The best gift for a runner is specific to the kind of runner they are. For a marathoner, a print about the long block. For a track or cross country athlete, gear they will race in. For a coach, something for the office wall. Below are our picks for each, from a $2.99 sticker to a $75 hoodie, with links to our full guides. If you are keeping it under $50, start with our gifts for runners under $50.
You are trying to figure out what to get a runner. Maybe it is your partner who runs five days a week before you wake up. Maybe it is your high schooler in the middle of cross country season. Maybe it is a coach, a parent or a friend who just signed up for a first marathon. You know they care about running. You do not know enough about running to know what they want.
We make running gear and running posters for people who train. The posters are built around real places, real moments in the sport and the lines runners say to each other before workouts. The gear is what they wear to do the work. Here is what to get, by who you are buying for.
Find the right guide
Gifts for runners by budget
For the marathoner
A marathoner thinks in eighteen week blocks. There is a long run every weekend, a workout they do not look forward to, a race they are training for and one from last year they will not stop talking about. The gifts that land are about the training and the places it happens.
- Consistency poster. "It's about how many days you can put an hour into. Not how many hours you can put in a day." The print for the long block. If you only buy one poster for a marathoner, make it this one.
- Magnolia Dr poster. The street sign for Magnolia Road above Boulder, Colorado, a famous altitude training run whose dirt stretch tops out near 8,700 feet. If they have heard of Magnolia, they know what it stands for. There is also a vintage ad version for a retro look.
- Paris, France poster or Eugene, Oregon poster. The purple track of the 2024 Games and a sketch of Hayward Field. City and stadium prints that work in a home gym, an office or a living room.
- MD Half Tights. About a 9 inch inseam, two inner gel pockets and a back zip pocket that fits a phone, which matters on a long run. $60, or 3 pairs for $120.
More in best running posters for marathoners.
For the track and field athlete
For sprinters, milers, jumpers and throwers, and the parents who drive them to meets.
- RD 2.5 inch Split Shorts or LD 4 inch Split Shorts. Split shorts with a built-in liner and two gel pockets. The 2.5 inch is the shorter race cut; the 4 inch has a little more coverage. Buy any 2 shorts and the 3rd is free.
- Dragonfly poster. The underside of a track spike, in blue, red or yellow, so you can match team colors. The Dragonfly 2 poster is a new pair of spikes in an open box, race week in one photo.
- Impossible poster. The four minute mile, first broken on May 6, 1954, in 3:59.4. The poster crosses out the IM so it reads POSSIBLE. The Sub-4 High School Mile poster is the 2023 Festival of Miles, the first high school only race with four runners under four minutes, printed like a receipt.
- Olympic Trials poster. The 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field, where the top three with the standard made the team. For athletes with serious goals.
Full list, including gear by event and what to skip: gifts for track and field athletes. Every track print is in our track and field posters.
For the cross country runner
Cross country is cold mornings, muddy courses and a team that scores together.
- A hoodie for the start line and the bus ride. The Run Culture Hoodie is $75, 350 gsm fleece in a unisex loose fit. The Mags Fun Run Hoodie is the inside joke for anyone who has run Magnolia.
- Bet on Yourself poster. A lone runner on a cross country finish straight and "The only bet you can control."
- LD 4 inch Split Shorts or MD Half Tights for workouts.
Full list: gifts for cross country runners.
For the coach
Coaches are hard to buy for. They have been at it for years and they have everything. What they often do not have is something on the office wall that says what they spend their lives on.
- Work Harder poster. "There is no secret. Work harder." What most coaches have been saying for years.
- Consistency poster. For the distance coach who preaches stacking days.
- Olympic Trials poster or the Sub-4 High School Mile poster. The stakes of what they prepare athletes for, and a night that lands with any high school coach.
- A group gift from the team: buy 2 posters, get 1 free, so the third print for the team room is free.
Full list, including team gift ideas: gifts for running coaches.
For the high school or college runner
Most high school and college runners want two things: gear to train and race in, and something on their wall that says who they are.
- Shorts in the offer. Any 2 shorts, get the 3rd free: mix MD Half Tights, RD 2.5 inch and LD 4 inch Split Shorts.
- A performance shirt. The NanoVent or AeroGrid, $35.
- A poster with a line they live by: It Just Takes One, You Have to Believe or Stop Pre.
For the person who just started running
New runners need motivation more than history. The mantra posters are the best place to start.
- You Have to Believe: "You have to Believe it before you can achieve it", for the runner wondering if they can finish the race they signed up for.
- It Just Takes One: one good run or one good race can change the momentum.
- Work Harder and Run Harder: simple statements about effort, which is what matters early on: showing up and doing the work.
- Just Run: three runners in silhouette and two words, in blue, red, orange, green or pink.
All of these are in our motivational running posters collection, except Just Run.
For the Steve Prefontaine fan
- Stop Pre poster ($25 to $32). A red stop sign that reads STOP PRE, from the shirts at the 1972 Olympic Trials. Pre won the 5000 meters and wore one of the shirts on his victory lap.
- Somebody May Beat Me poster. A runner in a STOP PRE shirt and "Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it."
- Eugene, Oregon poster. Hayward Field, Pre's home track.
The full story and how to hang a Pre wall: Steve Prefontaine posters.
For the runner with a home gym
Pick one theme and buy three prints in the same size: 24x36 for the wall across from the treadmill or rack, 16x24 for narrower walls. The third print is free. Ideas by theme and where to hang each: best running posters for a home gym.
For the runner who has everything
This is the person who has been running since before you knew them. They have the gear and the watch. The trick is to give them something specific: a reference to the thing they actually love about the sport.
- The gear history fan: the Waffle Racer AD poster. In 1971 Bill Bowerman poured urethane into his wife Barbara's waffle iron to make a sole with better grip, and the waffle sole became part of running shoe history. Or the Why Vape poster: "Why vape? When you can Vaporfly."
- The runner who has been there: if they have run Magnolia Road or raced at Hayward Field, the Magnolia or Eugene print becomes personal.
- The minimalist: Just Run, two words.
Specificity is the gift. The person who has everything does not need more. They want something that proves you paid attention.
Picking a poster size
Every poster comes in 12x18, 16x24 and 24x36 inches, and all three fit standard frames.
- 12x18: a small wall, a dorm or part of a set.
- 16x24: above a desk or a bed. The safe choice if you do not know their walls.
- 24x36: one statement piece above a treadmill or behind a squat rack.
More on sizes by room in our running poster size guide.
Picking a clothing size
Check something they already wear against our size chart. Half tights and shorts come in small to large, and the LD 4 inch Split Shorts also come in extra small.
Order timing, shipping and returns
- Posters, graphic tees and hoodies are printed to order: 3 to 4 business days to print, then usually 3 to 4 business days in transit. Order early for a gift date. If you order them with running gear, they can arrive in separate packages. Details on our shipping page.
- Free US shipping on orders over $125. Offers apply automatically, no codes: buy 2 posters, get 1 free; any 2 shorts, get the 3rd free; MD Half Tights 3 pairs for $120.
- Returns: running gear can be returned or exchanged within 30 days of delivery, unworn and unwashed with tags. Posters, printed tees and hoodies are made to order, so they cannot be returned for size or change of mind, but we replace them free if they arrive damaged, misprinted or wrong. Stickers are final sale. Full policy on our returns page.
- MD Half Tights: some colors and sizes sell out between restocks. The next restock is expected from mid November to early December 2026.
The runner you are buying for has been thinking about running every day for years. A gift that shows you noticed is worth more than another gift card.
