While training for my first marathon (way) back in 1999, the one thing I never left home without was my Walkman. I’m not sure if I could have pushed myself to run 50 plus miles per week for nearly three months without Sarah McLachlan, Bono, Sting, Hootie, and company helping me pace myself along those lonely Wisconsin back roads. I turned to them again on race day and they didn’t falter. In fact, their performance was more consistent than my own.
Of course, I wasn’t the only runner getting assistance from their favorite singers the day of the marathon. Thousands of other racers took their tunes on the course as well. Knowing how many runners rely on music to help motivate them to stay on track, I was shocked when I learned that USA Track & Field was considering banning the use of headphones and other electronic devices at road races and marathons sanctioned by the body.
In 2006 USATF made it official—-race participants were no longer allowed to wear personal headphones on marathon courses. The new rule instantly became a source of ire among runners. Meanwhile, race directors heralded the move saying that the use of headphones prevented runners from hearing communications on race courses from officials and emergency vehicles.
Long story short, about a year into the ban race directors realized that many runners were simply ignoring the new rule. In the end race officials determined that enforcement of the rule would be almost impossible and just a few weeks ago the USATF amended the ban. The rule now allows race directors to choose for themselves whether or not to allow the use of headphones by runners in non-championship races.
Frankly, I’m not surprised that the USATF caved, especially when you had some race organizations not only ignoring the ban, but also using it to their advantage to market their own races. For example, last year the Portland Marathon marketed itself as the largest “MP3 Friendly” race in the world and welcomed runners wearing headphones.
Do you run with headphones? What do you make of the amendment?
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