I have been running for more than 45 years. During all those years I wondered why you had to attach your start number with safety pins to your shirt or singlet. Not only by local runs but also at championships and big city marathons unto the Olympic Games. This is not easy because you easily prick in your finger, moreover the final result is usually not to your satisfaction. And after the running or track and field event you have to remove the pins from your wet shirt or singlet. Not what you have been waiting for.
In 2010 I had a solution for this problem, the Start Number Pocket. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a producer for my innovation although it is used by cyclists.
In May this year the newspapers reported an innovation by Alwin Willems from Global Sports Communications that uses glue to attach the start number to your shirt. Seems to me a perfect but pretty expensive solution. You have to ad the glue to the number and protect it with some kind of tissue paper. Watching the famous Dam tot Dam loop in 2024 I saw the elite and recreational runners still using safety pins.
I do have an alternative solution: staple your start number! All you need is a stapler and a staple remover. With the stapler you staple the start number to your shirt or singlet. To ensure it will be close to your shirt or singlet just add another staple in between. At some events you have to attach a start number on the back of the shirt as well.
Now you can start your contest.When you are finished you use the staple remover to simply remove the start numbers.
When your start numbers are sent to your home address it is an easy job at home. When provided by the organizer before the event, you might share the stapler and staple remover with other participants or even better: the organizer makes these items available or clever boys or girls do it for you for a small amount of money!