Why Runners Can’t Stop Buying Marathon Merch—Even When They Hate the Design

I have two New York City Marathon shirts that couldn't be further apart in my personal rankings. My 2022 long-sleeve is a soft baby blue long-sleeve, with understated graphics and the year sitting neatly on it. To this day, it's probably my favorite race shirt.Two years later, NYC handed me a shirt in such an aggressive shade of parking-cone orange that I now wear it almost exclusively beneath quarter-zips, preferably zipped all the way to my neck so nobody gets blinded.And yet, I still wear it. I wouldn't voluntarily pick that color off a rack, but there's something about marathon gear that makes otherwise questionable fashion decisions feel perfectly reasonable.Think about everything that goes into running 26.2 miles. Months of training, ungodly early alarms, sweat, blisters, and whatever else your particular training cycle throws at you. You get a medal for finishing, sure, and you can always add a little medal emoji to your Instagram bio so everyone knows what you've done. But race apparel has a different kind of staying power. You can actually wear it out into the world or simply open your closet and be reminded of that day all over again.“The apparel becomes much more than something you wear,” Kevin Fitzpatrick, New Balance's VP of Running, told Runner’s World. “It serves as a tangible reminder of that entire journey and what it took to get to the finish line.”Which is lovely, until the tangible reminder comes in a color you'd never willingly purchase.Unlike your race-day outfit, you don't get much say in what official marathon merchandise looks like. Yes, you control what you ultimately buy and how much you’re willing to spend, but brands are developing these collections well ahead of race weekend. They can't exactly poll tens of thousands of runners on their preferred graphics, fonts, and shades of blue before making every design decision.“We start with the feeling of the race, not the postcard version of it,” said Emily Grady, New Balance's running apparel product manager. “Rather than relying on obvious NYC landmarks, we focus on capturing the spirit of the city in a way that feels authentic and wearable.”The brand's 2026 New York City Marathon line began arriving in September, with a separate Finisher Collection launching October 8 and limited-edition Five-Borough merchandise coming during race weekend. And this year, at least, I have a hard time complaining. The blue-and-teal jacket is the kind of race gear I’d wear even if I hadn’t just run 26.2 miles, while the Finisher Collection goes in a totally different direction instead of just recoloring the same idea. There are bolder graphics and much quieter pieces, so the loud-merch people can be loud while the rest of us aren’t stuck dressing like slightly obnoxious walking race posters.Of course, not every marathon collection gets that kind of reception, and marathoners have never been shy about saying so.Chicago's 2025 participant shirt didn't exactly get a warm welcome. One Reddit thread about the design was literally titled “Participant Shirts Looking Like They Were Made On Microsoft Paint.” Several runners agreed, taking issue with the graphics and typography, with some wondering how the design made it to production.Boston has experienced similar scrutiny. Back in 2014, Adidas released a bright orange-and-teal Celebration Jacket, appropriately named Solar Zest, that drew plenty of criticism from runners who weren't particularly interested in dressing like that.My orange NYC shirt, however, has at least one very dedicated fan out there. In June 2025, a woman turned to Reddit hoping to replace her husband's ruined 2024 participant tee. It was from his first NYC Marathon, he wore it constantly, and she wanted to surprise him with another for Father's Day. Other runners offered theirs, and she eventually tracked one down.I can barely stand seeing mine poke out from beneath another layer, while he loved his enough to want a replacement. Same shirt, two very different attachments to what it represents.Of course, participant shirts are generally included with registration. The relationship becomes even more intense when we're talking about merchandise we're voluntarily spending additional money on, sometimes without finding anything we particularly love.“We know marathon gear is an emotional purchase as much as it is a performance one,” the New Balance team shared.And maybe that explains why we're willing to spend $100 or more on another jacket when we already own several perfectly functional ones. As Grady put it, “A medal celebrates the finish, but apparel allows runners to share their story long after race day.”There's also a bit of showing off involved, whether we want to admit it or not.“Some runners want to proudly showcase their accomplishment with an iconic finisher jacket or commemorative graphic tee, while others gravitate toward more subtle pieces,” Grady said.I'll admit I've occasionally considered buying something solely because it prominently announces which marathon I ran, regardless of whether it matches a single thing I own. And there's the nagging feeling that if you pass on a particular year's collection, that version of your accomplishment is gone for good.“Every year represents a different training cycle, a different course experience, a different personal milestone,” Grady explained. “The gear becomes a marker of that specific year, not just another jacket.”Interestingly, she doesn't necessarily view an initially unpopular design as a lost cause, either.“A design that feels polarizing on drop day can become one of the most memorable pieces from a race because it's so tied to a specific moment in time,” Grady said.I understand the impulse. It's not entirely different from paying for an objectively unfortunate race photo because, despite your expression suggesting you're moments from requiring medical assistance, you still want a picture from that day. You're buying the memory as much as the image.Maybe that's why I can't bring myself to retire that orange shirt. I don't particularly enjoy looking at it, but I can love the memory—and still keep the zipper all the way up.Find Your Next Running PlaylistSean Abrams was the Senior Editor, Growth and Engagement at Men’s Health. He’s a former hip hop dancer who likes long walks on the beach and large glasses of tequila. You can find his previous work at Maxim, Elite Daily, and AskMen.