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Wearing headphones in races
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From the RunBritain website today
From 1 April 2016 a new rule regarding the wearing of head phones in road races was introduced into the 2016-2018 edition of the UKA Rules of Competition.
"The wearing of headphones, or similar devices, (other than those medically prescribed), is not permitted in races on any single carriageway road that is not wholly closed to traffic.
This restriction does not apply to races held on dual carriageways provided that there are clear, structured separations between the separate carriageways. Competition Providers of races held entirely on roads closed to traffic may apply this condition where appropriate to local circumstances."
Race Directors may apply the condition to any race where they consider the wearing of headphones to be a hazard - including, for example, where runners must be able to hear marshals' instructions or on a lap course, and UKA will support the race director where that local condition is applied.
Enforcement of this rule is a matter for the race director and referee and disqualification of runners who choose to ignore it is an option.
Race Directors should state at the point of entry and in all pre-race publicity whether or not headphones are banned because failure to do so could result in many runners appearing on the day expecting to run with them.
Now that should clear matters up!!!
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Comments
....and awaits rants.....................
I'd start on the popcorn but I fear my stomach would burst even before someone pitches in with the deaf runner argument.
**massive fart**
Same as it ever was.
I think they can state it very clearly and those that want to always appear on the day expecting to run with them.
Or they simply ask on here "I know it states on the rules but..."
Seems a bit pointless buying and then wearing headphones if you're deaf
A lot of people seem to be getting those 'phones that you don't wear in your ears, but just underneath - the idea being your ears are free, but you somehow 'hear' whatever you're listening to through your bones. Seems weird to me, but I wonder where the rules stand on those...?
My advice to anyone that ever asks is, if in doubt, don't and always study the small print. And in any case, if you're in a big race with crowds, why do you want to miss the ambient sound...?
I just don't get it. Yes I train with headphones but when I'm at an event I want the atmosphere to spur me on, the same playlist wouldn't do that.
Forget the deaf runners. What about those who wear earplugs. Or even worse cotton wool. Inconvenient a***holes!
It's not for me but I can see why some people would need them on the Greenway at Stratford on the second lap of the marathon, but then to me that stretch is all part of the challenge anyway.
What about deaf runners who want to listen to their ipods?
Brighton marathon this year featured a lady running alone in front of an ambulance showing blue lights when everyone else had cleared the course to make way. Yes, she had headphones in so couldn't hear. Fortunately it wasn't a life or death emergency and someone pulled her to the side but it shows that there are people who plug themselves in and ignore everything going on around them, which can affect safety.
Brighton marathon's rule is that headphones aren't allowed. They don't enforce it but state that if there is an incident that is the result of, or made worse by, you wearing headphones you will be held liable.
"The wearing of headphones, or similar devices, (other than those medically prescribed),
would seem to cover deaf runners - except, as Shedboy pointed out, those deaf runners who have medically prescribed headphones in order to be able to listen to their ipods.
. Can't be too many of them out there..................
It's about time they banned them on the Tube as well - nothing worse than standing next to someone with discordant noise coming out of their headphones while they hum along tunelessly to whatever the track is - even worse than running alongside someone!!
I thought the 'aah but what about deaf runners' argument was more to do with 'if they can run and not hear ambulances why can't I?' rather than their headphones?
They have just been banned from MK next week:
(We have held discussions with UKA on behalf of our runners as regard to the use of headphones. UKA have now agreed that the use of bone conductor type headphones is acceptable, but no other types of headphones/earphones but these will be allowed.)
I think I will try without any music before buying the bone-conducting ones. Especially as even those who like them say the sound quality is very poor. Could be good for cycling though.
A+++ for that.
Yes ban them on trains too!
Seriously i took them for london (not sure why now) - didnt use them once and will never take again - i just sang lots of songs which had the added bonus of clearing a bit of space around me. That and caffeine gels tend to disagree with me a bit
It's very Brighton to have a rule and then do absolutely zero to enforce it.
I posted this on our club's facebook page last week, and got one or two comments saying it's unfair on those 'responsible' headphone wearers.
Don't get me wrong - I sometimes do those horrible 8-10 mile midweek routine runs round the rat run with the music on. If I had it at a level where I could hear everything around me, I'd not hear the music. Music should be listened to at two volumes: loud or very loud.
Don't start with the "but I want to listen to a podcast/be read a book" - it's running, not storytime.
And as a daily commuter into London, can someone please design a headphone that makes music inaudible to everyone other than the listener. Especially in the "quiet" carriage.
A bit overpriced IMO, but here you go.
Do those actually stop the music being audible to others?
The noise cancelling bit is to stop the listener hearing external noise.
Although the substantial design may stop too much noise leaking out...better than the standard apple headphones anyway which are bloody awful.
Not sure, but the noise cancelling effect is pretty impressive, so the listener can afford to turn the volume down and still hear the music properly. So where the ambient noise level is high, effectively they're cutting down on noise pollution for others as well.
That makes sense...except for the clowns who still insist on listening at hearing damaging volumes and annoying us with their generally atrocious taste in music
No, the noise cancellation does not reduce leakage directly. Simplifying, noise cancelling generates an inverse waveform for predominately periodic low frequency environmental noise, using little microphones and low latency active circuitry in the headphones. The tech first sprang up in pilot headsets, where that sort of noise is common, and being hear radio chatter is important.
Lack of leaks is predominately due to physical design. Most headphones leak less than those fucking horrid white Apple earbuds. They don't seal well in the ear, so you lose most of the bass, they leak like a sieve, and they sound awful. They are some of the worst headphones imaginable. Ironically, better sealing headphones can actually let you hear more around you, often, as you need to crank the volume less. Never ever ever use those white earbuds. If your loved ones use them, get them a pair of Soundmagic E10 in a jaunty colour, or something.
As Phil implies, noise cancelling can let you turn it down. However, active noise cancellation does introduce sound artefacts, so it's always a compromise. Sometimes the tradeoff is worth it.
The other cause of leaky noise, is when someone gets a pair of supra-aural or circumaural (big on-ear) headphones, but being pillocks, they get a pair of open-backed cans. As the name implies, they have holes in, so they have much worse isolation, and leak a lot more. They're really only appropriate for solo listening in a quiet environment. In a noisy environment, or around others, you should use closed-back headphones. The closed back can give you slightly less "airy" sound, and often some slight low frequency resonance, but the tradeoff is so worth it. When you see an expensive day-rate sound guy rock up to do some setup in a Radio 3 studio and he pulls out a pair of closed back HD-25 II (the standard go to "sound guy headphones"), you know that the compromise isn't too bad.
(Oh, and if you find any Bose explanations for stuff, beware, they're congenital liars. Old engineers who have lifted black drapes on trade show stands to discover other manufacturers' much better gear hidden underneath, feeding signals that they came from Bose kit frequently attest to that.)
Oh, and the headphone ban? Brilliant and long overdue.
Worth noting that tinnitus can be very nasty and even drives people to suicide, so if you do listen to music while running please keep the volume low and consider leaving them at home from time-to-time.
I was almost hit by a bad driver at one point at one point. And with it being a twisty course, would've made a wrong turn but for a marshal's shouts.
I couldn't care less about noise leakage.
That's simplifying????
I imagine that would override safety concerns instantly.
I work for a UK based headphones brand and actually enquired about sponsorship at a number of races. Whilst they were keen to discuss branding and finances, they did mention that headphones aren't to be used so it made for a very short conversation! It is focused towards road specific races however. Its a shame, yet hopefully all runners at least train wearing headphones!
Interesting. I continue to be against anything that risks discouraging participation in our sport, but I guess it's nice to know that it is a sincerely held view by the organisers and/or UK Althetics and that they have integrity.