Adidas Unveils First Ever Boston Marathon 'DNF' Jacket
/
Adidas and the Boston Athletic Association today announced a new official Boston Marathon jacket available exclusively to runners who fail to finish the famously tough course.
The Boston Marathon DNF jacket mirrors the traditional “celebration jacket” design, but with just the left half of the marathon logo; filling the remainder of that space are the stacked letters “DNF,” race results shorthand for “Did Not Finish.”
To earn the official DNF jacket, runners will have to prove that they started the race in Hopkinton but did not cross the finish line on Boston’s Boylston Street.
“For years, the Boston Marathon celebration jacket by Adidas has been an instantly recognizable symbol of athletic excellence among runners,” said Tamra Davis, a spokesperson for the B.A.A. “Today, we are proud to unveil a jacket for those runners who qualified for the Boston Marathon, trained hard, made it to the start, and gave it their all—but, in the end, came up short.”
“There is no shame in a DNF,” Davis continued. “That’s what this jacket is all about.”
Last year, according to B.A.A. records, 25,314 runners started the Boston Marathon and 24,918 crossed the finish line, meaning 1.6% of the field DNF’d.
“In a way, these jackets may be even more coveted than the celebration jacket,” said Davis. “There will be many fewer of them.”
The 127th Boston Marathon will take place April 17, 2023. The 2023 Boston Marathon DNF Jacket, which will sell for $120, will be available for purchase online beginning April 18. Those who strongly suspect they won’t finish the race can pre-order theirs beginning on February 15.
