Putting on My Spikes (George Altirs)
Title: Putting on My Spikes
General Information about Item:
Genre: Customary Lore, Magic Superstition (If you do A, then B)
Country of Origin: United States
Informant: JM
Date Collected: 11-3-21
Informant Data:
JM is a male Dartmouth College student in the class of 2023. He is currently on the track & field team at Dartmouth. He was born and raised in Yonkers, New York. He has been running track since he was in 4th grade, which was in 2011. He took a brief hiatus from running while he was in middle school because his school didn’t have a track. He continued it in his sophomore year of high school, where he ran for the Rye Country Day School. JM runs the 200 meter and 400 meter events.
Contextual Data:
Social Context: Part of the reason this superstition exists is because of the break JM took from running between high school and elementary. He hadn’t competed in years, and he felt a bit uncomfortable when racing at first. One day before a race in sophomore year of high school, in 2017, he saw one of the senior captains on his team tie his shoes a certain way. When JM asked him about it, he told him he had seen other fast runners on his team in the past doing it this way. JM did this before his meet that day and won the race. Ever since then, he does it before every race, and he feels that he won’t do well if he doesn’t tie his shoes this way. The context in which this was collected is when I asked JM over FaceTime if there are many pre-meet rituals or superstitions he always does.
Cultural Context: Track runners often feel like they must focus a lot before meets, and a lot of them feel like if one little thing throws them off, then their whole race can be ruined. JM told me that most runners have a very specific routine before their races, and if they don’t stick by it exactly then they don’t feel comfortable. Especially for sprinters, the races go by so fast, so the runners have to be 100% locked in the entire time and can’t lose focus. For context, sprinters usually warm up in normal sneakers and switch into their spikes, which are the shoes they race in.
Item:
Before every race, JM puts on his spikes exactly 10 minutes before the race starts. He pulls both strings of the shoelace exactly 3 times. He then double knots the laces and pulls them really, really tight. If he doesn’t do this, he feels very uncomfortable and thinks he will lose the race.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript:
“I need to put on my spikes 10 minutes before the race. First, I pull the strings of the shoelaces really tight, then double knot, and then pull the knots really tight.”
Informant’s Comments:
I’m not sure why this specific superstition is something that I’ve carried with me for so long. It feels weird because I remember so vividly the first time I tied my shoes this way. I remember how much I looked up to the person who taught me this. He was a great runner, and I really wanted to be like him. Everyone runner has a different pre-race routine that they like doing. It is just important that I stick to my own because it makes me feel good about my chances in the race.
Collector’s Comments:
I find it interesting that he must put on his spikes exactly 10 minutes before the race. I wonder why he can’t he put them on a bit earlier or later. I also find it is interesting that it’s
Collector’s Information:
George Altirs
Dartmouth College
Russian 13: Slavic Folklore
Professors Gronas and Apresjan
21F