The Demo Site

(January 12)

Race t-shirts. Most runners love them. Some can do without them. Regardless of your point of view, I want to find the best one of 2009. So we're holding the first ever Biz Runner contest. I want you to email a photo or jpeg of what you think is the best race shirt you received last year. Everyone who submits an entry will be entered for the chance to win a free pair of Brooks running shoes! See the entry details below.

We've touched on the subject of race t-shirts before, for more on that see here: http://www.thebizrunner.com/2009/12/would-you-give-up-your-race-t-shirt-to.html)


Like the marathon medal, the race t-shirt is a key piece in the marketing of any event. A great t-shirt gets proudly worn – time and time again. A bad t-shirt gets stashed in a draw never to see the light of day, assuming it isn’t so horrible that it’s discarded immediately.

In local races the t-shirts often have the names of multiple local sponsors. It’s a great way for a company to show its support for the community. I would think that offering to put a companies name on shirt is a strong selling point. It’s great advertising to know that the hundreds or thousands of people that run the race will be getting a shirt with your companies name on it - but this assumes people will actually wear the shirt. I’ve often wondered what the numerous sponsors think when they see their name on a bad t-shirt…”yikes I paid for that?...no one will ever wear these”.

On the other hand, A GREAT t-shirt is hard to part with. I have one shirt in particular that I’ve worn out and just HATED to retire it. To this day I can’t bring myself to throw it away. The logo is a piece of really cool artwork and immediately grabs your attention. There are admittedly a few other things at play beyond just being a great looking shirt. The shirt is a reminder of a fantastic vacation weekend spent in one of my favorite cities. It’s a reminder of a race that while difficult, was one of my best. Put all these factors together and I love this shirt.

I want to know what shirts were given out in 2009 that you LOVE. The shirts that you’ll wear until they are so threadbare you just can’t wear them any more. Or maybe it’s a shirt you like so much you won’t wear it at all because you just can’t part with it.

I want to see the shirts that really stand out from a crowd. Of course we all know that art is totally subjective. So is this contest. Keep in mind that I’m not “The Art Runner” or “The Graphic Design Runner” – I’m looking at the t-shirt as a marketing opportunity. All I will say is that I think a great t-shirt needs to capture the spirit of a race, as well as the city or location it is run in. See it’s totally subjective. In addition to picking what I consider to be the best one - I’ll highlight some of the other great ones as well. Then you can tell me I’m why I’m wrong.


How to Enter:
To enter, simply email The Biz Runner at thebizrunner@gmail.com by 11:59PM (EST) Sunday, January 31st. Be sure to put "Best T-Shirt of 2009" in the email's subject line and put your name in the body of the email. Include a pic of your t-shirt or a jpeg of the race logo. It has to be the official race shirt - the one you received as part of your entry fee. Not something you bought at an expo. Tell me the name of the race, the city it was run in and the date it was run. A brief line about WHY you like this particular shirt is preferred but optional. Everyone who sends a submission will be entered to win a free pair of Brooks shoes. (Thanks Brooks!)

Each email will be assigned a number based on the order that the emails are received which will be used to determine the winner of the Brooks shoes (not the winner of the "best t-shirt contest, that's subjective and decided by The Biz Runner - see above). The winning number will be selected by The True Random Number Generator at Random.org . The winner of the best race shirt of 2009 will be announced the first week of February. The winner of the free shoes will be announced at the same time.