Each one, though, has an individual reason for being there. No one runs a marathon without a reason. If you look, plenty of runners will show you why they’re running right on the clothes they’re wearing. It may be a name or a charity.

On Monday, a stream of runners will flow from Hopkinton to Boylston Street in Boston, bodies following bodies in a blur of pumping legs and flapping bibs.

Sprinkled throughout this year’s Boston Marathon will be a handful of members of the Poodle Boyz Track Club. They will be immediately recognizable by their official club gear: burgundy singlets screen-printed with the silhouette of a prancing poodle. Several more Poodle Boyz will dot the crowd of spectators.


“It’s kind of this badge that reminds you that, yes, it is all on your shoulders right now,” said Dan Forward, a founding member of PBTC. “No one else is going to be running this for you. You’re not going to be able to pass a baton in this marathon. So it is all on you.

“But at the same time, there are other people out there doing the same exact thing and you’re wearing this badge together. Even if it’s a ridiculous poodle.”

It was Dan’s friend Aaron Jun, also running Monday in the custom design, who came up with the name. The two have been running together for about a year, and did some of their training for this year’s marathon together.

One of Jun’s strategies for getting through long runs is to think about dogs. Specifically, to think about what dogs look like running.

“And that’s always sort of joyful and happy and not taking themselves overly seriously and just enjoying the movement,” Jun said.

There are a few other clubs around Boston, such as the Dashing Whippets, that have dog names — usually dogs known for their speed and running ability. Jun wanted something more playful, something to serve as a reminder that, in order to run 70-80 miles per week, you have to be a little wacky.


At first it was just an inside joke, but the more they laughed about it, the more Jun and Forward felt a need to make it real. “Boys” became “Boyz,” and they registered the club on Strava, a social network for athletes. There are now 34 active members of PBTC.

Forward and Jun got the personalized singlets for themselves and other Poodle Boyz who wanted them for this marathon cycle. They figure they’ll need to do another order soon. To them, the design represents the community they’ve found through running, and their commitment to not taking themselves too seriously even while training hard.

Personalize it

The idea of a personal message on a shirt certainly isn’t new, or unique to the Poodle Boyz. One such message was part of an iconic Boston Marathon story, when Bill Rodgers won the race for the first time in a T-shirt he’d pulled out of a dumpster.

Rodgers, who’d go on to win the race three more times, didn’t have money for fancy gear. To him, attire was an afterthought, with one exception. Before the race, he was sure to grab a marker and write “Boston GBTC,” for his Greater Boston Track Club, on the front of the shirt for all to see.


To Rodgers, a New England native, the message showed that this was his race. It showcased his identity.

Bill Rodgers won the 1975 Marathon in his customized shirt. Globe photo/file

The ability to show who you are and whom you’re connected to is valuable during a marathon. One reason runners write messages on their arms and legs, or have them printed on a shirt, is that it’s an act of self-expression during a long, often solitary challenge.

“It’s probably just like that thing of wearing your heart on your sleeve,” said Nichole Karlon of Maynard. “You want to tell everybody why you’re running.”

Karlon is running to raise money for Honor Flight New England, an organization that sends veterans of World War II and the Korean War on all-expenses-paid trips to Washington, D.C., as an expression of gratitude for their service.

She had a blue tank top made for the marathon. The front has an American flag design, with the words “I run they fly” and “Honor Flight New England” making up stripes on the flag. There’s a plane, Monday’s date, and the words “My First Boston Marathon” and “A race against time to say thank you,” on the back.

Karlon hopes the flag will motivate her and that the bright design will make her easy to spot for friends and family. When people see her, she wants them to know why she’s out there.

“I am so passionate about Honor Flight and I want other people to be able to see it,” she said.

A runner in the 2016 race gave a shout-out to the Boston Fire Department with his wardrobe choice. craig f. walker/globe staff/file

Something as simple as a shirt can attach meaning to the task of running, said Todd Sarmanian, who runs Advantage Sportswear in Wilmington, a custom embroidery and screen-printing shop started by his father.


Sarmanian printed the PBTC singlets, along with many others that will be worn Marathon Monday.

“I guess they want to be a part of a club or part of a team,” he said. “Even though someone is running for themselves, it’s just one person running, to have someone support you or be behind you, I can’t think of any other way to represent someone being behind you than if you’re all wearing the same uniform, if you will.”

In last year’s race, this group represented a mental health initiative. jessica rinaldi/globe staff/file

Sarmanian said that personalized designs are more popular now than they used to be. He used to be able to do large batches of more generic singlets and have them sell out, but now, when people come to the shop, they’re more likely to bring their own ideas than look for something off the rack.

“Nowadays, everybody wants to do their own custom design,” Sarmanian said.

That was the case with the Poodle Boyz, who were happy to find that Advantage Sportswear could complete small-batch orders without it being cost-prohibitive.

And just because a design is goofy doesn’t mean it can’t be full of meaning.

Jun started running in 2013, a year after he’d moved to Boston from California. He had a friend running in the marathon that year, and he was going to find her at the finish line when the bombs went off. Neither was hurt, but Jun was close enough to feel the blast.


He took a week off work in the aftermath and, during that time, some inner feeling compelled him to start running. He would run just 4 miles at first, then 6, always as fast as he could, with no training plan. But eventually he needed more, and he found that Boston was home to a vibrant running culture.

“The thing about Boston that I never really quite understood was why in the hell anyone would run here,” Jun said. “Because 80 percent of the time the weather is not a fan of you and 70 percent of the time the weather is trying to kill you.”

Giving it meaning

Harsh training conditions breed strong bonds among runners, though. Jun and Forward have been running together for only about a year, but their friendship strengthened quickly on some brutal winter runs.

“Dan and I did a long run this cycle where it was minus-23 windchill at the start,” Jun said. “You do wonder, what am I doing out here?

“But it’s that sense of community. The idea that you are part of the fabric of a team and that everyone’s supporting each other and everyone has very individual goals and we’re all here trying to help them get to that.

“And I think the reason people like to run with something across their chest is it’s that very human notion of wanting to belong to something.”

Forward and Jun limber up on the Commonwealth Mall for a training run. Katherine Taylor for The Boston Globe

Both Jun and Forward spoke of the individual nature of running, and how that was something they take pride in. At the same time, though, they’ve discovered a lot about themselves through running, and there’s a natural urge to want to share that with others.

Jun described himself as guarded normally, but said he’s at his most revealing and willing to talk about anything on long runs. There’s no energy for pretenses.

“What I find important is just any way of expressing yourself in some way to the outside world that, frankly, doesn’t really care that much but it’s that act of expression that means so much,” Jun said.

That act comforts, and it motivates. Runners have to be internally motivated. There’s no one trying to tackle them, no one throwing them a ball. There’s just willing yourself to put one foot in front of the other until it’s over, and it helps to remember the reason why you’re doing it in the first place.

“Running from Hopkinton to Boston doesn’t really have any meaning unless you create that meaning,” Forward said.

Sometimes, the way to create that meaning is with a message on a shirt. Simple, clear, and something that can stay with you the entire race as a reminder of why every agonizing step is worthwhile.

Even when that reminder comes in the form of a silly, prancing poodle.

Nora Princiotti can be reached at nora.princiotti@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @NoraPrinciotti.