In the social sphere of my running life, (or perhaps in the
running sphere of my social life), people, places, shoes, shirts, and shorts
have come and gone over the past five or so years. My running hat, however, was a constant. From the time that I purchased it from Runner’s
Corner in Orem, Utah, I ran with it everywhere.
It’s been on three or four marathons, two half marathons, eight or nine
Ragnar Relays, two Ragnar Trail Relays, two Red Rock Relay races, and a number
of various other races. It’s been with
me on miles and miles and miles of training runs. My dad runs with this hat’s twin. He’s been running with it for the same period
of time and covered many, many miles.
What is the benefit of a good running hat? First, it keeps the sun off your face,
preventing a sunburned nose and protecting the eyes. Second, it absorbs and wickers the sweat,
keeping it out of your eyes. The wicking
of the sweat also helps to keep your head cool as the sweat evaporates. Third, the amount of sweat soaked into the
hat, at least for me, is a rewarding indicator of hard work.
Freely I admit that I did buy another running hat to wear on
occasion, a bright neon green hat. It
wasn’t that I didn’t want to wear my white running hat with the Runner’s Corner
logo, but that occasionally, after a week’s worth of runs, it needed to be
washed. At the request of my wife I even
wore the neon green hat during a few races so that she could pick me out of the
crowd a little more easily. The white
hat, however, remained my favorite, even as the band began to fray here and there.
This past September, as I suited up for a run, I grabbed my
trusty Runnner’s Corner hat and the plastic clasp at the back of the hat broke.
The hat is now unwearable. Never
again will it grace my head on a run, emitting a lingering scent as I pass
innocent pedestrians and bystanders. I
was devastated to a somewhat significant degree by the loss, enough so that I
sat down for awhile contemplating my history with that hat…the good runs and
the bad.
After a few minutes I moved on, donning the neon green hat
for that days run in the 90-plus degree heat.
My sadness continued for a few days.
I thought about ordering a replacement hat from Runner’s Corner, asking
them to ship it to me. Looking at my
calendar, I even counted down the days to my next expected trip to Utah. Less than a week after my hat came apart, I
was at the neighborhood park with family and friends to celebrate a milestone
birthday. A good friend gave me a gift
wrapped in a bag. Since I was cooking I
set it aside to open later. At the end
of the party, after my friend had left, I opened the bag. It was a shiny, new running hat.
To quote the famous Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places We’ll Go.”
See also:
Read about the hat's first race: Trails of Glory Debut-November 2015
Ogden Marathon 2013: The Experience and Lessons Learned
Ogden Marathon 2014: Oops, I Did It Again
New running companion with me on its first race. |
See also:
Read about the hat's first race: Trails of Glory Debut-November 2015
Ogden Marathon 2013: The Experience and Lessons Learned
Ogden Marathon 2014: Oops, I Did It Again
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