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No iPods or music players in road races
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Lazybones - they were not banned last year - just discouraged. What they are saying now in the states is that the race organisers will be looking at runners' photos that the photographers take en route and anyone caught wearing an iPod will be disqualified from the race and banned for the next one. I don't know how this could be enforced as there are a lot of runners in these races, and some do have them and some don't.....
I prefer the atmosphere of the big races to be honest, and am always happy to chat to fellow runners instead of listening to music. Chicago was the only exception, and I too hope that you get a nice cool day with a breeze. If that happens I will go back to my unfinished business next year
The major US marathons have however stated last year that it would be 'impractical' for them to try and enforce the ban.
Just check the USATF rule book and there isn't even a shadow of a doubt:
http://www.usatf.org/about/rules/2008/2008USATFRules.pdf
page 75 of this pdf document. (that's the bottom of page 59 if you follow the numbering of the printed edition)
So there you have it. Banned in the land of the free.....
hi all as someone said each to their own, what annoys 1 will work for another and vice-versa (?spelling)
But this is how I do the ipod thing
At home on Treadmill = ipod as loud as poss so I cant hear kids playing hubby up
Training out on the roads = ipod on quite, enough to hear over my heavy breathing
but quite enough to hear danger approaching!!
Racing = Ipod on but only 1 earphone in and working, this is so I can hear other racers and enjoy the music that keeps me going, may sound silly but I find that it works
ABAB - Thanks for giving me a laugh.
Logged on to this thread as am about to do my 1st 10k and was not sure of the ipod etiquette in races - I always listen to music when I run but probably wouldnt in a race (which might be weird for me), Anyway the thought of you being beaten by the wombles had me laughing out loud and took my mind of the dodgy knee that is threatening to ruin my race plans!!
Cheers for that!!
There is no such thing as a stupid question if you don't know the answer, Heather! I'd like to know that too.....
Actually, what I would like to do is remember to charge my bloody ipod so I can use it for Nike +, but that's another matter..
I just like my MP3 to travel to the races especially if I am on public transport to get there like the GNR. It helps my nerves. I have said before I can retreat into a world of my own without an MP3 player. I don't have it blasting and I only use one earphone. I can hear whats going on around me. But if I start and think about my next meal, what jobs I should be doing in the house, what time to pick up the little one etc I can often forget I am running and have on occasion been told off by irate cyclists (I run on part of the C2C) and that is without music......
I can run without it, but if I am running on my own it does help especially towards the end of a race when I am tiring. Will be taking it to the pier to pier just in cast I am on my own...
I don't understand why people who are trying to overtake feel it necessary to expect the person in front to move over, wearing Ipods or not. If you want to get past me, you go round, same as I do when I pass people.
I wouldn't dream of asking someone to move so I could carry on running in my preferred line. If it's narrow, grit your teeth and pass later on!
Kwilter - I think when the ipod wearers are running 3 abreast and blocking the whole path, then a tap on the shoulder with a polite request is perfectly acceptable.
Cheerful Dave - I totally agree.
But how do they police it? As ABAB said at Wilmslow they were banned yet I would estimate about 20% of people I saw running had mp3's on and nobody said anything to them.
(or did they think they wouldn't be heard?)
I'm only partly tongue-in-cheek here.
fat face, fair comment, I was thinking of why I should have to move over when running by myself not listening to an ipod.
Have to say though the only time I've been cut up in a race (so that I had to leap to stop running) was by a non ipod wearer who was trying to get from the left side of the road to the right side where her supprters were
*sticks tongue firmly in cheek*
WW, as I rounded the last corner on Saturday's race, there were about 8-10 members of my club standing cheering me on. I was able to go a bit faster knowing they were there for me, and took quite a bit of distance of the bloke in front of me.
Should cheering supporters be banned too as an external stimulant to improve performance??
*removes tongue*
As regards the moving aside argument ... If there's someone on my tail and seeking and able to get past me I'll happily give way if I can. Not necessarily stepping off the path but at least tucking in my elbows and trying to reduce my "footprint" to speed them on their way.
I don't expect people to move aside for me, but I do at least expect them not to obstruct me and, crucially, to be aware that I'm behind them. From my observation iPodders, being less aware of their surroundings, are more prone to meander and get in the way, albeit inadvertently.
I read that as "iPlodders".....
Maybe it was a Freudian slip?
I just found this on GIZMODO UK
In the US, the USA Track & Field governing body has banned the use of iPods, and any other music players, claiming that they are a distraction and a threat to runner safety. It’s a load of bollocks really but then this is the type of irony you can expect from a nation that bans iPods from marathon runners but where everyone watching can be armed.
World governing body, the IAAF Road Running Commission, will debate this hot potato in September but London Marathon race director, David Bedford, assured runners:
“It's a rule that will not be picked up in this country. It is completely unenforceable.”
If you’re going to ban something, then look to the idiots dressed as Barney. Now that's a danger to other runners.-Martin Lynch
Well it made me laugh
Completely off the point, but I was in ASDA yesterday and they made an announcement over the tannoy that customers are not to eat or drink in the store "for health and safety reasons"
Does that include the cafe?
Is this because they are terrified you might choke on your McDonalds (next door) and sue them because it happened on their patch?
Is it because they are pig sick of people munching away on food they haven't actually bought yet and sticking wrappers between the Tena Lady and the Tampax?
Have we taken "health and safety" too far? My kids have been banned from doing handstands and cartwheels on the school field for this reason and yet when I was at school, that was the very place we taught to do them! I spent my whole junior playtime upside down.....
And they wonder why kids are getting fatter these days!