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iPods and MP3 players
I lost count of the number of times I was cut up or barged from the side on Sunday, and the one thing that linked all of these incidents was earphones. Every single person that cut me up was listening to music. Obviously when people are listening to music their awareness of other people around them is greatly reduced, but more worryingly is their willingness to just run across the front of people, especially at water stations. Isnt there a safety concern here?
Maybe Im just being grumpy cos Im still hurting! 
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Comments
*grabs tin hat and hides under desk*
GET ME OUT OF THIS ONE, QUICK, QUICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whoops!!
ABORT ABORT ABORT!!
I got barged by more people WITHOUT earphones than I did with people wearing them.....maybe everyone should listen to music.
Or maybe everyone should realise it doesn't matter one iota and just get on with it and run......
*peeks out from under desk*
Is it safe to come out yet?
i think you should carry an early 80's style getto blaster ( spelling ??) on your shoulder instead.
much safer and social.
i do not think runners with headphones are any less considerate to other runners just because they are listening to music.
consideration should be given to everyone from anyone, i have ever only ran one race without headphones, and even then i found myself accidently knocking into people while trying to over take. it happens in over crowded races!
apologise and move on, stop this nonsense regarding headphones in races, they have been banned in too many events already and they are a great boost to many.
Sorry
I think they should be banned at larger events. I also think the ban should be enforced. I've seen too many close calls and falls to not think that way.
At the same time, it would be great to educate people on how to behave on the course, in general. Specifically people should know what is cool and not cool around a drinking station.
everyone has made a mistake on the course at some point. The goal should still be to keep things as safe as possible.
A ban, particularly on large events is unenforceable.
I suspect the number of people who are jostled by someone listening to music is the same as the number jostled by people who aren't. Claiming otherwise is like saying that all BMW drivers are cocks.
well they are so that argument doesn't hold up....
I think it is pretty undeniable that if you can't hear, you are less aware of what is going on around you. On average, this makes the race less safe.
I also never said it would be 100% enforceable. I did, however, run my first marathon in San Francisco (which has a ban) and most people were either a) fine with it or b) scared of getting caught so they didn't wear headphones.
I wear my Ipod as I always run better to a beat. However I have it on very low so it is just a background noise and I hear everything going on around, both for safety reasons but also not to miss the atmosphere. Only person I ran in to was the guy that abrutly stopped in front of me on the shortest route lines, didn't help that the guy behind me pushed me further into him.
Although must say far from everyone behaves as sensibly as me and my Ipod, but I suspect they would not behave with or without Ipods/mobiles anyway.
I fully agree ban all deaf people for running races!!!!!
I'll be OK as I can hear even if it is Queen singing Don't Stop Me Know!!!
Up the iPod
Down with the iPod Nazis
Godwins Law you've got to love it really!!
BTW Hello GD - not seen you around these parts for a while
Banning is perhaps a tad harsh.
Community service perhaps?
It wasnt a problem for me in London - yeah I was cut up a few times, but ipods had nothing to do with it.
The noise from the crowd and the runners was so loud that it drowned out my pace watch a few times anyway, so to an extent - all of us were suffering with less hearing than normal races.
From a safety point of view - I'm not worried about ipods on races like this on closed roads. When the roads are shared or you need to follow race marshals advice - then yes - they should be banned.
It's the only Queen song I like as I had it on my Mp3 when i went over the line at FLM 2006 in 3:27 and I felt like I could have run it all over again!!!
Funny thing is this ipod thing has been going on since I started on here in 2004 and the grumpy ones normally win LOL
I've never seen or heard of anyone getting hurt wearing an ipod in a race but then the grumpy ones don't need evidence!!!
I no longer run with an ipod but my opinion has always been that ipods are not dangerous at all, although I think Cougie makes a very good point about non-closed roads. To be fair it was pretty much impossible not to cut people up at drink stations given how crowded it was on sunday.
I think people just need to chill out a bit and not take it all so seriously!
How do you get from someone stating the obvious (that it is less safe when people cannot hear what is going around them) to mocking the post with this?
This is the exact reason why I should have kept my view to myself. People cannot recognize a valid point and come up with an argument against it.