Some people are hard to buy gifts for — the girl who has everything, monks who forgo all possessions, my dad — but don’t worry: runners aren’t one of them.
Whether we’re spending 15 miles a week hitting the pavement or 150, us runners tend to go through apparel at a rapid clip, and there’s nothing we’d like to find inside our stockings more than, well, stockings themselves. (Ok, fine, they’re called tights. I was trying to be clever here.) Also at the top of any runner’s wish list: new shoes that match the model and size of our favorite pair, wicking tops, headbands, hats, gloves, and let’s not forget the gold standard of gift-giving: industrial-sized tubes of Body Glide.
If gifting wearables isn’t your thing, fear not: Santa’s Workshop is brimming with other runner-friendly presents as well. From yoga DVDs and SPIbelts to cookbooks and NUUN, the possibilities are endless. What can I say? We’re easy to shop for. You’re welcome.
You’re also welcome for this adorable action shot of my brother’s ring bearer making her mid-ceremony delivery.
But back to the gifts. What if you have a runner in your life but your funding’s running a little thin this holiday season? Here’s a suggestion: Embrace your inner 7-year-old and make a coupon book full of redeemables only a runner would appreciate. Some suggested gems below:
- This coupon is good for 15 uninterrupted minutes of listening you talk about your upcoming marathon, yawn-free.
- This coupon is good for one personalized sign at your next road race, so long as it’s scheduled to start after 9 a.m.
- This coupon allows you to take up more than half of the closet floor with your running shoes.
- This coupon is a guarantee that there will always be bananas, avocados and peanut butter in stock at the apartment.
- This coupon is either good for one foot rub or one year’s worth of you never commenting once on how deformed your feet have become. Dealer’s choice.
Print ’em off, laminate them if you’re fancy, and I say you’ve got yourself one heck of a holiday gift.
What coupons would YOU want to see, runner friends?
Riled Up Runner 
Massages!
Ooh good one.
A redeemable pledge by giftor to giftee to carry a large legible wind-resistant sign at around mile 21 or 22 of my next M, bearing either of these two immortal inscriptions: (1) It’s your burden to carry, Mr. Frodo; I can’t carry it for you. But I can carry you! (2) “Over”? Did you say “over”? Was it “over” when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? (I know that last one’s overused, and I’m among the worst offenders, but I personally haven’t seen it out there yet…) — Vaughan
Oh, and as far as that Santa’s list is concerned I know the perfect gift for your dad: four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves, and 1,237 pledged delegates in Cleveland to call his own. I just wish, for any number of reasons (not least of them being the Safety of the Realm), that they were deliverable… — Vaughan