My regular readers know that I’m a pretty positive person, but sometimes a girl has got to vent and today I’m dumping on Ragnar’s unisex versus women’s cut race shirts harebrained decision…
I just tried on my Ragnar Trail Richmond shirt, and I am not happy. Ragnar switched our shirts from men’s/women’s sizing to unisex shirts; so now the neckline is too high, the sleeves are too long, and there’s no waistline. Basically it’s a dumpy shirt for a female, and I expected more out of Ragnar.
It’s such a shame, too, because I will never wear this shirt; therefore, giving zero out-and-about advertising to Ragnar. And as much as I love both Ragnar Relay and Ragnar Trail, I hate that I won’t have 2016 shirts to enjoy (I love my Ragnar women’s cut shirts from previous years and wear them all the time).
On May 4th Ragnar sent this email to the Ragnar DC participants giving us two days to respond:
We can’t wait to see you at Reebok Ragnar Washington D.C.! There’s just one thing we could use your help with before race day. When you registered, you gave us your preferred shirt size. Since then, we’ve decided to provide unisex shirts. Why? Well, we sent out a survey, and most runners indicated that they would prefer unisex sizing. We like happy runners, so we made the switch! We know we can’t please everyone, so we apologize if you didn’t vote for unisex sizing.
Because the size you gave us upon registration was not based on unisex sizing, we made an update to your size based on how the old shirts compared to the unisex sizing. We currently have you as a size (Unisex Small).
So here’s my question to Ragnar, “What do you mean, you can’t please everyone?” Yes, you can. Just allow those women who want unisex shirts to order the men’s shirts and allow women the continued option to order women’s shirts. I could be wrong, but I bet this decision was 100% financially based, and Ragnar just wants it to “appear” that they’re trying their best to make their runners happy.
Considering I registered my Ragnar DC team for this fall to the tune of $1,454.32, I would have expected the option of getting a shirt that fits me.
- Questions:
- Female runners – do you prefer unisex or women’s fit race shirts?
- What is your all-time favorite race shirt?
- Local runners, when running a PRR race do you opt for the race shirt or opt out and take the $10 gift card?
I definitely prefer women’s cut shirts! When I have that option I opt for the Women’s Large and I’ve generally had pretty good luck with that with a few exceptions. When there is only a unisex option I go for the medium, which is a shot in the dark. My three Historic Half shirts fit pretty well, but a lot of others have been too big or too small and they end up in the Goodwill pile.
My all time favorite race shirt? The one from this year’s Blue Ridge Half, which is a women’s large size. Fits great, and the slogan “You run hills, I run mountains” makes me feel like a BAMR!! 🙂
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My friend Meagan (Turkey Runner – do you read her blog?) has run the Blue Ridge Half several times and has that shirt. I love the slogan, it’s so cool.
Definitely, I prefer a women’s cut because (Hello?) I have a women’s body. There are SOOO many nice race shirts (in great colors with awesome graphics) piled up (if they haven’t been donated) that I will never wear because they look like a boxy garbage bag on me. And, I’m not a petite person, either. I hate crew necks, I hate wide, boxy shoulders, I hate baggy sleeves that reach my elbows. And I hate shirts that are long enough to wear with a belt.
Kimberly Hatting recently posted…This past week? Victorious!
So far I haven’t spoken to a single women who’s said she would prefer a unisex shirt…
I hate unisex shirts and I personally don’t know any women who prefer them!
I like one of my local half marathon long sleeve shirts. It’s really soft and the cut is nice. My other favorite is the Nike Womens SF half because it’s a tank which I wear more often then sleeved shirts. I wish more races would do tanks, or give the option.
On our run on Saturday, my running friends and I were just talking about race shirts and that more races should give out singlets (and by the way, not a single woman said she’d choose a unisex shirt over a women’s cut). Years ago I was the race director for a race called the Tortoise and the Hare 8K, and our shirts were cotton tanks (everything was cotton back then). People loved the tanks!
I hate the boxy shirts.
I just saw a post where someone posted a patter on how to cut a shirt into a tank top! Often cotton and poly blend can be cut without fraying.
You would think for such a big event that holds in so many locations you would have the option o order a female cut shirt!
They did in the past… All of my 2014 and 2015 Ragnar shirts were women’s cuts.
uuugh I HATE unisex shirts!!!
Whose idea was that!!! Bad decision Ragnar!! I wear my female cut Ragnar DC all the time..love the fit!
Me, too; I wear my old WOMEN’S CUT Ragnar shirts all the time and love THEM! Oh well…
I was definitely bummed when I got this email. Totally agree!!
Yep, it’s a bummer!
I hate getting unisex shirts. It’s a waste, they never fit. I would rather see a shirt as a payable option and get the right size.
Darlene recently posted…TOTR: Picking your races
Same here, but as many shirts as Ragnar orders for Relay and Trail each year, they should be able to continue offering women’s cuts at no extra charge. I’ve yet to talk to a female running friend who would prefer a unisex shirt.
Def prefer a women’s cut too! I am sure it was to cut costs:(
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Ya think? 😉
I absolutely agree with you. I can’t see why they don’t just offer men’s and women’s sizing, and if someone prefers the men’s/unisex over a women’s cut then they can just choose that during their registration. I bet it is financially driven, and it certainly doesn’t look like they needed to cut costs there based on the registration fee.
Nine times out of ten I prefer a women’s cut. The only time I don’t is when the women’s cut is tiny and/or too low cut. I hate when a women’s sized shirt has a really low scoop neck or deep v-neck on it I prefer not to show half my chest every time I lean forward.
Other than for cost cutting reasons, I can’t see why they’d change the shirt sizing…
I absolutely prefer women’s sizing. I agree that unless the unisex is long-sleeved it’s a horrible fit. I really dislike the longer sleeves on the short sleeve unisex!
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I’ve decided to cut the neckline lower and cut the sleeves off of mine and sleep in it. Oh well, Ragnar, there goes your free advertising since I won’t be wearing it out in public!
OMG, I hate unisex shirts.
And it sounds like the decision was made for financial reasons. Seriously, they sent out a survey to ask that question about preference ? Seriously ? I doubt it.
Karen – Fit in France recently posted…In between training cycles
I never saw the survey, but I could have easily missed it so I don’t want to assume that happened, but…
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