I wrote originally to canada@ironman.com, in response to some email asking for race feedback. I got an auto reply opening a ticket at MyRaceQuestions. Then the next day I got email asking me to rate their response as satisfactory or unsatisfactory, but I never actually got a response -- that rating thing quoted part of a response that I guess never got to me, telling me to write to CanVolunteers@nasports.com, so I forwarded the whole exchange to that address. They responded and said they were ordering more and asked me just for my address, no mention of sending back the other.

I think I read over on the main forum that 500 finisher shirts were stolen. Probably all the smalls.

What a fantastic idea! I need more art work anyway.

Oh wow, I hadn't read that about the shirts getting stolen. That is pretty crazy. My small arrived in the mail today. It is pretty much the same size as the medium. Almost the exact same size. Still way too big to wear.

Glad you got your shirt. I didn't get one at all, since I finished really late (not in the plan, but IM shit happens). They had none left. I have emailed and received an email response, so hope the shirt will arrive in the mail soon. I darn sure earned it!

As for the other discussion, I am totally with the PP who said that people who register early should absolutely get the size shirt they ordered! People who want to switch sizes (no matter if they register early or late) have to wait. They are very strict with this at the Disney races. If your shirt doesn't fit, you go back at the close of the expo and if they have your size then, you can trade.
Sorry to the RD about the crazy people, but please don't punish the people who know what size shirt they wear by giving our shirts away.

I do like the wall art idea. And I have a bunch of the shirts I like set aside for a quilt. And lots of large crappy shirts that are expensive bike rags.

Canvolunteers@nasports.com use this addy if you didn't receive a t shirt or to exchange they now have extras .my wife traded her XL for a small for IMC

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"Be your best cheerleader , not your worst critic.”

Thanks for posting that....I just emailed again, since I have seen here (you) and on FB that people have received their shirts. None here yet. :( Hopefully, they haven't run out again!

Always great when RDs offer women's sizes, and smart too because I'm probably 5x more likely to actually wear the shirt and advertise their race. I always appreciate when they specify which brand they'll be using so I can try to adjust the size I request, but that's a bit more rare. At least many races seem to use the same brand year after year so you can adjust if you do the race again. I used that to my advantage to get the right size at Wisconsin this year.

Somewhat tangential to the main gist of this thread, I wish athletic gear companies would make their sizes geared toward a wider range of body types. I'm 5'7", 158 and the women's large K-Swiss dri-fit is uncomfortably short and a little too snug- women's XL is perfect. But I don't feel like I should really be considered an extra large woman. I'm an A cup to boot. Sheesh, I feel so bad for all the taller and larger ladies who must not be able to wear the women's cut shirts at all. So unrealistic of the company and discouraging to female athletes in general...

/rant :)

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So my husband is helping to organize a group bike ride fundraiser. He brings shirts home tonight. A women's medium for me. I put it on and it billows out.

Apparently the organizer ordered only S, M, and L men's shirts. She special ordered a couple of women's shirts, presumably, for herself and other volunteers? In fact, the men's S is too big for my husband. I can only imagine how large and long it would be on regular size women. They did it to save money. But I'm not sure how that saves money... do they order a lesser number of shirts? They'd still have to order three sizes, just all men's sizes. If they really wanted one size fits all, wouldn't they order all men's L?

When I got peeved that in this ride, which is billed as being a fundraiser for women, that there are no women's sizes offered... he calls me an idiot. Ungrateful. That this is a low cost ride. (Yeah, this is actually my husband, and not some jerk off the street).

I've never heard of them running out of L shirts at any event I've been to. They only run out of S, and have scads of L and XL left.

I remembered this thread and thought I'd rant into it.

So I wrote an email to my husband referencing this thread. This is what he has to say:

A lot of triathletes and bicycle racers are narcissistic shitheads. They are not the same type of people volunteering and doing charity events and . I think next year, I recommend they don't have shirts, so that assholes like you don't have anything to complain about. I'm really worried about what you might say about the food, music or entertainment. Perhaps you shouldn't even do the event. You can't see beyond the swag that you might get at it.

Wow, sounds like you've got a real keeper on your hands there. I have to agree with the suggestion though that they just not have any shirts. My point isn't to complain that the swag isn't good enough for me, my point is that women are given second class status. I agree that it is petty when people complain about the shirts in general, they don't like the design or they want cotton instead of tech or tech instead of cotton. Oh and I do volunteer and do charity events. And of course do not complain about the shirt at a charity event. Case in point: I just did the AIDs Lifecycle ride from SF to LA for which I raised $7000 FOR CHARITY. And when they handed me my men's small shirt (dress) at the end of the ride I proudly put it on and did not complain. The original thread here was about the shirt in an ironman race. A race that cost $700 to enter. Geez, talk about missing the point.

First - totally not my place, and I obviously don't know you, but calling you an idiot, narcissistic shithead, asshole, etc - NOT OK. This is totally my button, but if someone is supposed to be a loving partner these words should not be associated with you. Sounds like those adjectives may describe him pretty well though.

As far as the shirts - when fashion starts F-ing with men's sizing they way they do with women's sizing, men will begin to understand the frustration. Whether at an event or charity ride it is frustrating to have a shirt that doesn't fit. Here's the logical and IMO non-narcissistic reason: when I do a charity/in honor of ride I want to be able to continue to promote that cause past the event. Wearing the t-shirt is a conversation starter. I can't tell you how many people will come talk to you if you have a Team in Training; Breast Cancer, Blazeman, etc shirt on. So it is not about swag for most of us. When doing a charity event I choose my charity carefully and with thought about what is important to me, how much gets donated to the charity etc. I would like to continue to raise funds by continuing to display my support - hard to do if their 'branding' material doesn't fit. We all have to face the reality that this 'swag' is marketing and branding for the race/charity/company.

Finally about this - if the female organizers ordered different shirts just for them, I don't really see how it is 'saving' money. Most orders are piece orders: if you order more pieces the price per piece goes down. If you only order 3-4 women's shirts they are going to pay a lot more for them. If you truly want to save money, don't get t-shirts! Do branded water bottles, key chain, re-usable grocery bag.

Back to race shirts - FRUSTRATING because at IMCDA 2 years ago K-swiss was the sponsor. Got a small...fit, but a tad bit tighter than I normally like. Fast forward to IM Boise 70.3 based on my CDA experience I ordered a medium - HUGE! Different vendor. They were willing to exchange the shirt, so no problems, but my issue is women's sizing in general. I wish they would just truly standardize it!

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Don't Just Live, Thrive!
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We had the opposite happen at my last tri - the shirts were TINY! I'm a size 6 with biggish boobs and the extra large unisex they gave my fiance made my arms feel like sausages! Nevermind the tea-towel-sized medium they gave me... I was so proud of that race, too :(

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You. You make me stronger.

I don't think I included enough details.

When I found out that there would only be men's sizes, I told my husband that this was a bad idea, since half of the race will be made up of women, and the smallest men's size is too large even for a small man. My husband is one of the organizers, so I thought he should pass my opinion back to the organizers.

So I'm not complaining as merely a rider in this charity event. I thought I was giving helpful advice, for next time.

I did not see how having only men's sizes would save money. The shirts cost $10 each, at wholesale, regardless of what size is ordered. When you registered for the ride, you specified your t-shirt size, so not that hard to figure out the proper ratios of sizes to order. It's the same as discussed previously in this thread (and if you scroll back, you can see that I advocate not only specifying the size, but the exact measurements of the shirts in question--if you want to order a men's shirt because it has the right measurements, you should be able to do that too).

If the shirts are too big, and they are technical shirts, then they will not be worn. What need would I have for a large men's *technical* shirt that fits like a dress? Wicking shirts are supposed to fit closely. Sleeping shirts should be made of cotton. So it's good for neither purpose. Waste of money, and waste of an opportunity to promote the race.

And yeah, he's a keeper all right. He alternates between treating me well and treating me like crap. He has forgotten that I am the one who put up the 40 posters, who publicized the ride on social media, who volunteered at a trade show for hours accosting people in the aisles to join the ride, who rode the course with him in the pouring rain to make suggestions about changes to the route. I am quite peeved that he suggested that I should not come to the ride because I might complain about the event. So I will not attend the ride that I worked so hard to promote.

Hi Karencoutts, sorry, my previous reply wasn't really well thought out. I saw "nacissistic shitheads" first thing this morning and saw red for a minute there. :-)
I'm sorry you are in that situation, that sounds tough. Hopefully he is just stressed out about putting the event on and in the future will realize that he was being a jerk. Hopefully he appreciates all the work that you have put into his event. I agree with tridana though, calling you an idiot is NOT OK.
yeah, and back to the original point, I also don't get why, if the shirts are the same whole sale cost regardless, they can't just take the time to get the right sizes for everybody. Good point too that it the shirts fit people will wear them and that promotes the event, whether it is a charity or for-profit. Win-win for all!

This makes me so sad for you, Karen. My old DH is far from perfect, but he still treats me as if my big butt were made of gold. And he never ever uses a curse word, and very rarely raises his voice at anything. Maybe I shouldn't say this, but your husband's language and attitude borders on abuse, in my opinion. I'm keeping you in my thoughts, and wishing you well.

~~ kate

I understand the peeved part. I hope you go anyway. Ride with friends, or in the back with people who need support, or in the front if you want to go fast, or with your husband if you're feeling gracious and feel like riding on the high road. It makes me sad, too, to hear that women don't do things they want to do because a man (even if he is your husband) made them feel bad or ashamed. You rock, girl.