Style matters…

At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Michael Johnson wore solid gold-colored spikes. These were the coolest race shoes I’d ever seen and they still rank at or near the top for me in that category. He won gold medals in the 200M and 400M at those games. Does what you wear or do for style matter for a race or training run, for you or for your impression on the competition?

Way back in my high school days, one of my teammates remarked that if a runner from a different team did something out-of-the-mainstream with their hair (dye it an unnatural color, have a man-bun before those were popular, etc.) he felt they were probably fast. This was an illogical thought that also made sense. I didn’t gather any data around it but when I ran the Columbus Marathon several years later, I bleached my hair to near-platinum ahead of time and showed up feeling confident I would crush it. A couple of years after that, I ran the Cleveland Marathon. In the interest of gearing up for the event (pun intended) I bought a new, flashy, bright orange racing singlet. It seemed like a good mental edge.

Even for training runs, I may pick faster-looking gear depending on what I’m doing. If it’s a four-mile run at 5:30 in the morning, I know my pace will be slow and it’s maintenance miles so I’ll toss on something plain and just get the run finished. For a speed workout or longer run where I’m pushing the pace, I’ll definitely get something on that looks sleek.

How much does having flashy clothes and shoes (or dyed hair) help? In my last post I mentioned that in 2019 I’d run an 18:42 5K at sea level and in 2020, I’d run 18:56 at elevation. Realistically the run at elevation is more difficult so the 18:56 is “faster.” For the 18:42, I was in a drab pair of gray trainers with a regular green shirt. For the 18:56, I had on menacing-looking racing flats and also used neon yellow sleeves and shorts. In the Columbus Marathon I referenced above, I fell apart at mile 19 and barely held on until mile 26.2. In Cleveland, I ran a negative split (the second half being faster than the first half) and thus finished the race feeling strong.

Do the clothes and style matter? They obviously don’t directly make you faster, and I’ve had excellent races and training runs where I was wearing something plain. But, they can make you more excited to toe the line, and that’s worth something. In the meantime, I keep my eyes out for a pair of solid gold-colored spikes…