Best Runner Gift Ideas for the Holidays

Struggling to find gifts for your runner? This gift guide has you covered with a wide variety of the best runner gift ideas for any budget.

As a long-time runner and avid shopper, it can be challenging to find the right gift with the endless options of gear and tech. My dietitian team (who are also avid runners) and I gathered together a pretty extensive list of our favorite things! Hoping with this runner gift ideas list will provide you with the needed inspiration to buy the perfect gift for your runner.

Smaller gift ideas (think stocking stuffers)

Runner nutrition goodies: Gels, energy chews, Salt Stick chewables or capsules, electrolytes etc. Highly recommend shopping at The Feed for your runner’s favorite nutrition needs. Popular brands include Skratch, Honey Stinger, Maurten, Huma, Spring Energy, UCAN.

Other small snack treats: cocoa-roasted almonds, roasted edamame or roasted chickpea snacks (great protein!), KIND bars, Justin’s nut butter packs (so good!)

Gift certificate for a deep tissue sports massage to somewhere local.

Feetures Running Socks – Love how light and comfy these socks are for running. I have a few options in my Amazon Storefront.

New Running Shoes! – Do some investigative work of their favorite shoes!

Patagonia Houdini Jacket (women’s) – Lightweight, weather-resistant jacket that folds up into the tiniest of pouches to pack and travel with. Also available in men’s.

Portable Theragun Mini – A little pricier gift, but perfect gift for your runner that travels a lot.

Spiky massage ball – a much more budget-friendly gift for working out those muscle kinks. Great for at-home or travel.

Nathan handheld insulated flask – Pair this gift with some hydration mix packets (Tailwind, Skratch or Maurten are popular!). This Nathan handheld designed to comfortably carry on those long runs to keep you well hydrated.

Aftershokz OpenRun Bluetooth Wireless Earphones – Excellent reviews! Comfy to wear, great open-ear sound quality.

Sports Watches – I use a Coros. It’s less expensive than Garmin and works similar, and the battery life is outstanding. Garmin watches are also fantastic.

Recommended Book Ideas (link has these books listed together on Amazon):
Run Fast, Eat Slow – Shalane Flanagan & Elyse Kopecky
Rise and Run – Shalane Flanagan & Elyse Kopecky
Run Fast, Cook Fast, Eat Slow – Shalane Flanagan & Elyse Kopecky
Let Your Mind Run – Deena Kastor
North – Scott Jurek
Fuel Your Body – Angie Asche
Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook – Nancy Clark, RD

Larger Gift Ideas

Thorne Whey Protein Isolate – Both flavors, vanilla and chocolate, are great. The chocolate blended with ice and milk tastes exactly like a Wendy’s Frosty. They also have a plant-based protein available. Use this link to get 15% off your Thorne order!

Theragun Prime – Expensive, but highly rated and a great tool to work out those tight muscles.

Salomon Advanced Skin 12 Hydration Vest – Unisex – This is an area that I invest in a quality product to wear something comfortable and reduce chances of chafing.

Hoka ORA Recovery Slide Sandals – all gender – Comfort and support for after a hard run!

Thule Urban Glide Stroller – Most people go for the BOB stroller (which is also great). But this Thule one is also a winner. As a running mom of two boys, highly recommend investing in a quality stroller right away and using it throughout that time as a mom with young kids. It also comes with a newborn inlay and a seat liner (for the kids prone to blow outs).

Thule Coaster XT 2-seat bike trailer & stroller – I actually use our bike trailer as our double stroller. Fantastic storage (cause kids need lots of snacks), light and fast to use.

New Running Shoes! – Hint, hint!

Blender – Vitamix if you want to get the Cadillac of blenders, but a Nutribullet also works really well.

Instant Pot – I love my Instant Pot. You definitely want one with a Yogurt button, as I have a cold-start yogurt recipe that is amazing and so easy to make.