I too am a runner. The quilting patterns I have been able to find have been few and far between. May I suggest a t shirt quilt made out t shirts from some running events he has participated in? There is also a really nifty pattern for a Boston Marathon block here:
http://www.equiltpatterns.com/quiltp...roducts_id=277
It only costs 99 cents and I think it's a pretty cool block.
Hope this helps.
Lori