Boston Marathon Jackets as Interior Design Elements

The Boston Marathon jacket says so much about the culture of running. On marathon weekend, it offers a visual burst of solidarity and excitement to the streets of Boston. Runners wear it proudly during the expo, and for a few days before and after the event you'll recognize the athletes in restaurants, at the airport, and all over town. Jackets from years ago mark the ongoing tradition of the well-known unicorn logo of the Boston Athletic Association, but I believe in 2009 they went strictly to Adidas as the manufacturing brand. Since then runners expect this high-end, quality jacket they can actually run in, a style that changes only in color. Every year, those who qualified to run wait in anticipation before the color scheme is revealed, with half the population ready to order (especially when it involves the iconic yellow and blue) and the other half complaining about how awful it is. One year they screened the logo instead of embroidered it, and a riot ensued. Well, not really. Just on the internet.

It's also marketing and brings in a shitload of money. I am certainly complicit and have succumbed to this but who wouldn't be? Running Boston will always be a runner's crowning mark of achievement, so when they get there, the marathon is almost guaranteed to sell one to each of the 20,000 or so participants each year. And at $120 a pop--not bad for B.A.A.

This, along with other running-related events and races, began the turning point in my world. Besides the bombing that year, 2013 was a The previous years had been really tough for me financially, and I chose not to buy one (or more realistically, couldn't). I started questioning the cost of running more than ever.

How often do I put myself in such strained, anxiety-ridden places because of the influence of money on running? Running is an elitist, white-collared world where people's ability to run 26 miles is directly connected to this bizarre

Recently I found a surprising new use for those well-known Adidas stripes: home decor. I wouldn't be the first to want to show off the jacket, but I disliked the level of exclusiveness reeked when it is worn. They stay in my closet where they wait to be used. At one point, I noticed my closet's broken window pane revealed the colored sleeves. I'd covered each of the other glass rectangles with pieces of colored paper to create some warmth in the room, some with nuanced patterns and textures (they are normally used during workshops for making books). The stripes seem to complement them well, so I make sure none of the other clothes in the closet are visible.