Friday Five - gift ideas for runners

It's Friday again and that means it's time for the Friday Five link up with Cynthia, Courtney, and Mar.  This week's theme is favorites and I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk about favorites as ideas for gift ideas for runners.

I've seen a lot of gift guides and gotten a lot of great ideas.  But a lot of the items mentioned can be hard to buy for people you don't know that well.  Shoes, race registrations, medal hangers, etc. may be better left for people that you're really close with.  Here are some of my favorites that could work as ideas for friends that you have a more casual relationship with.

1.  Books or movies about running - My favorite book dealing with running is still "Running Like a Girl" by Alexandra Heminsley.  I thought this was a wonderful book, both funny and touching.  You can read my full review of it here.  This would be an especially great read for a new and/or female runner.

If you're looking for a movie instead, I haven't seen Spirit of the Marathon yet but I'm dying to see it.  I've heard great things about it and it seems like the type of thing any runner would enjoy, especially if you made it a date complete with your company and popcorn :) It would be a nice bonding gift from a non-runner to a runner.

2.  Jewelry - There is a lot of running inspired jewelry out there.  My husband got me a necklace from Lift Your Sole when I finished my first half marathon and I love it! I'm planning on organizing a girl's runcation with some friends, maybe the Princess Half Marathon in 2016, and I think I might get us all some sort of matching necklace as a memento. 

3.  A subscription box - There are so many different boxes out there these days for things as varied as fashion, beauty, pets, food, running nutrition, etc. And the gift option usually allows you to choose form a variety of number of months so it can be adjusted to meet your budget.  I love that it's a gift that keeps giving.  I loved the feeling of getting my Bestowed box every month while I had the subscription.  I ended up cancelling it because of the cost but as a gift, it would be awesome!

4.  Food - I love food.  The gift of a home cooked meal can rarely go wrong with me.  In addition to that, little food gifts can be a nice stocking stuffer or little addition to a card.  Many runners have weird fuels they eat and I'm hesitant to try new ones because of the price.  But it would be cool if someone wanted to get me a little assortment I could try out and maybe find a new favorite!  (My current favorite are the margarita clif shot bloks).  And I love trying out new teas in the Winter!  My favorite right now is this new Tazo Chocolate Chai I picked up at the grocery store.

 

5.  Your company - I think this is often the best gift I can get from loved ones :) If you know someone who's been trying to get you to run a race with them or someone who doesn't run but wants to try it, offer to sign up for a race with them and even run training runs together.  This is great catch up time and can create lots of fun memories. Or if running isn't your thing, maybe volunteer for a race someone is running at.  We love volunteers and it's such a great thing to see a familiar face on the course or at the finish line.

I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead of them!  My mother-in-law is visiting so we have a weekend of touring DC ahead of us, and I'm looking forward to my Jingle All the Way 5k Sunday morning :) And don't forget my give away for an armpocket.