RACING
SHORTS

What racing shorts are

Racing shorts are the bottom half of the classic athletics kit: a featherweight woven shell, an elastic waistband with a drawcord, a built-in brief liner instead of underwear, and as little length as the job allows. Verified race pairs run absurdly light — SOAR's size-M race shorts weigh 64 to 72 grams, about as much as a small apple.

What separates a race pair from the shorts in a gym bag is the side seam. On a split short the outer seam is left open, the front panel simply overlapping the back. At full stride the leg lifts through the gap instead of dragging fabric with it. Closed-hem trainers keep more coverage; splits give the stride away nothing.

From this series · in the archiveNike NN Running Team Pro Elite 2024 Racing ShortsA race-issued team pair — the split-seam construction this whole post is about.180,00 €View piece →

On the track you will see them from the 800 m to the 10,000 m, and on the road at every distance — though at the very top of the marathon the split short now shares the start line with the half tight, a sibling piece with its own entry in this series.

The split: a 1970 invention

The split short has an inventor, a date and a reason. Ron Hill — a British textile chemist with a PhD and a 2:10:30 win at the 1970 Boston Marathon, the first by a Briton — kept feeling his shorts catch his leg lift. His fix was direct: he ripped the side seams open before a race. The prototype worked, he refined it into his “Freedom shorts” — split down the sides, front overlapping back — and in September 1970 founded Ronhill to sell them.

Half a century on, that ripped seam is still the template. Nike's current flagship race short, the AeroSwift, is a 2-inch inseam with full side splits; SOAR grades its race pairs from a 2.5-inch leg upward. The materials moved on — from cotton to nylon in the 60s and 70s, to today's four-way stretch wovens — but the geometry is Hill's.

From this series · in the archiveNike Rosa & Co. Pro Elite 2024 Running ShortsA recent championship-cycle pair — fifty years of split-seam geometry in its current form.180,00 €View piece →

It is a rare thing in sport: a garment whose defining feature can be traced to one runner, one frustration, and one pair of scissors.

How the race pair is built

Pick up a race-issued pair and the construction choices are all visible within arm's reach.

• The splitThe open outer seam, front panel over back — free leg lift at full stride, the defining feature since 1970.
• The shellFour-way-stretch woven polyester with elastane — Nike's AeroSwift body is 88% polyester, 12% spandex — light, quick-drying, nearly frictionless.
• The linerA built-in knit brief (89/11 poly-spandex in the AeroSwift) replaces underwear: moisture control and light support with no extra waistband.
• The waistbandElastic plus an internal drawcord; race versions add mesh venting so even the waistband breathes.
• VentingMesh perforations at the lower back and legs on current race pairs — heat out, nothing in.
• The canvasFederation colours and a clean panel for the hip number — adhesive bib identification goes on the shorts in photo-finish events under World Athletics TR5.10.

Nothing on a race pair is spare. If a feature does not free the stride, dump heat or hold a number, it is not there.

How to choose yours

Choosing race shorts comes down to three honest questions: how fast, how far, and how much coverage do you want?

• Match inseam to intentRacing flat-out on the track: 2–3″ full splits. Road racing: 2.5–5″. Training miles: 5–7″ closed hem — more coverage, less chafe.
• Trust the linerRace shorts are engineered to be worn without underwear; doubling up adds a seam and a wet layer the designers removed on purpose.
• Fit at the waistSnug drawcord fit, sitting at the natural waist; the shell should float clear of the thigh, never cling.
• Care keeps them fastCold wash, air dry, no softener — softener kills the wicking of both shell and liner.
• Archive realityRace-issued pairs are cut for a single team cycle and do not restock. In-stock first; sold-out pieces stay listed because the runs are small and rarely return.

From this series · in the archiveNike Pro Elite Team 2017 Women Running ShortsA women's team pair from the archive — same split geometry, cut for a different torso.120,00 €View piece →

Get the inseam right and the shorts vanish at speed — which, as with every race garment in this series, is the whole design brief.