wearing headphones/earphones

Has anybody else nearly been taken out of a race (I don't mean instructed to leave by a marshall i.e. disqualified - I mean injured/forced to abandon race) by another runner wearing earphones or headphones who wasn't aware you were there?  Or has it actually happened to you?  It nearly happened to me in a half marathon yesterday.  Normally the people who ignore the race rule not to use mp3 players aren't too much of a nuisance, but yesterday i was accelerating down a hill and the other runner didn't know i was coming through and didn't hear me calling to him to not block me off.  It was push him out the way, break hard or end up in a ditch and although I say it myself, the speed I was travelling at made only the former desireable.   Just for the record he was closing a gap I was planning to go through on the inside as I bore down on him fast, it wasn't a case of me expecting everybody to get out my way.  

I personally think race organisers need to get tough on these people because they just ignore the polite request not to use mp3 players during races.  If they want to use them whilst training then that is one thing.  Using them in races with other people all around you is another.

 

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Comments

  • just because they are wearing headphones doesn't give you the automatic right to go through on the inside.

  • WiBWiB ✭✭✭

    I would say there was a 4th option... you could have tried to hurdle them. Probably wouldn't have worked but would have been hilarious.

  • You were at the back, so it was your responsibility to ensure you could pass safely.

  • none of you were there, so I don't think you can comment on how it happened yesterday and whose fault it was.  I was asking if anybody else has been close to or actually got injured because of some idiot who cannot see that wearing headphones in a race with loads of other runners around them is likely to cause problems.

    i knew some people would assume i was running stupid, so I tried to pre-empt it in my original post.  There was a gap of around a metre wide, easily enough room to go through.  But as I was closing down on him fast he decided to move across and block my run.  Surely this advocates the banning of ipods, because I saw the problem in advance and called out to him that i was there and coming through.  If he wasn't wearing headphones he would have heard me and the collision would not have been close. 

    In the later stages of races some people have burnt themselves out and are travelling pretty slowly.  Others who have saved something are now travelling well and their speed is amplified when descending a hill.  Do you suggest Intermanaut that I have to slow down when approaching every slow runner I encounter in case they are wearing headphones and won't hear me when it is they who are disobeying the race rule of wearing ipods?  Some people really see the world in a funny light!

  • LapDog - we don't need to be there.  You already gave enough information when you said that you were overtaking.  You were at the back.  You were responsible for ensuring a safe over-taking manoeuvre.  QED.

  • I agree with lapdog. These people are a bl**dy nuisance and race organisers should remove them from the results list and ban them from the next year's event. All race entrants have a duty of care to all other entrants. If you are oblivious to your surroundings you are a menace and potentially dangerous (especially if the roads are still open to traffic).

    What is wrong in soaking up the atmosphere of the race and the encouragement of marshalls and supports alike. That is one of the key differences of racing rather than training.

  • Let me guess....you too are one of these selfish people who won't comply with this safety request because you don't want to and can't appreciate the problem you are making for other people?  

    Let me try one last time....it would have been a safe over-taking manoeuvre had he not disobeyed race rules and worn headphones, because he would have heard I was there.  He moved across my once clear path because he had no idea i was there because he had blocked his hearing out with music.  I don't care where you get your silly "official rules of running and etiquette" from, if you can't grasp even that simple concept.

    Just out of interest.. what would you, 'fountain of all running knowledge', have done in my position?  Do you wait behind very slow runners until you absolutely sure it is safe to go past them, giving them a wide berth mind, just in case.    

    And don't end things with 'QED', not if you want to be liked by other human beings, because it does make you sound a complete £%&$.

  • well said Russell....totally agree with everything you just said.

  • I don't use headphones but don't have a problem with those who do. I can usually overtake safely enough either way.

  • If the race rules say "no I pods" why not respect the rules! Has anyone been DQ'd for disobeying the rule?
  • Out of interest what about people like me who have headphones on but no music?

    I have them as I have an app that tells me my pace at set intervals (I can set them). This is because an app is free/cheap (can't remember how much if anything it was) whereas something like a GPS watch I cannot justify the expense of.

    Plus not sure whether fiddling with a watch would be just as distracting as having app tell you your pace in your ear.

  • That the runner was tuned in is irrelevant.  What would you have done if he'd not been tuned in and still didn't hear you because he was deaf?  Would you have still been a tool?

    What do I do?  I'd make a safe overtaking move.

    I don't run with music any more.  I used to in training, and I used to in events where it was permitted.  Mind you, the only event I've run over the last few years where they're not permitted is the Evesham 10k.

    @Russell Eaton - how do you know that someone who's wearing headphones isn't fully aware of what's going on around them?  If I'm plugged in I'm pay far more attention than when I'm not.

    @Crimson - the ban isn't on iPods or MP3 players - it's on being plugged in to headphones, so you'd be DQ'd.

     

    Could someone put the lid back on the can, please?

  • Yep the person making the overtaking manoeuvre has the responsibility to make it safely. QED
  • Same problem driving..  all those slow buggers getting in the way...

    Its perfectly simple..   regardless of whether the person has an awareness of your presence or not, if you are over-taking then its YOUR responsibility to take all factors into account before you do so.  If there is someone in front of you, or the way is restricted width then you need more care.   Simply shouting at someone and expecting them to comply with your request doesn't give you right of way.   He could easily have heard you..  and ignored you...   or, as someone else said, had a hearing problem.

     

  • Personally i find it really irritating when someone shoves me out of the way just cos they're going faster, or seems to think I have to jump out of their way to let them past. Normal rules of courtesy apply wherever, so wait to pass when you have time and space like the rest of us. And what IS the big deal about headphones ffs? I listen to music cos I like listening to music but it doesn't render me deaf or oblivious to my surroundings. Maybe your fellow runner didn't appreciate being shouted at to get out of your way and chose to ignore you? Get over it.
  • @Katrina 0 2 - there is no big deal.  It's more of an issue because people have made it so.

  • What is the correct etiquette for overtaking someone in this situation?
  • Punch in the kidneys as you go past



    Why if it says on the entry form no mp3 / iPods do people insist on ignoring it ?



    It says you can't be naked in the rules but I bet you wear clothes ?



    In triathlon is is a DQ to even wear head phones whilst racking up before the event, and yes I have seen people thrown out even before the start for ignoring it
  • @Intermaut - that's exactly what I mean - someone mentions headphones and all hell breaks loose! Anyway rant over - I've had a rough day and will now crawl back into my lurker's cave where I belong ...
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    Got to love a headfones debate. I run every training run with them on, but it's a bit different on your own then trying not to get in the way of 1000s in a race, it's selfish, simple as that.

    Lap Dog, I started off agreeing with you, but then your attitude started to kick in and you started getting pretty aggressive. Is that how you were running that day too?

    If the guy was so "very slow" how was he in front of you near the end of a half marathon race out of interest?

    At the end of the day it's a race. No one is duty bound to bend over to let you past, it's upto you to get past in a safe fashion.

    "Coming through" image

      If I heard someone shouting that I would go all out to not let them past.... and work very hard to beat them.


     

     

  • I hate headphone wearers in races, I have experience one gobbing on my training as I was overtaking him - yes he did not hear me cause of his music, have also been tripped by a headphone wearer. I find it very anti social in races and head phone wearers miss out on the friendship from fellow runners. If you want to run with music do it alone on your training runs not in crowded races

    rant over image

     

  • I think the headphones is a bit of a red herring.  In a crowded race if you hear someone yelling 'coming through' or something similar you cannot be sure it's meant for you.  Also quite distracting is a call of  'on your right/left' - If you're a bit knackered then you hear the word right you tend to go in that direction thus ensuring a collision.  It is up to the overtaker to take care and if it means slowing/diverting then so be it.  You have no right to bullet through, if you are so much faster why are you behind?

  • @rowrx - it's a race. I'm not there for your friendship.
  • I'm finding this thread very interesting as I always thought that the running etiquette was indeed to call/make aware (in a none aggresive/loud way of course) that you would like to pass. Some of the comments on this thread now make me think that this might not be the case and  I was wondering are there a set of rules for racing or is it just common sense and show respect for the othe runners ? Are the rules/etiquette for training runs the same as during a race ? I am in my first half marathon race in November and so I'd better make sure I have a full appreciation of said rules.

  • I've had a couple of close calls of being tripped by headphone wearers in races. I do notice that many of them tend to be completely unaware of what is going on around them. Not much of an issue in smaller races, but it can be a huge problem in the bigger races. Particularly when many have the will to suddenly change direction without even the slightest of glances to see if the path is clear for them to do so.

  • WiBWiB ✭✭✭

    What is the big deal? If the rules say don't wear them then it is up to the organisers to apply their rules, what have you actually achieved by coming here and ranting, searching for people to agree with you? No one is obliged to get out of your way regardless of what you shout. Its a race!

    And before the obvious question comes up... No I never wear earphones for training or racing.

  • The only time I've ever been really angry about headphone wearers was at the Amsterdam marathon a few years ago when it took two lads to pull someone out the way of the Ambulance they had been blocking due to being completely oblivious to it and the siren!

  • LapDog wrote (see)

    Let me try one last time....it would have been a safe over-taking manoeuvre had he not disobeyed race rules and worn headphones, because he would have heard I was there.  He moved across my once clear path because he had no idea i was there because he had blocked his hearing out with music.  I don't care where you get your silly "official rules of running and etiquette" from, if you can't grasp even that simple concept.

    Just out of interest.. what would you, 'fountain of all running knowledge', have done in my position?  Do you wait behind very slow runners until you absolutely sure it is safe to go past them, giving them a wide berth mind, just in case.    

    I would disagree that it was a safe manoever regardless. If you are hurtling down a hill, regardless of how slow the other person is going, you have responsibility for remaining in control. He cannot see you. Headphones or not he may not have heard you - you did not know whether he was deaf, for example. And whether he did or not he would have been entitled to close that gap as a tactical racing manoever provided he was not acting in an unsportsmanly manner. Moving faster does not give you right of way - as they say on the water, "power gives way to steam and regardless of who has the right of way both must take responsibility for avoiding collision."

    Yes, people who wear headphones can be irritating, but even without headphones your manoever would not necesarily have been safe. Never assume people hear you coming. You come up behind them and either bide your time or muscle past them if necessary, but don't assume they are going to play nicely or keep the same line that they are currently running in, particularly if they are tired.

  • Against the rules, anti-social, dangerous.

    Why is there any debate?

     

     

  • Artie Fufkin, Polymer Records wrote (see)

    Against the rules, anti-social, dangerous.

    Why is there any debate?

    because people like to pick and choose which rules to obey.

    but this thread is more about dangerous overtaking and barging someone out the way.


     

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