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rules on bone conduction headphones
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How often has a new poster reacted like this when their preconceived ideas prove baseless?
🙂
No.. The lack of hearing was the issue, A fat 50something year old doesn't glide over the ground like some, Most people can hear me coming from a mile off, She just stepped over in front of me, If she had been more aware of her surroundings she wouldn't have got barged into....
So her own fault for wearing head phones, when the race director specifically asked people not to wear them
Seren - I think you're on dodgy ground with the half-dog argument. Trade it in for a bear cub instead. I bet the rules don't mention bear cubs.
I think we should cut her some slack. It's not like she asked whether she could go sub 3 off a 1:29 half and 30 miles a week!
I believe ipods & MP3's are fair game at the Run To The Beat half marathon. Maybe try that? Great organisation too!
I guess you must only run interval sessions, unless you have a mix with no gaps between tracks.
Yep - no one gets past the LBAC boys!
Wow I never knew homophobia was rife at the London Marathon.
Bloody hell, me neither. Imagine if they caught Samir on his way to a sub-2, storming down the Embankment listening to Erasure!
Seriously... not drama here. At Chester in October, I heard an ambulance behind me and moved to the side... sirens full blast. But a handful of people were slowing it to a crawl. Almost literally needing to nudge some headphone wearers on the arse with its bumbers. Literally within 20 feet before they were startled and jumped out of the way.
So... yes. It's very selfish, because their happily listening to the music, whilst someone waits desperately for the paramedics.
And, akin to the 'wanderer' story, I was nearly taken out by a headphone wearer who, out of the blue, just dropped a near-full water bottle at his feet, unaware that I was coming up on his shoulder. Only my gazelle-like reflexes saved me from stepping on it, with the potential for sprained ankle.
I just think some headphone-wearers get oblivious to the world around them... and it does affect other runners.
Nose, that sounds awful. I'm glad you got out of there in one piece. It must have been touch and go there for a while.
I doubt a few seconds here or there waiting for people to get out of the way would make any difference. Plenty of people are lost in their thoughts when they run so would be unaware of anything behind them anyway. It's not solely something that affects those with earphones. I also doubt whether any ambulance would be able to go much faster than a crawl anyway when moving through a crowd.
The real reason people don't like others listening to music is because they like running without it. They'll tell you that running is more 'pure' without music and it lets them listen to their bodies and get into a rhythm. Or even more ridiculously, that it's cheating to listen to music.
Not at all. If you're just out for a run and want to wear them, that's fine. I don't like you doing it but only because you're more of a hazard to me as another runner (or when I'm cycling, for that matter) because you're less aware of what's going on around you. In that sense you're no different to a pedestrian with headphones. I may not like it but I'm not going to get upset over it.
But if you're in a race where they're banned, it's for a good reason. Having marshalled and run in many events it's quite clear that even people 'lost in their thoughts', as you put it, are more aware of what's going on than those listening to music.
I hope that in the unfortunate event you may ever be waiting at an event for an ambulance, possibly in cardiac arrest, that you remember this ridiculous statement!
If the course demands more awareness (eg if the route is narrow in places or crosses unclosed roads or contains sections of difficult footing) then I think banning earphones is fine. But many marathons (and specifically Edinburgh which was the subject of the OP's question) are run on generous, wide roads. There's no reason to trip over someone ahead of you unless they are all over the road (which is nothing to do with lack of hearing). Anything a marshal could hope to relay to a runner can be done initially by waving arms etc. And what could be so urgent that a marshal couldn't signal the runner and wait for the earphones to be removed?
The problem with overtaking is that the person in front can't see behind them. So they should be given plenty of room, earphones or not.
By all means listen to your music - but dont do it in a race where its banned and your selfish actions could affect others.
I actually agree with the RunningGeek. There are no safety issues with MP3 plays etc. People don't like the idea of people wearing them so they use health and safety to ban them. I don't run with music, I certainly don't race with music and I look down on people who do. I just don't think me not liking it justifies a ban. If it was clear that it was not safe then there would be a universal ban. Sure you are more vulnerable if you can't hear but users take the same risk walking on the streets with music on or even having the radio on in the car.
but the fact is running geek.its up to the organisers to set the rules..if you want a race where you can all wear them then organise one..........
all race s have rules..........if you don't like them then don't enter the race.seems obvious to me.....whatever teh rules are why not respect them and all others who have paid to enter a race expecting those rules.......
if I hated dogs and entered a race which allows dogs then it would be my own fault if it spoilt my race......
but if i was terrified by dogs and the race says no dogs...........then I have a right to be pissed off with the person who is running with their dog and for the organisers who allow it...
How many well trained runners, who took account of the weather conditions and didn't have any latent health issues have had serious medical issues during a marathon? Not many. 26 miles is a long way and most people are woefully underprepared.
Seren, I don't need to organise a race, I can enter any number of marathons where there is no ban (eg Boston or London). The English language has rules but you seem set on breaking those at every opportunity. Ellipses come in threes dum dum.
Did you mean well-trained or runners who trained and were well?
Indeed. Many of them don't even have mp3 players and headphones with them.
I am not English and have not signed up to any English language rules...........there is no where on the rules of this site that say correct english rules have to apply at all times
if there were i would not post on here.....hence why i do not go on a pedants website
..and still no-one has answered whether my running companion half-wolf dog is permitted to wear headphones.......
In either the 1995 or 1997 London Marathon an ambulance did come through the runners with sirens wailing. It was the only way to get out to the patient who was not a runner or spectator. The crowds of runners did part like the biblical tale but not without a few people taking a while to realize due to wearing a Sony Walkman and headphones. It seemed to take ages before the ambulance could get to where it was going.
So RG81 - if someone dies in a race - you're basically saying its their own fault now - they hadn't prepared properly ?
And your right to listen to music and possibly hinder medical treatment is the more important thing here ? Hmmmm.
Someone died in our local marathon last year because they have been popping Ibruprofen like smarties. Headphones were not a factor. In fact in 4 years they haven't been a factor in any incident over those four years. So what should we ban. Headphones or ibuprofen?
There was also talk of a ban at parkrun too. With 400 people a week and 7 years of running there has not been one single incident. Health and safety gone mad?
No - I think Parkrun and i-Plodders go well together...
'Nu-Runner' tastic