Runderwear

I went for a wonderful trail run the other day with a friend. Ok, so not news in my world, but at the end of the run, which was at a lake, I suggested we dive into the lake to cool down and wash off the sweat. Also not news – especially in warm weather (see photo above – from a previous occasion). But as I stripped down to my running bra and panties (amazingly matching black), my friend opted to keep her skort on stating that she was not wearing underwear. Humm… This made me wonder, what do most people wear under their outer running gear?

I recently read an article on the Women’s Running website, Our Favorite Specialty Runderwear, discussing this very topic and featuring this great image:

OK, I must confess, I love this word “Runderware” and no, it is not a new word in my lexicon. These sorts of morpheme combination words, just like skort, mentioned above, are portmanteau words. OMG that word in itself is a great word!

Much to my surprise, I discovered that Runderwear is not listed in Wikipedia. It is however listed in the Urban Dictionary, where I’ll bet all new word iterations pass through before being made “real” in the Oxford Dictionary. Mark my words – you heard it here first – this word will soon be in the Oxford Dictionary. Heck if “selfie” can make it in there, so too will Runderwear! Sorry, I digress… The Urban Dictionary defines Runderwear as: “The skin-tight underwear that comes pre-sewn on a pair of super duper short running shorts.” (Seriously, “super duper”!) However, in the aforementioned Women’s Running article only the female pantie – as a separate item from running shorts is discussed in reference to runderwear.

A company out of Great Britain, RunBreeze markets a runderwear line for both men and women. Interestingly, they include a running bra in the women’s section. I would have to agree with that. After all isn’t that all part of a women’s regular running undergarment choice?

Personally, I wear underwear, aka panties, under my tights, pants, leggings, shorts, etc. whether I’m running or not. However in the interest of research for this post, I went commando under my running tights the other day. It worked, but now I feel I have to wash my tights, whereas if I wear panties, I can get away with wearing the tights multiple times. TMI you say… hey this is all for research!

Also in the name of research, I purchased a thong and took that for a test run under my running tights. Friends have said that they love wearing a thong under most clothing items, even for running. I have to admit that, perhaps I am a bit too old fashioned or something, but I had never worn a thong before. Blush! and again, perhaps, TMI! However, I can report that there were no pantie lines under my running tights and I didn’t mind wearing the thong at all. Humm… I may have to get some more of these little wonders.

I usually also wear a running bra when running… sometimes, but not all the time. And I own several colourful ones.

I would definitely classify these items as runderwear. Luckily, I guess, I’m not large breasted and I don’t need the mega support bras that some people do. I read recently that not wearing a running bra is a good idea – probably just for small breasted women – so that your chest muscles get worked while running and thereby preventing droopy breasts later in life. This debate rages on, but does take me back to my “burn the bra” days… Sorry, I digress and date myself again. Recently during a run, I supported #TheToplessTour campaign, but I admit, only for a photo op at the top of a hill on a deserted trail and just to be clear, I was not topless throughout the whole run. There are topless runs done in several places in the world, however, this is obviously a huge digression from the topic at hand.

The trend for elite athletes to just wear running bras and briefs (with or without panties, I do not know, but I suspect, without), interests me. Why is this? But then when I think about it, why not… they have awesome bodies and running at their speeds, less clothing encumbrances the better, I would imagine. However, it would appear that this trend is for Runderwear to be Runouterwear or perhaps it should just be called Elitewear, but that is not quite a proper portmanteau word.

Let’s not forget the men in this delicate, but practical, discussion. There is a humourous blog post on the Running Stories website reviewing mens Runderwear choices, but it only refers to undershorts. Well, you might ask, what else does a running man need under his outer garments? First, by way of introduction to this sensitive topic, a short story; a friend of mine recently watched the end of a marathon. She marvelled at how amazing it was to see so many determined people of all sorts of shapes and sizes completing the race. However the one sight that was apparently news to her was the fact that some of the men crossed the finish line with bleeding nipples. This is actually a well-documented phenomenon, but pretty much only applies to men, although I suppose women who don’t wear sports bras may also encounter this problem.

Perhaps men should consider wearing sports bras to alleviate this situation – oh wait, these have not been invented for men as far as I can tell. If they were, they would all be part of the runderwear series in my mind. However, men, in the meantime, there are other solutions… may I suggest you use them.

One might wonder how long this wonderful word has been in existence and if any company or person has trademarked Runderwear. A quick Google search, revealed this on Trademarkia.com:

On Friday, August 25, 2000, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for RUNDERWEAR by Brooks Sports, Inc., Bothell, WA 98011. The USPTO has given the RUNDERWEAR trademark serial number of 76117309. The current federal status of this trademark filing is CANCELLED – SECTION 8. The correspondent listed for RUNDERWEAR is Christopher M. Champion, Esq. of Russell Corporation, Suite 800, 3330 Cumberland Boulevard Atlanta GA 30339. The RUNDERWEAR trademark is filed in the category of Clothing Products. The description provided to the USPTO for RUNDERWEAR is Clothing, namely, undergarments, briefs, boxer shorts, bras; layering garments consisting of shirts, T-shirts, tank tops, turtle necks, hosiery, and leggings; thermal undergarments, unitards, leotards, shorts, thermal T-shirts, tights, leg warmers, socks.

An additional search found another, even earlier, cancelled trademark filing from Athletica Inc. dating from 1979, which goes to show that this word is not new… so why I ask has it not yet made it into the Oxford Dictionary?

Under the Brooks Sports USPTO application, Runderwear apparently covers a lot more categories of running attire than I anticipated. I’ll end this post now and will perhaps visit some of these other items, e.g. socks, in a later article. But one final thought… you may wonder what pantie-type undergarment I might be wearing if I’m still running into my 80s… well, that Depends!