Some singlets I give away to helpers; some land on garage sale. Some I use when I groom dogs. Some I love to lounge around or sleep in for the fabric comfort, but would not dare wear in the gym or on the road for its ah, uninspired, design. Some are good enough for gym or road training.
A few singlets stand out. Despite its garish colors and rough texture, I wore and kept my 2009 Milo Marathon singlet. I wore it to be part of the thousands who have run a race steeped in tradition and prestige. I kept it as souvenir of my first ever marathon.
My favorite singlet has been the 2008 New Balance Powerrace Singlet. I like it for its instrinsic beauty and love it for the memories it evokes. Its fabric is cool, and its cut is flattering for both the fit and flabby. It is long enough to hide one's modesty when partnered with compression or cycling shorts. No other singlet can take its place as the singlet worn when I discovered I have fallen for Running. I liked the race and the singlet so much that it shows on my blog's photo banner. I would wear my favorite singlet whenever I tried to conquer longer distances during training. The singlet and the magic 25K printed on it reminded me that to a person in love with Running, no distance is too long nor insurmountable.
I therefore view with a tinge of disappointment the initial feedback about the 2009 NB singlet. The 2008 Powerrace being my Best Race of the Year, I had high hopes for the 2009 edition. I was ecstatic when I learned Extribe will handle the race again ( I do hope they repeat the cool running quotes on kilometer markers) but was a little disappointed when the distance was trimmed down to 21k (I hope it does not become just another 21k) and the location was moved back to Global City. I can understand if the race location was moved to make it accessible to more people (a great race deserves to be enjoyed by many!), but why tamper with the singlet quality?
Does the production savings really justify the marketing mileage lost from issuing a lesser quality singlet? I used to hold Mizuno in high regard for the beautiful race shirts they issued in the past races, but that regard diminished significantly when they issued a nicely designed but coarse-textured singlet during the Infinity Run. Now I associate Mizuno with the clever "Never Settle" slogan and the coarse fabric.
To be honest, I haven't seen the new NB race singlet, but I have heard similar feedback from a couple of friends. Enough to make me hesitate to go to Glorietta and see for myself if my favorite singlet has indeed fallen victim to hard times. For an NB fan like myself, it is hard to accept things like these. In the meantime, if you have a reasonably okay, large, 2008 25K NB race singlet you do not mind parting with, I would happy to buy it from you.
I do hope Adidas does not go the route of Mizuno and New Balance. In a time when every brand is working hard to push its name, the race singlet is a strategic branding opportunity. Runners have always associated the Adidas King of the Road race with drool-worthy singlets. I have my own KOTR collection for one. I am sure others have theirs, with probably more editions (if you do have all editions, please email me!). Please major brands, save the positive association. The initial feedback I got the from the Adidas brand managers is that the 2009 singlet is something to look forward to. I sure hope so and I am excited for it.
While others may think it is just a singlet, for me and others who view running as accumulation and recollection of pleasant memories, it is not just another singlet.
