggest that you look at the TV coverage of the event and notice the demographic of those running. One size, (which I reckon must be a generous large), was a good decision for an organiser that needs to satisfy the potential of 37,000 finishers.

You may well be disappointed,( as I usually am when I finish an event with multi size T-Shirts to find out that there are no more XL's left), but I think the majority will be more than happy with the VLM2012 finishers shirt.

Why do most events run out of the larger sizes? Because they are the most popular and even those that would normally take a smaller 'technical shirt' size realise that after the first wash an XL becomes a M.

What an embarrassment it would have been to wear a Finishers T-Shirt that was too big for you!!! However I thought it fantastic that I was able to wear mine afterwards to the Hard Rock Cafe for a full rack of ribs and accompanying beer. Come the end of the week and the time when it gets taken out of the ironing basket, I'm sure it will be joining the countless others in my car polishing rag box

p.s. This will forever be an ongoing argument and is covered after most/all events.
Even the GNR that Neuv says have it right, get caught out. They run out of the larger sizes because, when entering, people say they want a medium but come the end take a larger size !

need for speed

24/04/2012 at 08:53

My wife and I run our own small T-Shirt printing company (when not training for marathons!!) and would be happy to provide an embroidered Polo shirt with logo and time and date on as '3.30 or bust' mentioned, but we would not be able too due to copyright I would think?. It's a good idea though, but it wouldn't be cheap as individual shirts, so I dont know how many would take it up?. Also If kept to one company with strict quality control and any profit shared with a charity it might stop the greed merchants trying to cash in on it?.

RoseC

24/04/2012 at 09:01

Mine is a bit big too! But in comparison to last year's thin white cotton effort with a tiny logo I was actually quite pleased with it!

I don't know what the number comparisons are but Paris provides Technical t-shirts in both womens and mens sizes.

It would be nice if there was even the opportunity to buy a technical finishers t-shirt on the VLM website - a bit like the bars where you need to put in your running number and name etc. I know I'd buy one.

Beware Of The Fish

24/04/2012 at 09:23

The London Marathon is cheap to enter given all the work that goes into it - compare the price with New York which is something like £180, or Brigton which will be nearly double the London price next year. I guess if we paid a bit more they could do a decent shirt, but then we probably wouldn't buy so many souvenir shirts at the Expo. There's also the extra hassle of getting the right sized shirt to the often disorientated runners after the race which would take more space and more volunteers and would mean changing a tried and tested formula that works. Personally the medal means far more to me than any shirt ever will.

Helen Liz

24/04/2012 at 09:30

See, you should have run Brighton, I know London's over-rated. Even finishing over 5 hours, I was asked what size shirt I wanted - and then was handed the size I wanted! As a slowcoach, I find the small sizes have usually run out and I end up with a tent, but not there.

Not that I'll never wear it, but that's a different story.

LIVERBIRD

pirate

24/04/2012 at 09:33

The tee this year was a VAST improvement on last year's design. It was white, cotton and just had the date on in tiny letters. And it fell apart after four washes.
They DID used to be tech tees. I guess it's cost that has forced the cotton ones.
Cougie-I suspect Alan will stick with the tech tee for Liverpool because it went down really well. I'd pay more in a race for a tech tee.

Rob 22

24/04/2012 at 09:37

Hey LB....good to see you at mile 17.......we've run side by side at DL in Warrington many times although you wouldn't know it was me because i didn't have the nurse on....lol

i loved the t-shirt for a change, of the 8 london marathons i've run this is the best t yet although that sdoesn't say much, i'd gladly pay a few quid more....

Tmap

24/04/2012 at 09:38

It's a good design, it's free, the race fee is very good value, and if you want something snazzier there's an Expo for 4 days and a permanent shop selling everything you could possibly ask for.

They have done technical t-shirts in the past and they are unpleasant to wear, they get easily deformed, and the printing is poor. Personally I'm delighted with mine, especially the absence of any markings on it suggesting it's a charity parade, which many in the past have been, or any sneering at non-runners, like the one three or four years ago with the toe-curling "that's the difference between me and you" nonsense.

need for speed

24/04/2012 at 10:08

T-map

A decent Technical shirt doesn't go out of shape and prints fine depending on the colour of the shirt. Not so nice to wear as a cotton shirt for non running, but for any sport they are so much better to wear than cotton due to the wicking ability. As for cost, they are about double the price of a cotton shirt as a blank garment but if they cut back on all the other crap most don't want/use, I'm sure they could provide one in at least two sizes and still make a decent profit!. More about greed sadly. Also it's nice to be able to wear an event shirt while training if your proud of your achievment.

Brownie28

24/04/2012 at 10:16

It isw a bit disappointing it doesnt fit BUT I still wore it all day yesterday with my medal!

My 2010 T-shirt...the red Londone one I wear over my training kit when doing long runs if its cold...it means that people in the pubs I run past are always happy to let me use the loo! And that's what I'll be doing with this one!