Do you know what runners want?

This is yet another Sundown story, one of no doubt many already out on the web. It's a rant against the organizers but this is not like all of the others. For me, it goes into the heart of what runners want.

I ran on CCY's bib. No doubt that's not within the race rules and yet this is very commonly done. I'm not going to win any prizes and I'm absolutely willing to give up anything I may win. So there I went into the Sundown half and had a great time. Preparation is everything and I was fortunate enough not to have experienced the problems many others faced on that night. I had a great time. CCY only gave me his bib and he wanted to keep the racing singlet. I got to keep the finisher's medal.

Just last Friday, I called the organizers and asked if I could buy the racing singlet. They had extras and said I could have it for free! Could I come by and pick it up now? Of course! I arrived in 20min and I could see boxes on boxes of singlets. Of all sizes. I though the "M" looked a little small and settled on the "L". I was really pleased with the singlet, and myself.

I came home and tried on the singlet. It is quite common to get the size wrong, with newbies like me and it's happen more often than not - the singlet is too big. And guess what, when I called the organisers to ask if I could change my singlet for something smaller, they said "Yes". They have "M" as well. To be balanced, this is unheard off in the local racing scene - once you've made your choice, you're absolutely not allowed to change your tee.

So pleased was I when I went down to the organisers to change my singlet. When I got there, the person who attended to me asked if I wanted an "S"; she could not find the box where the M were kept and so she quickly said they were all out. Her search took all of 1 min because I could see her rummaging through the boxes before her; and after that, she was prepared to brush me away, blow me off. I asked that she checked again and after consulting her colleague, she found the "M" box - right under her nose, underneath the bloody "L"s.

Do you really know what runners want?

We run at races only for the bloody medal and the bragging rights that come with the tee. Nothing more. We're a bunch long used to sufferring and all we ask for are these 2 things. There is no point bragging to those that do not know and so only the small number of runners would recognise the tee for what its worth. To use "bragging" is really too big a word - every time we see another runner with a tee from an event, its more a recognition of the achievement of having participated in the race than a boast of performance. This is why the tee is so meaningful. To crown it all, the person who looked for my tee was a fellow runner herself (she was wearing her marathon finisher's tee).

So please do not be flippant and brush me off about my tee because it does mean something to me.