Racing to Success with Marathon Items More than 250,000 spectators line the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., each year to watch the annual Twin Cities Marathon (TCM). This year marks the 24th running, and the race is designated as the U.S. national marathon championships for both men and women in the open and masters fields. "This race is sort of Minnesota's Boston Marathon," says Char McNeely, sales representative/account manager at Document Resources Inc.. Each year since the 2002 event, Document Resources has provided TCM organizers more than 20,000 silkscreened and embroidered T-shirts for volunteers and race participants—"in-training" runners (those who are preparing for the marathon), 26.2-mile marathon finishers, 10-mile finishers and 5-kilometer finishers. Those who complete the race—7,400 of the 10,500 participants in 2004—receive a colored, long-sleeved T-shirt with the word "finisher" embroidered under the race logo. Here's the challenge: Each year, every group of runners receives its own distinct T-shirt design. The TCM volunteer committee elects an artist or designer to provide ideas for different shirts, then it chooses the designs and designates coordinating T-shirt colors. In addition, sponsor logos are squeezed onto the front, back and sleeves of every shirt. "Out of these 20,000 shirts, there are 26 different design variations, both front and back," McNeely says. "It can become very complicated." The silk-screener supplies proofs for every design, which Document Resources reviews carefully before screening and embroidery begins. The completed orders are shipped to a central warehouse where some of the 5,000 TCM volunteers separate and distribute the merchandise to the groups responsible for the various products. Megan Ryan, the marathon's marketing and public relations manager, says Document Resources provides "great-quality products and superior service" and that the distributorship handles complex projects with ease. This year, Document Resources faces another challenge—providing hard goods and novelty items for the TCM Expo, a temporary store that will open at the St. Paul Xcel Energy Center/RiverCentre for three days prior to the race. Fans and runners will be able purchase T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, caps, running gear and novelties such as cowbells, travel mugs, coffee mugs, beer mugs, charms, bracelets, frames, magnets, bookmarks and pins. Several suppliers will provide those items, and as a "bronze" sponsor of the race, Document Resources is in charge of coordinating the process. "Unlike the T-shirts, where we have all the decorating done locally, the novelties are decorated at [different plants]. Most, if not all, are out of town," McNeely says. The distributorship will ask for pre-production proofs on these items to assure quality, she says.