"I'd rather be seen on my bicycle than on a park run" - Quote from the dark side

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Back in the day.

I ran my first half marathon in 1981 and was hooked on running immediately. A lot of my races were run in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Medals were not common at all in those (good old) days. Badges were the in thing and covering your tracksuit or blanket with race badges was the cool way of showing them off.


I did the same and still have my old school tracksuit top covered with badges. Unfortunately the pants went missing some years ago as they were covered as well. Looking at my badges I sometimes wish we still received a badge after a race and not a medal.


Front:
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Back:
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First Race
1981 SABC TV Road Race (21.1km)
First Marathon
1985 Pick ‘n Pay Marathon
First Ultra
1985 Milo Korkie (56km)

26 comments:

Shawn said...

That's a lot of running!

Quinton J said...

so awesome. the patches are way more practical anyway. love that jacket.

Christi said...

I think I agree with you. Badges are really awesome and would love to see that happen now!

Unknown said...

wow, very cool :-)

Giorgio said...

It's easy to understand that since 1981 you've run a lot of great races! You're right, badges more significant than medals!
Good luck for your Rustenburg mountain race!

Staci said...

Love the tracksuit top!! I think badges would be way more useful than the medals.
Either way, its great to be able to go back to your "firsts".
Will be thinking of you on Saturday.

Paul said...

Badges way more cool than medals..maybe we can start a trend over again?

Hmm....

Amy said...

I like the idea of badges!
BTW if you ever decide to do the Dodentocht here, you are welcome to camp out at my house!

Lesley Looper said...

Cool! I wonder if they did the same in the USA. (Maybe one of your readers will see this and respond.) It reminds me of my Girl Scout days, when we earned badges for our sash or vest.

Emz said...

BEST
IDEA
EVER!!!!!!!

I love that. I'd pay big bucks for a sweet track jacket like that. awesome.

Raina said...

I like the track jacket! And badges might fit in my drawer better :)

Jennifer said...

I love patches (badges). I am a member of a few kayaking clubs where these are the norm. I too would like them instead of medals! Nice track jacket BTW, what memories!

Char said...

That's a seriously ugly tracksuit top. I've never been a big fan of the gold and brown colour combo. But the patches make it look WAY better.

HappyTrails said...

Great memories on that jacket for sure. I am guessing it would be hot (and heavy) to run in now, so it is probably out of the rotation... :) Do you have a running count of races run or is it impossible to keep track? Have a great week Johann!!

Mark said...

Those badges are really cool! Maybe they will make a come back!

Lindsay said...

These would be way cooler than a medal! My dad had a jacket covered in patches from cycling races/rides. I would rather get these than medals too.

misszippy said...

I absolutely love those badges! What a cool way to commemorate a race--much better than the silly medals they hand everyone now. And wow--that's a lot of them!

Marlene said...

You have such a neat running history! I kind of like the badges!!

Unknown said...

OK, that track jacket is the best! I love the colors and the history and memories behind those patches. I'm always looking for patches at the expos but I don't know what to do with them!!! This is a great idea, pretty creative and it saves you from having to buy a track jacket at every race, which is what everyone does around here!

A-Pi (Peter) said...

I'd love a jacket like that! Any coffee mugs?

Abby @ Have Dental Floss, Will Travel said...

I saw in a couple of big events back in the day, and there each of the teams traveled with bags of small pins identifying their country/city/state of origin. We would all trade pins throughout the meets. I still have the bag of all the ones I collected, and it's a great reminder of all the places I got to travel and people I got to meet through swimming.

Abby @ Have Dental Floss, Wil Travel said...

"swam," rather - not "saw." Oops!

Chris K said...

Again, Johann displays a unique and interesting angle. You are one of a kind.

Lauren said...

I love the patch idea. But I also really like medals. Here in California, US, we get t-shirts for every race and if we're lucky on trail races, we get a finisher medal. I could do without the t-shirts. I have so many, I'm about to take a quilting a class to make a quilt out of them. But a patch instead of a t-shirt, I would love that!

Thanks for sharing! Reminds me of when I was in scouting, we earned patches for our accomplishments.

Bethany + Ryan said...

very cool! I love the badge/patch idea! I'm 26 and have been running for 14 years and i actually have a few baadges!!! Not sure where they are though but i remember htinking 'what the heck is this for?' then i saw an older man with a jacket full of them! very cool. I wonder when they will do away with the T-shirts, i am realllly REALLLY starting to HATE t-shirts. make them stop!

Richelle said...

I think they should totally bring back badges. I could cover my backpack/hiking pack with them!

I'm with Bethany and Ryan... I don't need any more race shirts, and yet I keep collecting them.