So I am hoping that my fellow runners will be able to help me with some idea's. August 14th is my fathers birthday and I am clueless on what to get him. Normally I like to get him something that has to do with running, but I am starting to run out of things to get him. Last year I got him a pair of running shoes so that is out. For fathers day I got him a nice frame that had a picture of him running on one side and me running on the other and my marathon bib in the middle. It said "4 u dad" instead of going with writing my name on the bib. I have gotten him different shirts before in the past, so that is starting to get old too. I am starting to run out of idea's all together. Now all I picture is whatever I give my dad he is going to have a face of disappointment. I need some help here people, any idea's would be great, still would like to keep it running related though if possible.
Someone gave me the idea of giving him one of my race shirts that I haven't worn. This sounds like a great idea only there is one problem. I once told my dad I would give him my New York Marathon shirt and he looked at me like I said I was going to give him the Ebola virus. His exacts word and I quote were "I am not taking that shirt, I didn't earn it!" My father believes you don't wear the actual shirt that you are given from a race unless you earned that shirt. Sure you can buy one that has the name of the race on it, but you don't even think about wearing the actual shirt unless you crossed the finish line. What is weird though is when my father was heavy into running he and his friend who lived in Florida would trade race shirts with each other. So I guess as long as your doing a trade it's okay.
This brings me to my next topic, Earning. I am like my father, I believe you don't wear the race shirt of a race unless you have earned it. Last year Boston released their jackets a few weeks before the race and you could buy them online. My first thought was I need that, but then I thought how dumb am I going to feel wearing a Boston jacket, the most known race in the country and having people ask me how I did. What the hell would I say, umm I didn't qualify for it but I did buy the jacket to look cool, just doesn't sound right. When I see a person wearing a race shirt I assume they have run that race. I assume they earned the shirt. Imagine you finish a marathon and look over and some guy smoking a cigarette is wearing the medal. How would you feel then? A friend of mine told me that he has a person in the Boston area that could get him in the marathon. I told him I would not do that because when I go I want to be able to say I earned my spot. I know some people will get into a race using the charity or team option. Listen I am all for charity and I think running on a team is great, but once again for a race like Boston I want to earn my way in. I know some people say that could be the only way they will ever have a chance of running that race so they will take it. There are tons of people that I talk to that say I will never qualify for Boston so if I can get on a team or run for a charity I am going to jump on it. Listen you may qualify and you may not, but unless you really try how do you know? Some of the most inspirational stories are people saying they started running to lose weight. From there they fell in love with running and after so many years got into Boston. Before you throw in the towel and say you know you can't make it in, really try. If you don't see results and you still want to run it then I guess go for the charity or team. I however would rather watch from the sidelines and cheer everyone on.
Because I asked for some feedback I feel like I need to explain how to post on this blog if you don't have a google account. People have said in the past they have left a comment and it didn't show. All you have to do is pull down the bar under the comment box and find name/url and pick that. Just put in your name, you don't have to put anything in the URL section.
