Is It Time To Ditch The Race Finisher T-Shirts? | GTN Show Ep. 312

There has been some controversy over some Ironman finisher t-shirts, and we’re asking whether it’s time to change things up. Stop the finisher t-shirt?! A pro athlete is also DQ’d after finishing with his tri suit unzipped, another banned for a prohibited substance. In more positive news, we are catching up with Steve - from our Hawaii Five-O Project - as he’s just a couple of weeks out from his Kona qualifying race!

Intro 0:00
Reacts 0:46
Tri News 6:35
T-Shirt Gate 11:57
News Extra 16:49
What The Tech?! 27:15
Race News 32:10
Pinboard 38:56
Say What?! 41:28

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[gtn]

What should the finisher reward be, if any? Leave your ideas below 👇

[feliciaelenum]

I love my finisher shirts! I wear a race shirt almost every day, haha. And when they finally start to wear out or if they don't fit well they go into my quilt bin...I'm making a quilt out of all the ones I don't wear anymore. I'd actually prefer to not get finisher medals. They just sit in a heavy bag in my closet. If I were a podium finisher, I would want to display my medal, but just to finish I don't really need that.

[jontay]

I am old, and have been racing for 30 years (running and triathlon). My wife made 2 quilts (double sided) out of about 250 race shirts that I never threw out. Since then, I have enough now for her next quilt. I think I'd rather have the race make a donation on my behalf to a local charity than another shirt. Or maybe better finisher food :p

[z]

I didnt watch this but no! Its how i get all my shirts lol

[kelseychangsing]

In Vegas, we actually have a Recycle Run race (not the picking up trash kind 😅) where all the finisher T-shirts, medals, and podium prizes are “recycled” leftovers from other races throughout the year. Entry fee is also pretty cheap because of this.

[Stickygoma]

I love my IM finisher shirts, wear them all the time. Its the finisher T shirts from smaller local races that always end up in a bin.

[Cookiet]

I did the Swansea 70.3 and had the rebranded T-shirt, had an email from Ironman within a couple of days after the finish with details about how to claim a free 2023 finishers top so overall I’ve had 2 T-shirts for 1 event! I only see a positive out of it 😃

[billyb]

I like bar bags, I don't like to carry things in my pockets, and if I can keep things like pumps, co2 canisters, and multi tools away from my spine I probably will tbh

[LGJ]

Love a finishers t-shirt it’s where I get my training tops.

[lwittrock]

A friend of mine, Kathy, took several of her finisher T-shirts and made a quilted blanket, which was really cool!

[thezurichrunner]

I finished my first ever official event just three weeks ago, which also happened to be my first ever mountain ultra marathon (Eiger UTMB). The t-shirt was an option when registering for the race and I definitely WANTED that finisher shirt. Since it commemorates my first event ever, the first time going up and above marathon distance, running my first ultra, taking part in my first UTMB event and officially starting my journey as a mountain ultra runner, this piece of cloth somehow means a lot to me. I have it framed now, together with my stone (medal) and hanging on my wall. For future races I will probably opt out of getting a shirt, unless it is a very special race. I think if you would get a slighty reduced entry fee, more people would opt out of getting the shirt. Otherwise the mentality might be, if I pay for the race, I might as well get as much for my money as possible. So in conclusion, finisher shirts need to be optional and if you do not take it, you pay slightly less (or make it opt-in and charge extra 10 quid, something along that line). But do not get rid of them altogether.

[seanvonlost]

1. I'm good with stopping the finisher shirt... but I want the money credited to my registration 😁
2. Zippergate... way too strict of a punishment, why not just a time penalty? Can you imagine if you got DQ'd for drafting?
3. Do we have a chart of the amount of full distance events that are being pulled from the schedule and number of events that are replacing them? I feel like we've lost a lot over the past few years and there isn't any replacements.

[jeanettestewart]

I’m almost 60 and have a bar bag (sorry). It’s because I had a one off seizure after a triathlon in March. They figured it was low blood sugar and electrolyte derangement. Anyway, I can’t drive for 6 months and use my bike instead. The bar bag carries the very heavy bike lock chain I have to use when ducking into shops. I also fitted a bracket on the back so I can carry more. I did choose to use my road bike because I may as well get used to it and build up confidence as I’m fairly new to triathlon anyway. So I definitely don’t look very cool but it’s served it’s purpose well 👍 absolutely love your show 🎉🎉🎉

Other swag for completing an event:
Ball cap, toque, a quick dry small towel, water bottle, handle bar bag 😂, I like the magnet idea.

[kjartankvindeslandelias]

I wear my 70.3 finisher shirts all the time. And can't wait to prance around in my first full-distance finisher shirt!
Also like the bags... but they are starting to pile up...

As for the chopping block of IM locations, maybe it's for the best to have fewer, yet bigger events where they can focus on even more amenities for the athletes and a bigger show around it all?
Maybe new locations will start to pop up as well?
Would really love to see more full-distance events in Asia

[WillPower]

I'm only ever going to do 1 Ironman...so I need the T-shirt as well as a set of Zipp 808's please.

[adoj]

My experience with IM branded events is that the finisher shirts are of low quality and design. The cool designs and quality shirts are the ones that you have to buy the next day after the race so they can make more money. I do enjoy a "cool" design for a finisher or just race shirt and wear some out and about and a lot of other ones as work out shirts. One of our local races that is for a charity offers really nice Polar insulated water bottles for finishers. We have lots of water bottles, but these are high quality, insulated and get used. Again though, my family has done a lot of these events so it's less important to us verses someone just starting out and doing their first race.

[jarretgosbee]

I'm a race director for a small race. T-shirts in 2018 were $11/ea. Now they're $20/ea if you want decent quality. Do you get bad quality shirts for $11 that aren't even good enough to wear to bed? Do I raise the price of my event? Everything has increased in price. We decided that athletes can purchase their own t-shirts but since they were pre-orders we inevitably had a dozen people ask if we can do another order (which would be more expensive, since it would be a lower quantity).

[Namoraslife]

In Germany, with almost any race that has finisher shirts you have to explicitly say you want one and have to pay extra for it and it's not a staple given out with every sign up. That is a really good compromise, so everyone who wants a tee gets one and the ones who don't don't.

[blairbenson]

I love that t-shirts are optional now! I'm racing for the thrill, not the swag!

Awesome show this week! 👏