BYOB: Bring your own Bib Number

The bib numbers from the few races I've run are on the wall behind me. I write the date and the time on the front, and they serve as reminders of what I've accomplished and what those days were like. My first bib has a Footstock logo, the Gord's Running Store logo, a big blue 5K, and the number 1794. My first ever bib number. The other bib numbers go from 74 to 4213.

Numbers in running don't have the same mystique as in other sports. If you walk the halls of the phys ed buildings in your local college you'll see glass cabinets with football jerseys and retired hockey numbers. If you think of professional athletes you can probably pick a number and a player will come to mind. 99, The Great One. 42, Jackie Robinson. 23, Michael Jordan. 19, Johnny Unitas. What comes to mind when you think of Usain Bolt or Steve Prefontaine?

There is a trend in some running and multisport events to put the last name in lieu of a number, but in track and field there is no name on the back. Even when Paula Radcliffe registers she gets whatever bib number is assigned. It's a very small thing towards making long distance running and sprinting a more widely known sport, and maybe it will contribute nothing at all, but I'd like to walk into a jersey store and buy a t-shirt that had Steve Prefontaine's number on the back. Or a singlet with Team Hoyt or Gebresellassie written in block letters.

So, what are some of the bib numbers of famous runners? They vary from race to race. There are some photos of Steve Prefontaine wearing #1005, #229 and #145. Usain Bolt wore 2163 in the last Olympics. Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile with #41 on his chest. Grete Waitz set the women's marathon record in 1983 wearing 318. The first Olympic gold medal for a black African went to Abebe Bikila wearing #11. When Kathrine Switzer was attacked by Jock Semple for being a woman (gasp) running the 1967 Boston Marathon she had bib 261. Ed Whitlock was 73 years old when he set an age-group marathon record of 2:54:49, wearing #73.

It's possible for the race directors to customize competitor numbers. At the larger races they reserve the first 100 numbers for the elite runners and they "seed" them based on what that runner has earned. (Which is why so many marathons have the front pack wearing 1 and 2 and F3 while you're wearing 21435.) It's possible that you could ask for 1014 because you're a Frank Shorter fan, or 14778 because that was Ryan Reynolds' number in the NYC marathon last year.

I think more than a few t-shirts would sell with a simulated Marine Corps Marathon bib with 29157 on the front and "Oprah Winfrey" on the back. NYC Marathon 30972 on the front, Sean Puff Daddy Combs on the back. Joe Strummer ran a marathon with bib 1918, Katie Holmes ran NYC with #127, Gordon Ramsay wore 32915 and Will Ferrell wore 9999. Legendary computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing ran a 2:46:03 marathon in 1947 with bib #140.

Some races allow you to bring your own timing chip, some races reserve certain race numbers for elite runners. Maybe some races will allow you to bring your own bib (it's just a piece of paper, after all), or at least request a meaningful number. (I don't recommend using your bank card PIN.) Maybe some day someone will see a 60-year-old Bernard Legat lining up at the front of their local 10k and recognize him by number 1113.

Pick a number higher than 100 (usually these are reserved) and ask for it every time you run a race. Most of the time you won't get it. Maybe some day there'll be a foam hand waving at the finish line with 5252 on it, and you know they're waving for you.