What I Look for in a Running Shirt (After Thousands of Miles)

When you run every day, you get pretty particular about your gear. You don’t have time for stuff that rubs, soaks, rides up, or falls apart. And out of everything I wear, shirts are probably the most personal—and the most make-or-break.

I’ve run in every kind of weather you can imagine: freezing sleet, 100+ degree heat, mountain wind, humidity so thick it felt like soup. And through it all, I’ve learned one thing:

A bad shirt will ruin a good run.

Chafing is the Enemy

Let’s talk about the big one first: chafing. If you've ever finished a run looking like Andy from The Office, you know what I'm talking about. Nipple chafing is real, and it’s worse than it sounds. I've also had my fair share of armpit chafing, especially when I roll my sleeves up mid-run (which I usually do, to show off the guns).

The thing is, chafing doesn’t care about the temperature. In the cold, your skin gets sensitive. In the heat, you’re either soaked in sweat or dumping water over your head to cool off. Either way, friction plus moisture equals pain. A bad shirt turns that equation into a bloodbath.

Light, Breathable, and a Bit Oversized

So what do I look for?

Simple—I want a shirt that disappears. It shouldn’t be something I think about after mile 2. My favorites are light, breathable, and just slightly oversized. That extra material in the heat? It soaks up water and adds a cooling layer. In the cold, it keeps me from feeling like I’m wrapped in cling film.

Fit matters too. Too tight and I’m tugging at it the whole run. Too loose and it flaps like a parachute in the wind. There’s a sweet spot, and when I find it, I wear that shirt until it basically dissolves.

No Seams, No Drama

Tags? No thank you. Scratchy seams? Get out. A good running shirt is either tagless or has a soft-print label. I’ve literally bled from shirts with rough necklines or armpit seams. It’s not tough—it’s dumb. Design should prevent injury, not cause it.

Durability > Hype

I don’t need NASA materials or shirts with twelve zones of compression. I just want fabric that holds up. If it pills after two washes or smells like regret after one hot run, it’s a no-go. I want a shirt that can take a beating—just like I do.

The Class 5 Standard

That’s the mindset behind Class 5 Performance. If I won’t wear a shirt on mile 3,000, I’m not putting it in the store. Our shirts are built for people who train in whatever weather gets thrown at them. People who run through the heat, the cold, the fatigue, and the doubt. People like you.

We’re not here to sell hype. We’re here to sell gear that works.

Class 5 Performance. Built for the hard days.
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