Does superstition really works or is it just something one believes in? Some may believe in these superstitions because of their friends and some may believe in it just because something great repetitively happens. If one does not follow the superstition that they regularly follow before a race, they’ll feel like they wouldn’t do well. To runners, these superstitions are their lucky charm, it makes them feel secure and assured that they’ll do well for the race.
Below are some of the common superstitions that runners follow!
Superstition #1: Wearing your lucky shirt
This superstition tops all of the rest of the superstition as this is the most common in runners. Most runners would be wearing their lucky charm shirt during the race day, hoping that they will do well for the race.
Well, wearing your lucky shirt doesn’t really mean that you will have to wear it during the race. Ultramarathoner, Becca Menke, wears her soccer tryout jersey to sleep the night before the race. When she was 9, she wore that jersey and made the team. Since then, the jersey has become her lucky charm.
Superstition #2: Listening to a certain song
Listening to songs before a race is common among runners. It helps to calm their nerves down and also allow them to think about what strategies are they going to do during the race.
It’s not about listening to a whole playlist before a race but instead, listening to just a certain song, be it songs that makes you feel pumped up or songs that make you feel calm.
Superstition #3: Eating before every race
It is good to eat foods that help you to fuel up your energy before a race but there are people who only eat a certain food before a race. Reason being, it has become their lucky charm that ever since they ate that certain food, they’ll do well for the race.
Superstition #4: Nail painting
Never heard of people who nail paints before the race day? Well, there are people who do this and one of them is the Olympian, Molly Huddle. Beyond all her hard, intense training to her successful performance is her race nails. The reason is that it makes her feel calm and relax, shifting her mind into competition mode.
Superstition #5: Left right? Right left?
During the race day, you’ll be gearing up for the run and when you are about to wear your socks, you figured you need to follow a specific pattern. You either wear your socks on your left foot first or go with your right foot first.
There are some people who have this superstition about wearing socks on the left or right as they feel that when they follow this specific pattern, they’ll run well. If they don’t follow, they will feel like they will have a bad run.
Superstition #6: The lucky colour
I’m sure you have heard people wearing their lucky colour to important events like running, auditions, matches and many more! And I’m sure you have heard a lot that the most common colour that people have as their lucky charm is red, isn’t it right? Runners who wear their lucky colour to the race makes them feel positive, allowing them to feel like they will have a good race.
Superstition #7: Lucky sports bra or underwear
Ever been in a situation where you forgot that your sports bra is still in the wash and you are in need of it for the race today? Well, there’s someone just like you! And that is Janessa Dohse, a Chicago runner. She forgot that her sports bra were at the laundromat and went to buy another sports bra on the day of the race event and now, that sports bra has become her lucky sports bra.
Instead of a sports bra, do you wear the same underwear for every race? Or have you ever come across someone who wears the same underwear for every race? If you have never come across any of those two, there are actually people who wear the same underwear for every race even though the underwear has holes on them.
Superstition #8: Accessories
You may think ‘accessories as a lucky charm’? Yup, that’s right. There are people who feel assured with accessories. Do you have any accessories that you feel like you need it with you during important days or events? Brookfield, Wisconsin, runner Abigail Mauermann has her own lucky accessory. During race day, she puts on a hair bow with rockets on it as she feels that it helps her run “rocket fast”.
Fascinating isn’t it?
Superstition #9: Warming-up
Warming-up is a common practice, isn’t it? You warm-up before running or so to prevent yourself from getting cramps but to some people, warming-up equals to how well they will run for the race. Some runners follow a specific warm-up without messing up the steps. If they happen to miss one of the steps in the routine, they will not feel good, ending up with a bad run.
Superstition #10: Clean race shoes
You may think people who clean their race shoes is a clean freak, well you may not be entirely wrong but there are people who clean their shoes prior to the race because they feel like if they don’t clean them, they will trip and break their ankles.
Its the same kind of superstition whereby if you buy a new shoe, you have to bite them before they bite you. Some people believe that if you wear your shoe without biting it first, you will have blisters on your feet. Weird isn’t it?
Do you have your own running lucky charms that you want to add to the list? Or do you think that there are no such things as lucky charm?
