Gift and/or ideas for girlfriend running PHL marathon

November 9, 2013 4:36 PM

My GF is running her first-ever marathon next weekend in Philadelphia. I'm looking for creative or interesting suggestions for either a gift or something I can do that she might like (beyond flowers at the finish and a massage, both of which are a done deal). Any runners out there have a specific suggestion--maybe something sweet or thoughtful that was done for you after you finished? Thanks!
posted by eggman to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (12 answers total)

My sister ran her first marathon this past spring (Paris!) and made a bit of a deal about the "32.2" oval sticker she gets to put on the car. By my dad's account, she said something along the lines of "you have to get the sticker within a week or it doesn't count." Normally she doesn't say such silly things, and she ran 32 miles so that line gets a pass. I assume shops that cater to runners sell them, but this is what they look like. They also sell 16.1 stickers, and I've even seen a 0.0 sticker, if you're like me.
posted by Sunburnt at 4:40 PM on November 9, 2013

I had my husband's race number engraved on a pair of cufflinks: maybe a locket or a bracelet?
posted by calico at 4:47 PM on November 9, 2013

Best answer: Sunburnt, that's kilometers, not miles. If the OP gf is American, she'll want the 26.2 sticker.

YMMV, but I would skip the flowers. Even if she's trained well, she's going to be tired, footsore, and sweaty. Give her the flowers later, after she's had a shower and when you take her out to somewhere she can chow down on really good food. I honestly think the best things you can do *right afterward* are to take charge of making sure she's comfortable, doesn't have to think, and knows how amazingly fucking proud you are of her for doing this. All the fancy stuff can come after she's cleaned up and fed.

Do you know what sort of food or drink is already been provided at the end of the marathon? Find out and do it one better (in small quantities, she's not going to want to eat much right away, but should have something.) Favorite soda? Favorite beer (one and only one), favorite pretzels or something else salty.

It's going to be cold - you should be there with somer super-comfy sweat pants (maybe new ones that are cute or celebratory) and a warm hoodie - anything that it's okay to get super-grubby until she gets back to the hotel to shower. Does she plan to take an ice bath afterward? Take charge and make sure that you've got bags of ice in a cooler ready to go.

Make sure you have appropriate first aid stuff if she's got blisters so you can take care of it in the hotel room before you go out to wherever. Best advice I've heard (and it helped me) was to not sit down too soon... walking around for an hour or so afterward helped.
posted by canine epigram at 4:54 PM on November 9, 2013 [1 favorite]

Coevals is the marathon runner, and I,his wife, am the support crew. He did Philadelphia last year and some small pre-marathon gift ideas are throwaway gloves to start the race with, it is a chilly, dark early start to that race. The good news, you can get the gloves at the marathon expo held on that weekend...if you are going with her to the start gate, carry a back pack to hold the warm stuff for her to wear until it is officially time to start...take pictures, track her progress on your phone so you can take pictures of her as she comes through various spots...some decent snacks for her after the finish (there is a Wholefoods near the start/finish) Have fun!
posted by coevals at 5:02 PM on November 9, 2013 [1 favorite]

Sorry, not thinking. Yeah, 26.2
posted by Sunburnt at 5:23 PM on November 9, 2013

Best answer: Obviously, you know your girlfriend, but I'd second nixing the flowers at the finish line. As someone who just ran her first half marathon last week (not too far from Philly, actually!), I can say that honestly the only thing I cared about after finishing were (1) giving my sore knees/blistered feet/exhausted body a rest, (2) getting some more fluids in me, and (3) getting warm, in that order. I could not have been happier when my in-laws surprised me by bringing a pair of pants in addition to the sweatshirt I'd requested. Beyond that, not having to walk exceptionally far to the car, and spending the rest of the day doing as little as possible, I really wasn't worried about much else. (Okay, she'll also want food, but maybe not right away.) I can only imagine that she'll feel at least as exhausted as I did. I think if anyone had asked me to go to a restaurant or do anything other than stretch out on the couch and eat, I'd have responded in a rather unladylike manner.

So, in summary, at least from my experience: (1) water/gatorade/etc., (2) warm clothes, (3) minimal walking after the initial cooldown, and (4) a nice shower and plenty of food and rest throughout the rest of the day.

...on second thought, one thing that was incredible, if you can manage to arrange it somehow: time in a hot tub. That was definitely the highlight of my afternoon/evening recovery.
posted by cellar door at 5:52 PM on November 9, 2013 [1 favorite]

My friend ran her first marathon and her mother gave her a framed display that is pretty awesome. It contains her medal, a good race photo, and (best thing) the pair of shoelaces that were on her shoes when she ran. My friend's boyfriend swiped the laces for her mom after the race. She still keeps it on her wall though she's done many more marathons since! Talk with a local framer, or Google for people who can do this layout.

Gone for a Run is a great place for runner gifts.
posted by Miko at 5:54 PM on November 9, 2013

It strikes me that if she's as wiped as cellar door, you could offer to take charge of the social media stuff that everyone wants to do after a great race. Make an album and post it, post her time and a nice victory photo, send some emails to key people...so she can just veg out (in the hot tub).
posted by Miko at 5:59 PM on November 9, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: She will not have a hand free for flowers, so have those at home where she can see them when she gets there. She will be busy holding a water bottle with one hand and her space blanket with the other.

Some kind of tape might be useful. Taping the space blanket around her shoulders will free up one hand. This will make it easier to stay warm and eat at the same time.

Some kind of favorite face or hand wipe thing might be good. Those are especially nice if it has been raining or you get splashed by a car driving by.

I recommend backup post-race snacks. I am a slow runner, and when I get to the end of a marathon or half marathon there is usually stuff there but sometimes things happen and there isn't enough or it's not vegetarian or whatever. So I have soup (something salty like miso works best for me), a big container of Gatorade (it is much easier to drink something you like than plain water when you are exhausted), etc. I assume she has done several very long runs in training and knows what kinds of foods and drinks she likes at the end of those. Have that kind of stuff on hand in the car or in the hotel room or home.

A friend of mine absolutely insists on a hot bath or hot tub after a marathon, and I agree. If you are staying in a hotel the night before, late checkout is a must (and they will have probably already offered that to those doing the marathon) so that this hot bath or hot tub thing can happen very soon. If she does the ice bath thing, have that stuff ready to go. I'm sure she already knows what works for her at the end of a long run.

If you are driving home right after and not in a hotel, a complete change of dry clothes is a very nice thing. I live in an area where it is likely to rain if the marathon does not happen in August, so I always bring dry stuff, including dry socks and shoes.

Remind her to go to the gear check before you leave. She may not remember this (I have forgotten this for all 9 of my marathons) and it is easier to go back to the gear check while you are still right there on the spot than it is to turn the car around once you are in it.

Make yourself easy to find. Pick a spot to meet her (some marathons have a specific area where you can wait for people to come out of the finish area) but be aware she may be in a bit of a daze so don't expect her to spot you right away. :)
posted by AllieTessKipp at 6:33 PM on November 9, 2013

The might be interested in Stamata Revithi - who was the first woman to run an Olympic games marathon back in 1896 - in fact she was the first female Olympic athlete full stop. All this was against the rules but she went ahead and did it anyway. It may or may not be that Revithi was the same person as "Melpomene" - another woman who was supposed to have run the race of the same occasion. There don't seem to be any pictures of Revithi around - but Melpomene - to the ancient Greeks - was a muse - and is widely depicted. Maybe you could buy her a framed print.
posted by rongorongo at 6:57 PM on November 9, 2013

as a marathoner myself, I second everyone advising you to nix the flowers at the end, she will be tired, probably sore and possibly spaced out (in fact, after my second marathon I was spaced out to the point of needing to look at my race bib to remind me what my name was...). Leave flowers till the evening and immediately after the marathon, make sure that you have some dry clothes for her, a sugary/caffeinated drink, depending on her preference and a snack. She might not want to eat but try and encourage her to have a small snack as that will speed up recovery; the other thing which she will appreciate after the fact is if you don't let her sit down immediately but encourage her to walk for a while, however painful that might be, she'll be grateful later!
posted by coffee_monster at 8:58 AM on November 10, 2013

What coffee_monster and others said: support first, flowers later. Running a marathon isn't just a physical effort, it's a mental one; finishing can leave you mentally and emotionally drained.

What you can do at the finish line: cheer for her coming in and then be ready to take over the cognitive load of getting her what she needs and where she needs to be. Have water and/or sports drink with you -- whichever she prefers. (My experience has always been that by the time I get to the finish I'm heartily sick of Gatorade and crave cold water.) Scope out in advance where she needs to go to get food, more water, to check her finish time if she wants; and be ready to guide her.

I also find a cooldown walk extremely useful, both for physical recovery and to help come down from the mental effort. If I sit down too early it's hard to get up again. Scope out good places to walk, including some that are away from the bulk of the crowds; she may find the noise and throng overwhelming.

Also: know the best way to get away from the finish area altogether. She may crash hard and suddenly want most of all to get back home/to the hotel and relax. Be ready to facilitate that and be ready to be a a gopher for whatever she needs: run out and get food? get food delivered? gentle walk together to somewhere close by for food/coffee/whatever? Be the person who makes that stuff happen.

knows how amazingly fucking proud you are of her for doing this

This too of course.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 2:28 PM on November 12, 2013