Do you love pink running kit?

Go CazGo Caz ✭✭✭

I just wondered if it's only me who thinks there's a lack of variety in women's running kit and finds they are looking enviously at the nicer, bright colours available in the men's section. Surely most girls grow out of shades like 'diva pink' (New Balance) before they leave primary school, so I don't see why manufacturers assume that's what adult women mainly want to wear for running. And as far as high-viz goes, surely orange shows up better? 

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Comments

  • have never ever bought pink...i usually just have the mens tops  and jackets etc,.......black shorts

  • I think I have just one pink top.

    The rest of my kit is mostly black running shorts or tights, and tops in various colours - black, orange, green, read, blue, fluro yellow... All from women's ranges, so I've never felt constrained to pink.

    Maybe it depends what ranges you buy from; mine tend to be Nike or Adidas but, as it happens, my one pink top is New Balance.

  • I don't buy pink running gear.  I don't buy 'pretty' running tops, either.  It's probably an excessive kneejerk reaction on my part, but the pink running gear/frilly bits on tops, etc., just strikes me as part of a daft philosophy that women have to be suitably feminine whilst running.  My main concern is does the kit fit and is it comfy, not what I look like! 

  • I have a pair of capris with a pink trim but that's about it. I do have a habit of using my OHs tops though so perhaps I don't notice it as much.

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    I have a pink jacket, but that's it for pink gear.  It does irritate me that there is so much pink stuff, and not many alternatives.

  • It irritates me too. But I do love my hot pink NB shorts. They're so pink they're almost like a parody of women's sportswear.

  • I've got a pair of bright pink brooks shoes for faster runs. Just happened to be the most comfy shoe when I bought them. Generally I buy what is comfy and practical and don't worry too much about colour.
  • I'm doing the Bristol 10K in May and I'm raising money for CLIC Sargent. They sent me a lovely pink vest if that counts?!

    Oh, and I'm a 39 year old male. Lol!

  • Go CazGo Caz ✭✭✭

    I think charity vests can be excused, Scott. Hope you enjoy wearing it! Also, pink shoes – I had some very nice Adizero Tempos, but they were more of a dark pink. To be fair to NB, they have done some really good colours recently.

  • All my running tops are blue, black shorts and no pink in sight!  I don't see why there has to be so much pink and why all the tops need to be tight and body hugging and just that little bit too short to keep your midrift covered...  I just want to be comfortable.  Oh and I want shorts above the knee but but not hotpants please!  Capris annoy me in the summer and hot pants can just cause chafing and can be far too short to be decent!  Just because I run doesn't mean I don't have areas I want to cover up...

  • I run in my ronhill shorts all year around....they are mid thigh length and i find them really comfortable....and they are all black with various colour trimmings...but never pink

  • I have to confess I do prefer tight tops and short shorts (none of them pink, though, except that one pair) - more freedom of movement, no overheating, and nothing flapping around to irritate me.

  • It took me a fair few years to be comfortable wearing little shorts and a crop top when racing, even though I overheat very easily so it's often the best option for me.  I've now reached the stage where I really don't give a stuff whether anyone watching thinks I shouldn't be wearing that sort of gear, but it did used to bother me, even though I knew that, logically, it shouldn't.  And once you start doing track you actually have to wear that to fit in - it's just road running where it's less common!

  • ShazmoShazmo ✭✭✭

    Agreed, Caz. I'm not averse to a bit of pink but I'm always on the look out for other colours. Most of my bottoms are black or navy but I've got loads of different coloured tops -  the brighter better, I say!!

    And another bug bear of mine - I live on an island where everybody on the running scene knows everybody else. Some people wear the same thing day in, day out (and I'm not talking club vests).  I wonder if it ever gets washed!! image

  • I'd never wear anything pink... oh.... errr.... looks at my pic *hangs head in shame*... it is just about the only pink thing I have, oh, apart from some cheap karrimor gloves, i have a black, a yellow, and a pink pair.  But I like bright coloured stuff, the only black things i have are leggings.

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭
    Shazmo wrote (see)

    Agreed, Caz. I'm not averse to a bit of pink but I'm always on the look out for other colours. Most of my bottoms are black or navy but I've got loads of different coloured tops -  the brighter better, I say!!

    And another bug bear of mine - I live on an island where everybody on the running scene knows everybody else. Some people wear the same thing day in, day out (and I'm not talking club vests).  I wonder if it ever gets washed!! image

    When I find something I like that fits well, I buy several of it.  I have three pairs of shorts all identical, plus another two pairs that are very similar, and two sets of three tops.

    I guess people think that I wear the same clothes all the time, but they would be mistaken image

  • Go CazGo Caz ✭✭✭

    Joolska, I agree. Before I took up running I would never gone out in the sort of skimpy clothes I now run in on a hot day. Because they are functional, though, rather than for show, it somehow seems okay. Also, I think that running gives you body confidence.

    Something else I can't find is a pair of plain, black shorts, loose rather then skin-tight, with (most essential) a zip pocket in the back. I have an old pair by Ronhill which I've worn to death, but nobody seems to sell anything similar now without a coloured trim, usually in the ubiquitous pink. 

     

  • In my experience of the outdoor industry, pink gear tends to be designed by men for women.  Women’s skis for example tend to be pink and not very technical. 

    Elan set up a women only design bureau a few years back to design their women’s ski range.  The designs that this bureau came out with were completely unlike the women’s skis that anybody had seen before.  They were in understated colours such as black, and a lot more thought had been given to the design. 

  • Go CazGo Caz ✭✭✭

    Thanks, literatin. Those look good. I see you are still on the P&D thread. I did it last year but this spring I am making up my own schedule, based loosely on various ones I have done before. I have found whatever schedule I follow seems to make little difference to my time In a marathon!

  • Yep, still a P&D believer... are you also doing VLM?

  • skottyskotty ✭✭✭

    a white top with fuschia and yellow horizontal stripes is lovely.

  • It's the associations of pinkness that irritate me, really, along with the assumption that that's what women want to wear. I've no objection to a bit of colour. I'm getting some of these for my birthday. image

  • I hate pink. The only clothes I have with any pink on them are some of my running clothes - and then only because I didn't have a choice at the time (e.g. the only running tights that fit had pink trim, when I really needed a pair). I mentioned it to the owner of a local running shop and he told me that some women won't buy things unless they are pink - even to the point of rejecting running shoes that fit them properly, because they're not pink. The mind boggles.

  • They certainly stand out literatin image. If you would wear something like that on Sunday I would have no trouble to spot you! Which ones are you going for? Shame they don't have some with hedgehogs! Lol
  • I am a bit tempted by the flamingos but suspect one of the geometrically patterned ones might be more flattering. But I'm not buying them for myself so it will be a surprise.

  • Yes the geometrically patterned once are quite nice. Not sure about the pineapple ones though...
  • Go CazGo Caz ✭✭✭

    The flamingos are fab. I would definitely buy them - even if they are quite pink!  Yes, lit, I am doing VLM again and also Reading on Sunday. 

  • literatin wrote (see)

    It's the associations of pinkness that irritate me, really, along with the assumption that that's what women want to wear. I've no objection to a bit of colour. I'm getting some of these for my birthday. image

    Lawks, they make my eyes hurt image

     

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