If Loving My Ipod is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right
Thursday, July 05, 2007
So, I consider myself a somewhat serious runner. I've been doing road races off and on since I was 12, ran track in high school and college, and have done a couple marathons. By no means, though, am I a purist. I'm perfectly able to run without music, but I'd rather not. I even took an extra minute or so in transition during the Appleton Paper Discovery Duathlon in May to grab my Ipod for the run portion (two 5ks). Why? Because I could. Because I like it. And because I feel like I run faster and better when I've got a little Billy Idol or Black Eyed Peas busting it up in my earphones.
Honestly, though, I really don't understand this.
Jean Knaack of the Road Runners Club of America is quoted as saying, "I hear race directors complain that it's [listening to music during a race] a growing problem. They'll say 50 percent of the people running races have on headphones."
A growing problem?
The article cites these reasons as to why: "runners wearing headphones are less likely to respond to directions from course marshals, and they can't hear faster runners approaching from behind or hear warnings about vehicles or potholes. " The Peachtree race director says that the race's "helicopters, bands and crowds, should be entertainment enough."
What???
This is so many levels of ridiculousness that I don't know where to begin. First of all, if course marshals need to be giving out such complicated directions that you need to be fully aware and attentive to receive them, the course isn't as well-marked nor the race as well-run/organized as it should be. Second, faster runners approaching from behind? Really? At what, like ten miles per hour? With an entire width of a road for room? I was not aware of the danger of being stampeded during a 10k. And to Ms. Race Director, if the participant is paying YOU $35-$50 to run, shouldn't the participant get to decide if the bands/crowds are "entertainment enough"? At some races, this might be true, but running by a band for a 30-second blip of music every two miles doesn't entertainment for a racer make. And I can say for certain that the weather at this year's Green Bay Marathon thinned out the crowds to the point where it felt like a training run. Were it not for my handy pink Ipod, I might well have had a mental meltdown.
I'm curious, though -- am I missing something here, beyond the stampeding 10k runners and marshals who can't get the attention of racers when they need it? If so, please fill me in. I'm turning my music down and am all ears.
Posted by Erin 12:06 PM
I am SO with you on this one. I think it's ludicrous that races are stating in the rules that headphones can't be worn. Cellcom is actually the first race that I USED my iPod, and it was magical. I'd die without it now. I need it to distract me from the fact that I want to collapse.
Grandma's Marathon had a No Headphones rule this year, and I hear it was awful.
Screw the race directors and the helicopters. First of all, helicopters? I don't remember the last time I saw a helicopter at a race...
Junk on no headphones, sometimes you just need some tunes to rock it to on your run!
My pink ipod stands with you Erin!
No danger I will be running in Grammas Marathon if they are going to take my best running tool away fom me..... WTF??? I haven't had anything confiscated since I was passing notes in high school!
Seriously, I can run without the headphones, but I agree I run faster and longer when I can listen to a little Ludacris for some cadence help or do a little dance on the sidewalk while I am wating for the stoplight to change my way. It gives my tiny head something to do besides talk myself into stopping.