If you're going to Grandma's, leave your iPod at home

[Ryan]

USA Track and Field recently enacted that ban for all sanctioned
running events to increase participant safety. That means runners
entered in Grandma's Marathon, the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon or
any other official race must comply. Violators will be
disqualified.

For the safety of all runners, I hope this is one rule that will be enforced. I've seen and been part of too many dangerous incidents caused by people wearing headphones not being aware of their surroundings.

ESPN.com article

[cameron]

my guess is that BOSTON is going to follow suit since it's USATF sanctioned as well.

[Ryan]

My guess is most major events across the country will be forced to follow suit and hopefully forced to enforce the rule. All for the better as far as I'm concerned. Blocking probably the most important sense when surrounded by thousands of runners is a very risky proposition to say the least. If one were only placing oneself at risk, I'd say they have the right to risk their own safety. However, I witnessed a headphone wearing individual cause an incident that resulted in another individual breaking a leg and I've witnessed and been part of other incidents, in races and not, where it was someone in the wrong place at the wrong time getting hurt because an individual wearing headphones was oblivious to his or her surroundings.

[RandyS]

Hasn't this rule been part of racing for years?

At every major (non-local) race I've run the rules stated "no head-phones". Yet the rule is ignored by a good percentage of runners (probably at least 10%).

It's not the lack of rules but the lack of enforcement!

Randy

[Ryan]

Randy, the rule existed at many races for a long time, primarily because many race insurers required the rule to be in place and because the RRCA recommended the rule. However, no governing body required the rule. That's the difference now. Any race that wants to be USATF sanctioned must include this in the rules. Hopefully, the next step is that the rules have to be enforced, at least by not giving finishing medals to headphone wearers at events where everyone gets a medal and recording the numbers of those seen wearing headphones and removing them from official results.

Jerry, this topic reminded me of an article that Jim Hage of the Washington Post e-mailed me last July (probably published around July 11 or July 12). As I reviewed it, I came across the following quote. Headphones are already banned in Boston. New York and Chicago, at least at the time of the writing, did not explicitly ban headphones (but will have to going forward if they want to remain sanctioned).

Both the Boston and Washington’s Marine Corps marathons lump a specific
mention of headphones along with their prohibitions against baby strollers,
dogs and roller blades in an answer to a FAQ on their Web sites.

“Headphones are not allowed on the Marine Corps Marathon course but it’s a
difficult thing to police, especially as headphones get smaller and
smaller,” says MCM public relations director Beth Cline. “I hope runners
are conscious of the hazard and will take it upon themselves to realize the
dangers of wearing headphones. To me, it’s like tying your shoes – you
won't get thrown off the course for untied shoes, but common sense says
it’s safer for you and those around you to have them tied.”

Perhaps common sense is the reason the New York City Marathon Web site
makes no mention of prohibitions of any kind. The Chicago Marathon Web site
explicitly prohibits pets, strollers, bikes and in-line skates but makes no
mention of portable music players; less surprising is the similarly
truncated verboten list at the more liberal Los Angeles Marathon: “We’re
trying to provide so much music along the course that there’s no need for
headphones!” laughed Chris Devine, chairman of Devine Racing, which runs
L.A.

[cameron]

admittedly i've been a scofflaw and have worn my ipod shuffle in 3 of my 4 previous races.  (a marathon, a 50K and a half marathon)

most, if not all, races do say that headphones are not allowed.  it comes down to the enforcement of the rule...which grandma's is taking seriously with the confiscation of the devices and removal from the official results.

i have to begrudgingly admit that it is for the best...especially with larger events.

[Anne]

With as small as these devices are getting it would be a difficult thing to enforce in large race like the ones mentioned.
If someone is intent on wearing one while running it would be easy enough to slip the ear buds in after the race started & remove them before crossing the finish line.


I too have witnessed mishaps on the course due to people wearing headphones, I'm all in favor of banning them. 

[Ryan]

Anne, it would indeed be difficult and possibly expensive to enforce in all situations. However, I think the hope is that the enforcement and discussion of why the enforcement is in place will spark a movement where people begin to recognize the risk associated with the headphones and that peer pressure will also affect those who want to wear headphones.

As the Hage article I quoted above noted about what a race director should do:

Last, foster peer pressure through education and rely on that and the
goodwill of the paying clients to police themselves. If the policy is
clearly communicated, runners will tend toward courtesy, cooperation and a
reluctance to adversely impact others. Of course, if a headphone-wearing
race participant on inline skates is pushing a dog in a baby jogger, take
all appropriate measures.

[r-at-work]

aahhh, were it that easy... while we're at it can we have people line up in the proper area for their intended pace...

okay, seriously... the MCM and the Army 10 miler might be able to 'draft' enough help to actually pull people off the course... I can see it now... you'd need two or three 'stations' where the flow of the race could be spilt "head phone wearers to the right please"... and then those people could be put on a bus, chips & bibs removed and taken directly to the family meet-up area... if anyone complained I'm sure an electronic copy of the release the participant signed could be produced... headphone = DQ

I've seen major accidents (with a wheel chair racer & a woman with headphones) and been in a few water stop fiascos with headphone wearers... and I REALLY hate the line "I keep it low enough to hear what's going on around me"... aaah, nope... maybe they can come up with a NEW division... I can see it now "headphone users will start 30 minutes after all other runners"... along with the people who want to walk holding hands, three abreast...

I'm not fast and I would never think of lining up in the front... but unlike Jim Hage I am not sure we can count on people to self-police... some people think the rules just do not apply to them... some don't know the rules (even in the marathon as more people join '16 weeks from couch to a marathon' groups who SHOULD educate them and might not)... one year I tried one of those groups and the leaders DID say it every week for 16 weeks ("Don't block the trail", "no more than 2 abreast") and STILL there would be at least one incident each week...

sorry for the rant... one of my pet peeves...
-Rita

[Anne]

As a golfer I've often thought the European countries have a good idea, before allowing a player on the course they need to show proof that they've attended an etiquette class to learn the do's & don'ts.

While I don't suggest the same for runners, I would like to see more written about the topic for those new to the sport, even those who aren't new but for some reason are unaware.
I'm sure just those of us here could come up with a fair size list of what not to do on a race course.

It comes down to education- media, RD's, clubs, word of mouth to get the message out & hope that people listen. Of course, that means they'll have to remove their headphones so they can hear what's being said.   

[Ryan]

Rita, I don't think anyone is suggesting or considering pulling people wearing headphones off the course during the race. That would be more obstructive than them wearing the headphones in the first place.

However, there are things that can be done in order to enforce the rule. It sounds like Grandma's will have officials around the starting area confiscating any headphones they see before the race starts. Races such as marathons could also tell people handing out finisher's medals nobody with headphones gets a medal. Officials/volunteers who are already on the course could record numbers of individuals who are wearing headphones and those individuals could be disqualified in the official results. In fact, maybe the people handing out finishing medals could do that. If the person doesn't have headphones, they are given a medal. If the person does have headphones, you record their number and they will be disqualified.

There are ways that such rules can be enforced without pulling people right off the course, which could cause a greater obstruction to those who are following the rules than the people being there in the first place. That said, I don't think pulling people off the course during the race would be the wrong thing to do in all circumstances.

[Ryan]

Anne, a lot of this does come down to education.

Many headphone wearers don't realize how much of a hazard they are creating until something happens, which is too late. It would seem obvious to me, around hundreds or thousands of other runners who are all trying to find a path you need all your senses in order to know what's going on and account for it. However, it is apparently not so obvious. People need to be shown how hazardous doing such things can be.

Others say if headphones are so bad, why should we allow deaf people to run races? They have as much trouble hearing someone behind them as the person wearing headphones. That's true but the deaf person lives without that ability to hear things around them 24/7. They learn how to adapt to their surroundings and cope with not hearing what's going on around them. They know not to make sudden moves, they know how to use the rest of their senses to "make up" for their lessened ability or inability to hear what's going on around them. People who only stick things in their ears an hour or two per day at most haven't made such adaptions. These differences need to be explained so the excuses aren't accepted.

A lot of people say they can just turn the volume down and it isn't an issue. I'll second Rita saying that's not the case. The fact that you're covering your ear or obstructing your ear canal should make it crystal clear that you are obstructing your hearing even if the volume is off. An explanation or even demonstration of this could help people learn how wrong they are about this.

[r-at-work]

Others say if headphones are so bad, why should we allow deaf people to run races? They have as much trouble hearing someone behind them as the person wearing headphones. That's true but the deaf person lives without that ability to hear things around them 24/7. They learn how to adapt to their surroundings and cope with not hearing what's going on around them. They know not to make sudden moves, they know how to use the rest of their senses to "make up" for their lessened ability or inability to hear what's going on around them.

I would imagine a deaf person in a race (similar to what I've read about Marla Runyan's racing) is hyper-alert... that is they are REALLY paying attention to all the sight cues (in Marla's case I've read that she tries to breathe quietly so she can hear others running near her)... people who are in a race with headphone are doing exactly the opposite, they are trying to be distracted from the race, from the running...

when I read comments from people who say they NEED their music to get them through I want to tell them that if it's really that horrible, find a sport you can enjoy... I mean if there weren't medals, t-shirts, cheering fans and music I'd still run... it's the RUNNING I enjoy and I want to soak it all in... sight, sound, feelings(high 5s from the kids), taste too(except Ulitma), that beer at 22...

can you imagine a race where everyone HAD to wear headphones... you wouldn't need spectators or scenery, you could run in a tunnel or around the inside of an empty wharehouse...
-Rita

[Ed]

To play devil's advocate -

What if one were to wear only one headphone/earbud?

[sueruns]

I've gone back to using the headphone style on training runs vs ear buds....even at low volumes the buds plug out all outside noise, with headphones I can hear a car approaching from behind me.  (they also kept my ears warm this winter--on the few occassions I got outside ).   I am real surprised sometimes in a race that there are quite a few fast guys wearing headphones