In the Bleachers by Ben Zaehringer for October 15, 2021

You end up having to pay for them one way or another.

For some, getting a job and doing work is hard and “inconvenient”.

I went to the race and all I go was this lousy tee shirt…

The entry fees cost $80-$120. So those shirts and the rest of the “swag” ain’t exactly “free.”

“i went to insert chaotic adventure and all I got was this stupid tshirt”

They aren’t free. You have to pay a registration fee.

that you will probably never wear after the race…….

My absolute favorite from this strip was the one about “Run from Responsibility Marathon.” Had it on my classroom bulletin board for my entire career!

I was a runner and raced for quite a few years*. I don’t think I’ll ever need to buy a T-shirt (long or short sleeve)

*knees will no longer take the pounding but I get around just fine.

So they marked their territory.

God knows I got a few those T shirts.

I have a few t-shirts from different activities, including runs, and they were all free for me…. but then I was a volunteer providing communication support (just another ham radio activity for those of us with a license). And I (almost) always get to drive to my check point 8^)

My latest “free” t-shirt cost me $58.13

i proudly wore my san francisco marathon t-shirt for years without having gone anywhere near the race – i was out drinking until 2 that morning and never made it to the starting line…

I was in a 7 mile fun run, prior to that the most I ever ran was no more than 3 miles. I ran non stop the whole way in 76 min. My nips were sore I was not expecting that. Anyway I wonder just how far I could have ran back then if I wanted to.