Running technology is always advancing—just when you finally start to get the hang of that new GPS running watch, a brand new one with a dozen amazing features hits the market. Shoes are evolving faster than ever, with new versions promising to help you PR, while long-gone are the days of cotton tops and shorts (and chafing).
But all that new technology still doesn’t mean this old tech is something you’re ready to part with. Maybe it’s a fond memory of a great run, or maybe it just still works decades later. Whatever the reason, it’s made it through years of closet purges and survived donate piles when spring cleaning time arrives.
Just in time for spring cleaning, we asked readers to share their stories of treasured gear and apparel they just can’t part with below.
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Lucky Hats
“I have a plastic/fabric butterfly that fell off a display at a restaurant in Monterey in 2010. My mom clipped it to my hat for the marathon and it’s been with me for pretty much everything. It’s pretty tattered, but it’s survived a decade of running and racing and I now also have a tattoo of it on my foot!”—Jill Davies
“My Nike Fit hat. I bought it a few months before my first 5K race ever. If I made it to the start line five months after having my third baby, then I got to wear the hat, shorts, and shirt. Bastille Day 5K, 2007. Well, I still wear this hat and love it!”—Stephanie Born
“The hat I bought in 2014 when my daughter started playing junior Olympic volleyball (her club name is on it). I ran the 2017 Chicago Marathon in it. It was the day of volleyball tryouts for her. And the first year she thought she may not make the team. I was riddled with mom guilt. It was 86 degrees and I was super undertrained due to other health issues that year. I crossed the finish line and just as I texted ‘I made it’ she texted ‘made the team.’ So, it’s a super lucky hat. The hat is foul. But you don’t mess with that kind of good luck.”— Lora Daley
“The orange bandana I’ve worn in memory of my cousin—55 marathons over 18 years, and now my twin cheerleaders have their own!”—Emily Slager
“My Liverpool running hat. The color has faded, and all the years of running has left a unique odor, but that hat will never leave my head for most runs.”—Sandip Randhawa
“An Adidas hat from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. I found it laying in the ditch while running on the road back in 1985 or 1986. People made fun of me for picking it up, but I thought (and still do believe) it is the BEST thing ever!”—Lisa Steffes
“My first Boston, weather was miserable, bought this hat knowing that I was possibly giving myself bad juju for wearing it in the race, PRd that day, this hat is disgusting, it’s been eaten by a puppy, washed 1,000 times and I’ll never let it go.”—Keara McGraw
“My Blink-182 hat. I bought it at some music festival in Paris and it’s my lucky hat. It travels with me to all my “official” runs. Already packed to come with me for the 30K distance at Transgrancanaria in Gran Canaria this weekend.—Sabrina Schreiner
Shoes That Hold Marathon Memories
“The shoes I ran my first marathon in—I think Flyknit Nikes—with my chip timer still tied into the laces. (Before the timer was in the bib.) Lakefront Marathon 2013.”—Sarah Nicole
“The shoes I ran my first marathon in. I don’t wear them for anything anymore, but they’ll live somewhere in my apartment forever.”—Kathleen Smith
“The NB 1220 from 2000. My first and second marathons were one month apart. Memphis in December 2000 and San Diego (now known as Carlsbad) in January 2001.”—Vicente Santiago
“I kept my first ever pair of running shoes from 7th grade! I ran in clunky leather walking shoes for a few weeks until my coach told me I’d get injured and insisted I got the right shoes. My mom didn’t want to waste money buying me running shoes because she wasn’t sure if I was going to quit. I ran for my college team and I’m graduating in May!”—Bettina Lee
“The 2011 NYC Marathon Gel-Kayanos I bought at the expo that year!! It was my second marathon, and I was running in honor of my daughter who has Spina Bifida and was 2 years old at the time. They have the course map on the inserts. I no longer run in them, but I do wear them out and about purely for sentimental purposes.”—Liz Keicher
“Split tongue Asics with makeshift zip ties are likely 25–30 years old. Have gone through dozens of pairs since but held on to these for some odd reason.”—Aaron Berger
Some Seriously Vintage Shirts
“My first high school cross-country T-shirt I got the first year I came out for the team as a sophomore in 1996. I still wear it to train in and wash it by hand or delicate cycle, has a few holes and is really thin in the back. Fillmore High XC!”—Pablo Suarez
“The T-shirt that I wore for my first 5K, the week after the Boston Marathon bombing.”—Sid Mallick
“These two shirts have been in the ‘donate pile’ so many times, but they always end up back in my closet. I can’t get rid of these classic Under Armour shirts from 2004: before moisture wicking, seamless, polyester/elastane blends, during a time when shirt lengths ended high at the waist; before Under Armour perfected clothing design for the female body (instead of for a box). These are not the most comfortable, but I love the (retro?) millennium style (stripe down the sleeves) and they remind me of how far fabric technology has advanced over the years.”—Theresa Gagliardi
“My 1984 Empire State Games warm-ups. It was the summer after my sophomore year in high school and it was really big deal for me. I had to run at my county meet to make it to regionals. The top two at regionals qualified for Empire State Games!”—Kristine Longshore
“The marathon shirt is from my first ever accidental marathon in Disney world. It took me three years to track down and buy it off of someone who was injured and never ran the race so was willing to part with it. I entered and ran the marathon when the half was canceled the night before. Got the medal but never the shirt until now!”—Jamie Lee McIntyre
“My cross-country sweatshirt from my sophomore year of high school. It is no longer warm and it is ripped (and stained). I only wear it at home due to how ragged it is, but that just means it’s loved. It reminds me of my early days of running and how I’ve gone from struggling 5K runner to running marathons!”—Elizabeth Welshhans
“My oldest trio of shirts indirectly changed my life’s direction—little did I know that my 30 years of commitment in running the NYC Marathon (1990–2020) would start as a simple, self-designed walking tour of 30-plus pubs of London, (which was part of my first and only international class trip with Brooklyn College with a class writing assignment in the summer of '88, overseas to explore London). That experience convinced me that I could travel long distances on foot & feel fine! I thought, ‘If I could walk all over London what else might be possible?’ Volunteering at the 1990 NYC Marathon totally switched on my desire to run the NYC Marathon in 1991—and I’ve been running it just about every year since!”—Gregory Mateja
“This T-shirt from 1986, and I still have the certificate. It’s special as nearly 20 million people around the world started the 10K at the same time, raising millions for charity and at age 13, it was my first ever 10K as someone who hated sport at the time. Roll on a complete Achilles rupture five years ago, I’ve since completed 13 official half marathons, three full marathons and two ultramarathons.”—Gill Ian
“I’ve been running in this Kor muscle tee for four years, still looks and feels like brand new. It’s the most perfect run shirt I’ve ever run in in my whole life and I grew up on Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Champion. I feel the wind on my skin through the mesh and that makes such a difference on a hot run. And it’s loose, not tight or pinching so my body is not resisting fabric so when I run I can focus on other things.”—Allison Cline
“First Running camp T-shirt from 2004. No idea how many runs/workouts I’ve done in this classic!”—Leah Hartung
“My dad, an avid runner and 2:45 marathoner, kept a few of his shirts forever (and altered them, lol—he liked really short shirts). When he passed away two months ago, I brought home a couple of his shirts. One is from 1983.”—Joni Hanson Hammond
“I started running in 1976 and here is a pic of my oldest shirt from 1977. I’m 71 years old and I love to run. You can find me daily on the streets of Apopa, El Salvador.”—Tom Stanton
Pants and Shorts That Just Hold Up
“A pair of 23-year-old insulated windbreaker pants from my high school field hockey days. Still wear them to shovel snow, go sledding, or run if it’s super cold and snowy or icy. They are bulky, but I’ve found that if our when I fall on snow or ice, they keep my from injuring myself.”—Coretta Elizabeth
“My running tights I got as a freshman in high school (35 years ago). Love them and still wear them.”— Jennifer Morgan Hatmacher
“I have lucky shorts. A pair of Hind shorts I wore for my first half marathon in 2004 (or 2006). I wore them again for my first full marathon, the New York City Marathon in 2016. When the day comes, I’ll wear them for my last. I have photos. These particular shorts are made of a soft, silk-like material and are the best racing shorts for me. They are not made anymore. I love the way they feel and the way they flow. I have been washing and wearing these shorts for over a decade with bleach, vinegar, and have run tons of miles in them. They are still holding up.”—Kelley Batton Duell
I have one pair left of vintage Champion compression shorts. I would order them from the Hanes catalog. Had about a dozen pair in all colors over the years. Wore them till threadbare. I don’t wear the pair I have left because I want to cherish them forever! Have to be a good 25 years old!—Claire Marie
“A pair of my brother’s Adidas thermal running pants that he outgrew as a teenager and then gave to me. He passed away in August of 2018, so they are priceless to me.”—Anne Bartunek
Old Gadgets and Gear That Are Simply Better
“My Nike gloves that I have trained for every marathon in, including my BQ!”—Melissa K Jones
“Our friend Bobby’s Garmin!”—Run Club of Malden
“My Nike gym bag that my mom gave me when I ran track, back in 1992! I still use it when traveling to races.”—Alison Warner
“A towel I got from 2010 or 2011 in a fun run”—Kathy Williams
“iPod shuffle”—Jim Kelley
“I won an iPod shuffle at a New Year’s Eve party over a decade ago by stuffing the entry box with about 20 pieces of paper that had my name on it. The battery life is great at 10 to 12 hours, and the storage (2GB) is just enough to hold any set of podcasts or playlist I want on a run.”—Brian Dalek, Director of Content Operations, Runner’s World & Bicycling
“Headphones: We’re not talking the fancy Beats by Dre, either. These headphones are the kind with the hook that goes around your ear while the speakers cover your ears. None of that earbud sorcery. And they’re certainly not wireless (the ‘cord’ is more like string material). I bought my first pair (Philips Rich Bass Neckband) in 2011 and a replacement pair when those literally wore through in 2014. They didn’t bounce. They didn’t pinch. They did start to smell. I don’t know how people can run with earbuds—mine fall out even when I’m sitting deathly still. I no longer listen to music while I run, but I have started listening to podcasts. Oh, and these were $20.” —Heather Mayer Irvine, freelance writer
“A running armband, I have no idea what the brand is. I don’t know which long run led to the weird white streaks on the back—my guess would be down the Jersey shore? I just know the Velcro still works and my iPod somehow still stays put, despite the gaping holes on the top and bottom. I’m grateful that 10 and a half years, nine marathons, six apartments, four jobs, three cars, and two dog chewing incidents later, it’s still the first thing I reach for before heading out for a run.” —Derek Call, former video producer
Best Running Armbands Grid
LifeProof LifeActive Armband with Quickmount
Nathan StrideSport Smartphone Carrier
