That's the message USA Track & Field, the national governing body for running, is giving. It has banned the use of headphones and portable audio players like iPods at its official races. This new rule was apparently created to ensure safety and to prevent runners from having a competitive edge. It would be interesting to see if they implement this rule coming weekend in the NYC marathon.
This is pretty odd one for me and I certainly hope they don't start implementing it in Singapore Marathon and other places where I generally run my marathons. In fact, I don't think I would be able to to complete marathon without my favorite music, let alone gaining some competitive with my favorite music playing in the ear.
I echo the same sentiments as expressed in the article.. First I think this rule is absurd and two not sure how they would uniformly implement it amongst thousands of runners in any event.
Ram,
ReplyDeleteI thought ipods, Mp3 players or any such device are already banned in the Boston marathon
well its like the steroid use. They don't test everyone, just the winners, and if they found out you used one along the way, you are disqualified. The issue is debatable.
ReplyDeleteas you yourself admitted, music helps the body in producing chemicals. it can give you that extra edge to someone who cannot afford to buy that right song from iTunes. A friend of mine who is an athlete once said, anyone can win an Olympic gold, its a matter of who is ready to take the maximum pain.
-Patrick
Charlotte, NC
This is just for individual safety. Avoiding headphones would prevent a runner from being hit by a vehicle which may be a motorized vehicle, bicycle or another runner. Runner would also be able to hear if somebody is alerting them with some information. Advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
ReplyDeleteRam,
ReplyDeleteI could never run without hearing music. The dayi hear music i run longdistance for me means 6KM.
I need to stop using headphones as most of us run in the morning were cabs of software company race by dangerously.
I didnt know the reason when someone told me not to us headphone while running.
Now i need to find some other way to motivate me to run longer distance