Welcome to September, a month where #2 pencils and fresh notebooks hold all the promise of a new year. Instead of celebrating school supplies, we’re going to celebrate our gear this month. We’re looking for your most sentimental or memorable piece of gear. The one that makes you smile when you pull it on–or think about it. 

If you’d like to contribute a short essay about your most sentimental or memorable piece of gear, email us at bamr@anothermotherrunner.com your tribute (<600 words), with a few pictures of you with the gear, and we’ll be in touch.

You can read Dimity’s piece here. Today’s post is from Jacki Correll.

I know that, despite what Starbucks is trying to sell us, it’s still technically summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, but when I was asked about my most sentimental piece of running gear, I immediately pictured my set of thick maroon cable-knit mittens and coordinating wooly hat. 

The mittens are the flip top kind that convert into fingerless gloves, and they are perfect for times when I need to tie my shoe, take a picture, or pet a dog mid run. They’re lined with a silver thermal foil that effectively traps heat inside (a softer version of those blankets you’re wrapped in after a marathon), and the wrists have longer than average cuffs that stay in place when I pull them up over my sleeves to protect my skin from icy wind and snow. 

The hat fits snuggly over my thick hair and if I unroll the bottom, it can be pulled down over my ears. These are all important features to have in cold weather gear, but they aren’t what makes this gear important to me.

The importance of these items transcends their functionality. This set was gifted to me almost a decade ago by a long-time friend, and it’s her thoughtfulness that makes this gear so dear. Due to our busy schedules and the fact that we no longer worked together, it took us months of planning to meet for a holiday lunch in the fancy restaurant of a downtown hotel. Although the venue was bedecked by glittering garlands and dazzling 20-foot Christmas trees, I was feeling far from festive. 

As most mother runners know, holiday magic making can be draining, especially when you have young kids, and despite the record low temperatures that year, I had been re-charging my batteries by heading out for a run every chance I got. No one seemed to understand why I’d subject myself to below zero windchills when I had a treadmill at home, but that day at lunch as I unwrapped layers of sparkly tissue paper to reveal the mittens and hat, tears sprang to my eyes. No one had ever given me running gear before, and this perfect gift made me feel truly seen and deeply cared for. Taken aback by my stronger than normal reaction, my friend said quizzically, “Seems like you’re out there a lot”, but what I heard was “I don’t have to fully understand to fully support you”, which is a hallmark of a true friend.

I still wear this set while running every winter and it makes me feel like a bada$$ to be out there, impervious to the cold and snow, while most people are still tucked up in bed or huddled by the fireplace. I always take great care to put each piece away as soon as I return home and am mindful not to snag them on my hydration pack’s Velcro or my housekeys. I do wear the hat sometimes for non-running related activities like hiking or errands, but it’s precious to me, so I’m cautious of low hanging branches or leaving it somewhere by accident. I treasure these pieces almost as much as I treasure the friend who gave them to me, and I think of her every time I don them.