In order to avoid the mayhem we encounter during the Disney
Marathon weekend over the whole race shirt situation, we decided to do our
research a bit earlier this year. For those of you who do not know, there was
such a debacle over the shirts for the marathon ( especially the ladies, and
the ones who needed a smaller size).
It was just overlooked by hundreds of
runners that the sizing for the long sleeved marathon shirts were men’s ( or
unisex) sizing. Therefore women who normally wear a size medium race shirt
signed up for a medium and quickly realized they were swimming in it and needed
to exchange it for an extra small shirt. We have since learned that the only Disney races that offer woman's sizing are the Princess Races ( and Tink). Disney does allow you to switch shirt
sizes but we were told we had to wait till the last day at the very last hour of the
expo ( This was our experience during the Marathon weekend, although some others have said they didn't have to wait till the last day, but just know that Disney COULD make you wait till the last day of the expo to ensure that they have enough shirts for those who still need to pick up their race packet.)
The last day of the expo we stood in line for over two hours so we could
have a chance at exchanging a shirt.
Luckily, we did get one. What is the point of having a shirt to commemorate
your very first marathon if you can’t even wear it? This was just a little back story, now on to the real topic at hand......The princess half marathon shirts!
When I signed up for the Glass slipper challenge,
I saw that there was an extra small option.
I didn’t remember seeing that as an option for last year’s Princess half
(although I could be wrong). I wanted to
know what exactly the difference in sizing was between the small and the extra
small, so after much investigation this is what I found. ( you can apply this information to any size shirt)
 |
| This is the Princess Half Marathon Race shirt from 2013 |
1. If you have run the Princess half this year (2013) and last year (2012), you will notice a considerable size difference in the shirts. The 2013 one is a slimmer fit. Even though I got it in a size small, I would actually consider it to be an extra small ( especially compared to the 2012 shirt) Here are the dimensions of the 2013 shirt:
Across the chest (from under arm to
underarm) it is 16 inches
From
shoulder seam to waist band ( vertically) it is 23 inches long.
Waistband of shirt is 17 inches across.
( sure enough when I compared the measurements of this shirt to the Run Disney size chart, it was closer in size to the 2014 x-small)
2.
Run Disney has confirmed that the style of the
2014 Princess half shirt will not be the same as the 2013 shirt (I don’t mean
design either, I mean cut and size wise).
3.
Run Disney has put up a sizing chart to
help you decide which size might be the best fit for you. (My advice is to start measuring some of your
other race shirts ( make sure they are tech shirts) and compare the dimensions. Princess Half Marathon Sizing Chart .
4.
I know for a fact that on my order form that I
chose a size x-small for the Half marathon and small for the 10K, yet RunDisney
had my order down as both shirts being an x-small. So whatever you ordered for
your half is what you will end up with for the 10K too. (which is generally not
a problem for most people, but I was just worried about sizing and figured that
if I ordered one of each, I at least would have one shirt that fit
properly)! I asked if I could have one
of each and the lady at Run Disney said they would be the same size for both
races.
5.
If after seeing the size chart you feel you need
to change sizes, RunDisney said the approximate
cut off for the shirt ordering would be October 7th. But I would get
your ordered changed ASAP so there isn’t any problem.
Hopefully this has helped clear up some
confusion on shirt sizing for the prince half weekend.
It's always hard to tell what the sizing of race shirts are going to be like, especially when they change from year to year. Unfortunately we are always in that "in between" size and don't want to "guess" wrong, especially when it comes to a cool Disney race shirt.
Was this post helpful to you? Have you always been spot on when picking your race shirt size? Are we the only ones that stress over this kind of stuff? Please share your own race shirt stories if you have one!