I’m like Desert Dude top T shirt in the pile.
I wear my finishers medals when I dance to hip hop songs, but then again I never pull my XXXL cycling shorts up more than 1/2 way up my ass.
I once worn my IMFL baseball cap to one of my daughter XC races to let her highschool buddies know her dad isn’t too much an old bag of bones…I know, alittle childish and insecure…I doubt anyone noticed though…
You bet I do!
At running races I wear a run race t shirt or whatnot, I don’t have any biking stuff I guess, but when coaching I do my best to wear race shirts from the most ridiculous swims I have done. 10k postal swim, 10k nationals, and my tampa bay marathon t-shirt.
I don’t want people to think I’m NOT nutty as a fruitcake.
Just last week I got the coment “Is that really a 24 mile SWIM” when wearing my Tampa Bay marathon t shirt.
After Timberman, I wore the swim cap from that until it broke. Not for the attention - all it said was “endorfun sports” - it just made me smile to put it on 
I wear race tshirts all the time. Again, not for attention, they’re comfy!
I’m sure there are some people who do it just for show.
I do wear my finisher’s hats from all the 70.3’s and the IM I’ve done because they’re functional Headsweats hats. I wear them when I run virtually every time, and I wear them during the run in all the tris I do. I occasionally wear my finisher’s tees, depending on what’s clean.
I wear some of my finisher’s tees based on the fact that it fits and it’s clean. I hardly ever get responses and if I do it’s usually from one of my professors. I don’t do it for attention because I’m convinced most people don’t care in the first place.
You’e done enough of these things you could get one of those quilts made from the shirts.
When I was racing I would wear my t-shirts because it meant I didn’t have to buy any clothes and could therefore afford the next race. But I wish more races would not give me anything if it meant a reduction in my race fee. That was like 13 years ago, those shirts are long gone by now.
When this topic comes up it cracks me up endlessly…there’s those that say “I’ll never wear anything from any race—I’ll look like a poser!”; countered by those with 5 tri-tattoos and M-Dot underwear…
Me, I’m somewhere in the middle. If I feel like wearing race paraphernalia somewhere, including to and/or during a workout, I will. If not, I won’t. I’m not thinking about impressing anyone----'cuz it’s pretty much not possible anymore!
Now, during IM race weeks—another story entirely. Attire must be chosen carefully to reflect one’s standing within the community…i.e., never, ever wear the local “tri for fun” gear in Kona…all clothing must reflect HIM distance or greater lest ye be laughed off the island.
I like those hats, too.
I wear finisher’s stuff sometimes - just for the memory of how much fun I had in the race (and training for it). The swim caps are to save money - most of them don’t have a logo.
No IMs yet.
I wear my tri shirts to sleep in. It helps my recovery.
- wear my IM finisher caps as they’re Headsweat brand which work pretty well, are comfortable and can be washed.
- never really have an occasion to wear my IM finisher t-shirt…I did keep it and know exactly where it is though
- save my IM swim caps as souveneirs (now, THAT’s dorky) - however, I do wear any race swim caps that are not covered in mold…never get any comments even though my entire masters group are triathletes
- those mini backpacks they give out at the IM finish line are functional - especially for lugging swim gear around
- I do wear an IM fleece vest I bought after my first race…it’s warm and on cold days I’ll wear it at the office over a dress shirt (we’re biz casual). Other than the occasional “you’re insane to do that,” it gets zero attention.
I guess among triathletes, there are so many IM finishers it doesn’t mean a thing to anyone if you’ve got gear with IM logos…and the general public has no idea what IronMan is, so it means nothing to that sector of the population either.
I guess it doesn’t really doesn’t say anything about you one way or the other if your wear IM gear…other than, in my case, where it can be taken as “he’s too damned cheap to buy his own running hats, swim caps and a backpack.”
the only tee shirts I have are from races, so, that’s what i wear…i do so many races each year, that I can’t really see why I’d buy a tee shirt (well, I do have some from a couple of bars I frequent…but most of those are from drinking contests or something like that) At first I didn’t like the finisher hats, I prefered the head sweat visors, then I tried one of the hats one day…and I really like them, so I wear them because they are free and I don’t see the need to buy any thing that I already have quite a few of. I am bummed that someone walked off with my IMF finisher hat. I also have quite an assortment of towels from open water swims, and that’s what I keep with my swim gear.
I have a DeSoto transition bag with the IM lake placid logo that I take to the pool occasionally…its a good bag. I also have a IMLP coffee mug which i use a lot.
As far as finisher’s stuff? No, I don’t wear it.
I wear some ironman finisher polo shirts I’ve gotten while back all the time but it’s because after paying $1350 plus a year for entry fees for 3 a year 33 times too many I can’t afford to buy any regular shirts so it’s my old ironman polo’s and any polo shirt we may get given at work for new projects or to celebrate.
Some of them are getting bit faded one has some holes in it…
Really not a conscious decision though just pick up the whichever shirt is at the top of my laundry pile or out of the dryer…
I love my Timberman 70.3 headsweat hat. Best shwag yet. I wear it on the majority of my runs (until it gets too cold) Happy to help promote an awesome race, if anyone asks about it (no one has yet) Until then, it’s a good looking, funtional lid.
I dont like to wear anything from races. but there is a married couple that swims at the same pool i do that wear their lake placid swim caps everyday and also swim with those outdoor giant goggles in the 25m pool.
I’ve never quite understood the I won't wear race / finisher clothing' bit either. In most cases if the t-shirt is on the top and I need one for a workout or weekend wear, I wear it; I figure everything goes with jeans, denim shorts, or exercise clothing so I avoid the whole matching’ thing. The only exception is that on the occasional low motivation day I do find a bit of a boost from wearing a race shirt from a race I did well in.
Not event gear but I do training rides with my GB strip on, if it’s at the top of the pile. I find motorists give me more room if I’m crusing down the road with ‘Great Britain’ in big letters across my jersey.