5Ks and Half Marathons and Marathons, Oh My!

I am a terrible runner, by even the most generous standard.  But I like running, and I LOVE races.  Ever since I ran my first 5K--which was a huge deal for me--in Oxford, Mississippi, a little more than five years ago, I've been hooked.  I love the sense of camaraderie and the way runners of all skill levels can compete together. 

One side effect of my obsession with races is that the race T shirts really pile up.  For some runners, the shirts are just tokens, but for me, each one represents a real accomplishment.  Running doesn't come easily to me, so each time I cross the finish line, no matter how slowly, I'm grateful.  I also keep a journal of all of the races, so I can remember anything that's novel or special about any particular race.

To preserve all of those memories, I decided to have the T shirts from my first five years of running made into a quilt.  I did a lot of research into who should make the quilt, and I decided to go with Too Cool T-Shirt Quilts. I like that Andrea at Too Cool T-Shirt Quilts makes the quilt to fit the T shirts, rather than trying to make the T shirts fit the quilt.  That way, she can accommodate designs of vastly different sizes, odd numbers of shirts, and designs on different parts of the shirt.  

This afternoon, I pulled all of my T shirts--46 in all--out of the closest and spread them out on the floor to get a sense of what the quilt will look like.  I wish there were a few more colored shirts; instead most of them are white, but that's what happens when the shirts are free.  But otherwise, I think the quilt is going to look so great.  It's going to be ginormous!  Over the next few days, I hope to get them washed and packed up.  I'm so excited to see how it turns out!