Sound vs Silence

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  • People on races I-Pod etc, should be cut off at the knees and boiled in oil!!!

    They have no regard for others and are a bloody menace.

    I would welcome a ban on all I-Plods and MP3 at all races. 

  •  Why is there a debate about this?  If you enjoy music while you run then good for you!  If you don't then leave the mp3 player at home and lets all leave each other alone to do our own thing. 

    Surely the real question should be long vs short socks?  image

  • or t shirts vs string vests or lycra shorts v skimpy split running shorts?

    http://www.time-to-run.com/marathon/athletes/images/hill.jpg

  • I never had a problem with running to music and I often do.However, I have just run my first marathon in Edinburgh. My running partner couldnt run due to injury so I was on my own. No problem, I thought, someone will talk to me to keep me going. No joy. Nearly every runner there had their ipod/mp3 on and were not interested in chatting. The last few miles were grim and I would have been delighted if someone had just spared a quick word. Is it always like this in events now?
  • Some of my running buds and I were discussing this - the horrified looks from some purists who couldnt imagine piped music as they trotted round a course was highly entertaining.  I have always run with music when Im alone and when I race.  I actually choose and modify playlists to improve my performance.  Killer hill coming up?  Gimme some AC/DC!   And running is my excuse for the dodgy dance tunes on my MP3 player. Put your hands up, anyone???  When I run with my club or my friends I leave the music at home, companionship and encouragement to hammer out one more mile is as motivational as "Gonna Fly Now".  Lol.  So, the moral of the story?  What ever works for ya baby.  As long as it aint ilegal or causes any one else problems, anything goes!  As for the health and safety aspect?  Just be a bit more aware of your surroundings!  I was gobsmacked to hear NY (and others apparently) are now banning personal music players!  Good grief.  If anyone wants me I'llbe at a experimental government facility having a micro-MP5 player emplanted in my head. 

  • I think it's all been said already... but the thing is, when I put those sorts of things in my ears, it makes a sort of unpleasant tingling in the middle of my neck (or somewhere, it's difficult to tell) and I just can't bear the ticklishness of it.

    Also, I'm lucky enough to run along fairly deserted country roads and I don't think I'd be here to tell the tale if I couldn't hear traffic.  A shame too not to listen to my inner self, my breathing, my swearing/encouraging/just alking to myself out loud.

    I took up running as my way to honour the memory of my recently-deceased father.  I 'took him with me' and he 'talked' me through those first runs/months.  Would this kind of 'communion' have been possible with an ipod or other such gadget in my ears?  I think not.  However, 'each to their own' seems like a good adage and I don't think anyone will really change their habits as a result of this debate/challenge.  Interesting though, as always, to read other people's opinions.  

    Good evening too all.

  • Good evening to all, actually!!!
  • Dee,

     I would have talked to you!  Shame you weren't at the Milton Keynes Half!  Congratulations on your Edinburgh Marathon Debut - if you're at the Great North look out for me - I'll be the one without the ipod/mp3 player!!!

  • If y'all weezed like me you'd all wear mp3's  image

  • Hi,

     I love my music and there's nothing like a little Tina Turner PRE and POST Ike to help you kick it into gear when you are running alone.  Who doesn't like Proud Mary or Simply the Best???

    But like someone has said already, when I am with a group or running a race, I leave it at home. I like chatting it up with my buds and meeting new people on runs.

  • Right then. Great topic. I have been working from home for the past 3 months, which means more time in the gym and being fitter the Bear Gryhls camera man! First couple of weeks I was fairly happy with my shuffle mix, mainly harder Chemical Brothers stuff. As I am spending more time on longer runs and cross training sessions, I have been mixing things up a bit. If its an hour on the cross trainer, steady like, then a Russel Brand podcast keeps you entertained for a good stretch. If its a sprint session, then back to the Brothers!

    As your training should shift, so should your tunes. I run with a mate on the weekend so we chew the fat as we pretend to each other that its not hurting. And on a bright morning, I leave the shuffle at home and enjoy the footfall. Change is good.

  • ....THE QUESTION THAT'S REALLY EATING ME UP...."ARE iPOD/MP3 WEARERS A DANGER TO OTHERS AND SHOULD THEY BE BANNED AS IN NY ? "

  • are they indeed. So hard to prove either way as there are so many variables and only anecdotal evidence.

    If you take a cold hard stare at it,

    • your hearing is impaired so it is possible you are more likely to have an incident than if you weren't wearing them.

    But having said that, everyone is differnent and some people who wear Iopds are less likely to have an incident because they are a "more aware" kind of person than someone else who is not earing an Ipod.

    If you were organising an event looking at the health and saftey aspect or an insurer of an event what would you say?

  • Ban the people who wear them or ban the iPods?imageimage
  • If i am alone i go with some music but if i am with friends or in the gym i leave the music at home...

  • To Buney...SHOULD THE "iPLODDERS" BE BANNED?

  • Its ok no need to shout ..im not wearing anything in my ears !image
  • if the IPods/MP3 players are banned then people who like to wear them still have a choice whether to race or not ..nobody is thinking of banning people from racing ?
  • Are you really sure about that? could be the next step. In this highly regulated society we live in could be that runners may have to eventually dish up some road tax...

    Just off to download more toons......

  • Once the Ipods are banned then the GPS watches will be banned because less serious runners keep looking at them instead of where they're running.

    Then we'll need to take a test to see if we're aware of the hazards when running - it will be a bit like the hazard perception test for new car drivers - only harder.  This is because runners bump into each other and get injured so it needs to be stopped, those runners that don't bump into each other keep running and ruin their knees/hips etc so cost the NHS money. 

    Eventually we'll be allowed to run - but only on grass, for no more than 100 metres per week or 1 minute, while wearing full protection, knee pads, elbow pads, helmet, hi-vis jacket, 100SPF sun cream, kidney protector.  If the run is on anything other than a perfectly flat surface we'll have to have St Johns there with us just in case we slip.  image

    If you want to listen to music and run then 'Just do it' or is that some other company?  If you want to talk and run that's fine - if you want more than a grunted answer from me don't ask after the first 100 yards.

  • I think runners without iPods should be banned from running - if we are talking about accidents in races. All the accidents I have seen, I saw loads in Great Manchester alone were caused by people who were not wearing iPods.

    I had one person stop dead in the tracks right in front of me causing me to trip.

    So I say ban all non-wearing iPod wearers, since I have seen only them ever cause accidents

  • I bet Scottish Mike wears purple underwear with yellow polka dots to protect himself from cancer.

    I mean, the percentage of people wearing that type of underwear while being diagnosed is insignificant image

  • Ah well if it's a hearing issue - should we ban deaf people too? then we can move onto thoes wearing sunglasses in order to get to runners with visual problems, tall people, short people etc. 

    A woman with a pushcair stopped in front of me in Morrisons the other day causing me to trip - let's ban babbies.

    ban ban ban image

  • I plug in to my mp3 when I run to work (about an hour's run). I have a playlist of funky, up-tempo stuff which is a decent distraction from the fact that I'm getting nearer to WORK with every step. However, I haven't found a pair of headphones that are comfy enough to wear for longer than that (I use a very retro-styled pair of Koss sportapros - OK they're not retro, they're old).

    I don't use music if I'm running with anyone else because I think that's rude, or if I'm close to traffic because I think it's too risky, or if I'm running in the hills where I'd rather hear birdsong.

    I did find it took a bit of getting used to running with music because you instantly lose the feedback of hearing your breathing and you have to be aware that there may be cyclists behind you who don't realise that you can't hear them, but I'm completely converted to it for my daily commute and it's really frustrating if I've forgotten to charge my battery and it fails half-way through.

    I wouldn't dream of listening to music in a race, because it's a RACE whichever end of the pack you're in, but I don't much care if that's what works for other people. Running has to be the most inclusive sport there is; the fewer rules the better.

  • Imski - How did you know? Have you been going through my underwear drawer image

    My point being is that a large proportion of comments being made on this thread are because of a small percentage (and it is small) of certain runners.

    Well if we are all to do the same, then I think non-wearing iPod users should be banned, simply because it is that type of runner where I have seen caused accidents/troubles.

  • It's always a pain when the guy/girl with the iPod cannot hear what is going on around them during a race, but it is also a pain in the harris when some idiot stops dead at a water station.

    Being a club runner I marshal a number of events as well as run in them, and the number of people with no basic race etiquette is increasing all the time. If you can't hear the runners around you or instructions from the marshal because you've blocked your ears upll, don't race.

     But let us not forget the numpty who stops level with the water station regardless of the hoards bearing down on him, who is struggling but still feels the need to run in the middle of the road, who insist on running across the street to hug their family and the 2 hour 1/2 marathon runner who still insists on starting at the front. Please all bugger off and do the fun run.

  • When I'm training I more than not wear my ipod (if running with a mate it would be without).... in races I don't.... I did once but had my worst run ever. I actually find I run better without listening to music as I can actually listen to my body and know if I can push it more or I should slow up....

    I don't think they should be banned as everyone is entitled to do/wear what one likes, we live in a society at the moment that seems to clamp down on the most unimportant things in life... OK rant over image

  • I definitely find running with music is much easier than running without. If i didn't use an mp3 player i may have quit from boredom ages ago. I used to be a cyclist and never needed musical accompaniment because you could travel greater distances and get out into the countryside, but i run in a built up area and the sound of the morning cars isn't all that inspiring. I've tried all types of music but find rock works best for me, especially Led Zeppelin, Muse, The Killers and The Who.
  • Try the Chemical Brothers. Works a treat.

  • I think one of the things that's all too easily overlooked is that last time I checked, running was still a sport.
    If you want to wear a music player while training, that's all up to you and it's a personal preference thing.  Hell, if you don't do it as a sport, you're not 'training' anyway and you just spend some time outdoors with or without music, good on you.

    It's just in races that I can't comprehend why you'd even consider it, nevermind allowing it.

    Running is a very inclusive sport, you can be utterly rubbish at it and still enter most races. That's beautiful, but why somehow people feel like they have some 'right' to bring their other hobbies like listening to music into a race escapes me completely.
    I reckon the only thing worse than 'nanny state' is libertarians inventing spurious 'rights' out of thin air.

    Further I do think it's worrying when people can't stand to be with themselves for a little while without something to distract them. Seek help.

    And don't get me started on the whole charity thing either. I'm happy to donate some money to charity every once and a while (I could/should probably do more, but who isn't in that boat?), but why road running has to be completely hijacked by charities escapes me as well.
    When my workmates leave for their 5-a-side game, I'm not asking them what charity they're playing for either, now am I?

    <Goes off to have a nice cuppa... This ranting is thirsty work>

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