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Ban mp3's/ ipods at mass events
Straycelt
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Grrrr. Music and running do mix, on your own, in a safe place, on the treadmill, not in traffic and definitely not at mass events. Why enter a mass event and then run in your own world. Positives...your music gets you through the race...you get the energy of everyone round about you...you get the feel of a mass event but negatively...you don't hear what's going on, you may miss words of encouragement, the opportunity to meet ne w people, you won't be giving out encouragement and you won't hear anyone either shouting a warning or asking you to move over. Great to hear organisers issuing HASAW announcement re music at Cardiff half...but I think music in your ears at mass events should be banned....Any views?
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Comments
They are banned!
Eletroinc equiment should not be used in a race.
Rosa no matter how many times I hear the argumnet "I can hear the marshals, runners etc" I get annoyed. YOU CAN NOT!
Either you hear the music or what is around you. they are mutualy exclusive.
I start races slow so can get stuck behind the MP3 wearing crowd. I don't make much sound as a runner. You won't hear me behind and step to avoid something. Ruin both our races.
You can run with music. I run with MP3 player and to be honest I ususually turn it off after the first couple of miles once I have my pace sorted. I don't have it on loud (Number 2 ) and I can hear everything otherwise I wouldn't wear it. It calms my nerves pre-race so I don't hyperventilate. I have tried breathing exercises, mantras etc but singing (rather badly) along to my music helps me know I am not running too fast. At the GNR I talked to people, I could hear the encouragement and yes I took in the atmosphere. I only had the sound on 2 which is just say background. I know there are loads of people who wear them and have the music loud which gets the rest of us in trouble.
To be honest I can go into a world of my own running without music and have been asked to move several times on the cyclepath I run on and not heard people asking. I don't need music to retreat into my head.
TRI: YES YOU CAN HEAR THE MARSHALLS IF YOU ONLY HAVE THE MUSIC ON LOW!
but they are banned on the running leg of most triathlons.
Wear one racking the bike and see what happens........
Batmouse.
If front on and shouting. Can you hear me behind? I do not wish to signal to every selfish MP3 wearing person I will be passing on the right or left.
can have to quickly step out the way of some thing sometimes and really you shouldn't get that close to someone that this completely throws you off
so at the start of a race I need to be out of all the MP3 players ways. The sooner the rule is enforced the better.
Do you cycle with a MP3 player?
I agree with TT and SC, they should be banned
at the very least it's rude
Jesus Tri Taffia at what point did I say that you need to be out of people wearing mp3 players way? I was saying that all runners sometimes have to move quickly out of the way of something and that this has nothing to do with listening to music. Obviously at the start of a race, or at any narrow or congested part, this is worse and that being aware of everyone around you is very important. That is regardless of whether you are listening to music or not. I agree with you that some people who listen to music can have it up too loud and cause many problems for other people HOWEVER racing with music and being rude, obnoxious and a danger to people around you IS NOT exclusive to those who are listening to music and also it IS possible to listen to music and race carefully and not causing any problems to fellow runners.
I don't cycle but if I was to and was on a road then I think listening to music is dangerous - also cycling is very different as you are generally going faster and it is a lot easier to have an accident or do something that will cause other cyclists real problems, so I agree that you shouldn't listen to music in tri's, but, as long as you have the music low and are hyper aware of what's going on around you, listening to music in long distance running races is completely different and can be done without causing any problems. It's the individual that creates problems not the simple fact someone is listening to music.
Rosa If I saw you or anyone else with an mp3 I would just assume you couldn't hear me.
I am with Straycelt and TT.
sorry but every person to annoy me at a race has been tooting an MP3.
Call me MP3ist but the things are a pain in the ar*e.
Well having hand paddles and a snorkel makes me swim faster.
I train with them. does it stop me doing tris as my swim is shite without them?
No.
training aids the word there is training not racing.
LOL rarebit!
for what its worth i simply dont understand why anyone would want to wear an mp3 player when at a race/event. whats the point being in your own world of music whilst the real world runs (cycles etc) around you. you may aswell run on your own. plus it looks a bit introverted.
i can see why they are used in training though. although i dont use one.
cant see em being banned. my guess is that in order to see fewer you either have to pick smaller/elite events or start others with the elite runners ( is there an award for stating the bleedin obvious - cos if there is i may have won it!)
I've said this before, but anyway ... everyone who admits to wearing earphones during a race swears blind that their music is on low, yes they can hear what's going on around, yes they can hear the marshals blah blah blah ...
But what I see in every race points to the opposite.
You cannot be motivated or uplifted by your music AND be fully attentive to your surroundings at the same time. This really is a no-brainer.
The MP3 crowd's argument boils down to "I like my music and I don't give a toss about you". Fine, but don't whinge when you get barged aside by someone like me who's already said "'scuse me, can I pass?" and got no reply.
I've always trained with an MP3 but never raced with one. I'd feel like I was missing out.
I don't really understand their use in training, except maybe on a treadmill. Mind you, I don't even wear one when I walk 30 minutes to work. I like to hear the hustle and bustle, to be completely immersed in whatever environment I am in. When running, I want to concentrate on my running, not on how totally brilliant my mp3 collection is.
It is bloody good mind.
Oh how this debate rages on.....
I agree with all the others on here who have said that you CAN'T POSSIBLY be fully aware of your surroundings while you've got headphones in your ears - whether or not the music is on low volume. The only legitimate use I see for them is on long traffic-free runs if you really really have to retreat into your own little world. (By definition, if you are using music to zone out and supposedly help you with your run, you can't also be in tune with your surroundings.)
Personally, I've never found the need to run with an mp3 or to 'zone out' while running. There was a short period when I used an mp3 in training, because I had been given one as a present. I found that even with the volume on low (or actually turned off once when the battery went and I had nowhere else to put the headphones other than leave them in my ears!) all sounds around me were muted and the awareness of my surroundings was severely diminished. I binned the mp3 and once again got so much more pleasure from my runs and being in the great outdoors. I could hear my own footfalls and breathing once again, concentrate on my pacing and my running form and overall my running began to improve.
I would really urge all mp3-wearers to just try an run without one for a while. It's a 'crutch' you really don't need, ESPECIALLY IN RACES.
Plus, isn't it just plain bad manners to take part in an event and then retreat into your own world? If I see someone in a race wearing an mp3, my immediate assumption is that they don't want to be spoken to - whether that's true or not, how can I tell? To me, the practice of wearing an mp3 to races always makes me think of a grumpy teenager, invited to a social occasion but can't really be bothered to participate.
J.x
*retreats with tin hat on*
Sorry about that, I don't normally rant on here, but the couple of recent threads on this subject have finally got to me!
J.x
Juliefrazz - it's an emotive debate. I got on my soap-box in a similar thread and was called a bigot.
I can understand why music lovers like to race with music - I'd love to. But it was a thread similar to this one (way back in March when I was a defensive "Iplodder") and decided it was selfish and reckless to race with one.
I'm beginning to wonder weather I should use one when training on my own now.
I've never owned an MP3player but I haven't got a problem with people using them to race, train or cycle with. If you need to overtake someone then your responsibility is for you to go round them - not for them to get out of the way. People shouldn't run 3 or 4 abreast and block the path anyway so if you run politely it shouldn't matter if you are listening to music.
I can't see the safety argument. Does nobody here listen to music or the radio in their car? What's the difference between that and listening to an MP3 whilst cycling? Obviously being more aware makes you slightly safer - but if it's good enough for car drivers it's good enough for cyclists and runners - and those two groups are only likely to injure themselves unlike people in half a ton of metal. On a bike I don't swerve in towards the kerb if I hear a car behind me - I don't look round to check it isn't about to plough into the back of me - so if I did start using an MP3 I can't see that it would put me at any more risk.
In short the whole thing is just people looking for something to moan about.