Man Gains Weight To Fit Into Marathon T-Shirt

Piney Point, MD – Crossing the finish line of a marathon is quite a remarkable task and after finishing your first, it can be quite the process to recover.  Joe Mitchell (24), of Drayden, MD, had something else on his mind after completing the Lower Potomac River Marathon. 

“Yes, I ran it two Saturday’s ago.  It was an amazing feeling to run my first marathon,” Mitchell told us.  All finishers were given a ‘Lower Potomac River Marathon’ t-shirt.  Despite asking for a medium sized shirt, Mitchell was handed a large and did not notice before returning home. “I was so upset.  I wear a medium!  Not a large!  I really wanted to wear this t-shirt to show off what I did.”

After several telephone calls, in attempt to swap his large for a medium, frustration built up without success.  “This is my favorite t-shirt I’ve ever had and I’m going to wear it and that’s that,” Mitchell exclaimed in anger.  He began to brainstorm a list of ideas.  He tried shrinking the shirt but the 5% polyester would not allow the 95% cotton to downsize whatsoever. 

With no way of making the shirt smaller, Mitchell only had one option – “I decided to make myself bigger,” Mitchell said.

Two weeks and twenty-three pounds later, he has done just that.  A diet of fast foods, doughnuts, and string-cheese has brought him exactly to his goal – into his t-shirt. 

“Well, I ate all this delicious tasting food for every meal for two weeks.  I forgot how good cinnamon rolls were.  I ran a marathon.  I deserved to eat a little junk.  It was an amazing two weeks and most importantly, I can now wear my t-shirt whenever I want.  That is the real reward,” Mitchell commented. 

It was clear that Joe Mitchell gained more pleasure from fitting into his t-shirt than from completing the Lower Potomac River Marathon.  And it’s a good thing he was able to fit because based on the looks of the twenty-four year old now, that will probably be the last marathon t-shirt he will be earning.