Runners/Racers!

kshadows
kshadows Posts: 1,315 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a random question, and please excuse my n00b-ness. I've signed up for my first race (a 5k) and am looking at another one for this summer. The second one I'm looking at specifies that NO headphones or ear buds are allowed during the race.

I'm sure it's probably a variable answer but why would headphones be banned from a race? I'm hoping experienced racers can help me out here because...I'm lost.

Replies

  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    safety.
    Emotional crutch.
    Cheating (pacing devices).
  • Solly123
    Solly123 Posts: 162 Member
    Oooohhhh. Never heard of that. I'd love to know why.

    I know I need my headphones so I know how far I've done and I've got my music to keep me motivated and not thinking about my breathing.
  • kshadows
    kshadows Posts: 1,315 Member
    Oooohhhh. Never heard of that. I'd love to know why.

    I know I need my headphones so I know how far I've done and I've got my music to keep me motivated and not thinking about my breathing.

    I haven't run without music...I don't know if I could!! I do find that I NEED to focus on my breathing or I end up with a side stitch. I'm not worried about distance OR pace...I just want music!!
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    I just did an 8k and they discouraged the use of headphones, but did not ban them. They said if you did use them, you needed to keep the volume at a level where you could hear outside sounds (like course direction if necessary), so in that case it was a safety issue.

    I was also looking at a long relay race where runners would actually be running on public roads that were not closed (200 mile relay with 3 to 8 mile segments) and they did ban headphones for safety reasons. If the 5k your are doing is in an area with traffic, that could be a reason as well.

    ETA:
    I haven't run without music...I don't know if I could!! I do find that I NEED to focus on my breathing or I end up with a side stitch. I'm not worried about distance OR pace...I just want music!!

    I normally run with headphones, but ran the 8k without. I found that the race environment kind of made up for the lack of music for me. But if music is that important for your running, just skip the second 5k and find a different one that doesn't ban them.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    Oooohhhh. Never heard of that. I'd love to know why.

    I know I need my headphones so I know how far I've done and I've got my music to keep me motivated and not thinking about my breathing.

    I haven't run without music...I don't know if I could!! I do find that I NEED to focus on my breathing or I end up with a side stitch. I'm not worried about distance OR pace...I just want music!!

    When I started out I HAD to have music also. I had a special playlist of "running songs" on my iPod and would shuffle through them on my runs. After about a year I started doing long runs with a friend and would leave my music at home for those runs. And then I just stopped using it altogether. I've done runs as long as 16 miles by myself with no music and I like to use that time to reflect on things. I can pay attention to how my feet are hitting the ground and how my heart and lungs are feeling and my posture and then I can work on things inside my head - related to finishing the run or totally unrelated to running.

    But as was stated in the first response to your post, the reasons for not having earphones allowed at a race:
    safety.
    Emotional crutch.
    Cheating (pacing devices).

    Mostly the first, then the third.
  • asdelmonte
    asdelmonte Posts: 171 Member
    Personally, I never run with music because I like to be aware of my surroundings.

    They are banned for safety reasons and for courtesy to other runners. I can't tell you how many times I have been cut off because someone is running with their headphones in and did not hear me tell them I was passing. Also, I was running a marathon a few years ago and a pack of women, all running together and with headphones in, missed the course director telling them to turn off for the half marathon route and at the last second they were running the course in the wrong direction to get back to the turn and bumping into all of the marathoners. It was very annoying, to say the least.
  • KeithAngilly
    KeithAngilly Posts: 575 Member
    Oooohhhh. Never heard of that. I'd love to know why.

    I know I need my headphones so I know how far I've done and I've got my music to keep me motivated and not thinking about my breathing.

    I haven't run without music...I don't know if I could!! I do find that I NEED to focus on my breathing or I end up with a side stitch. I'm not worried about distance OR pace...I just want music!!

    When I started out I HAD to have music also. I had a special playlist of "running songs" on my iPod and would shuffle through them on my runs. After about a year I started doing long runs with a friend and would leave my music at home for those runs. And then I just stopped using it altogether. I've done runs as long as 16 miles by myself with no music and I like to use that time to reflect on things. I can pay attention to how my feet are hitting the ground and how my heart and lungs are feeling and my posture and then I can work on things inside my head - related to finishing the run or totally unrelated to running.

    But as was stated in the first response to your post, the reasons for not having earphones allowed at a race:
    safety.
    Emotional crutch.
    Cheating (pacing devices).

    Mostly the first, then the third.

    great response...I don't think I could run outside WITH music. It would be too distracting. I do use them on a TM, though. I love the sounds of a race..the breath, the footsteps. It's really cool to be in a big group of people working that hard.

    The primary reason races discourage or disallow them is safety, I would think.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Probably safety.

    Either way, a race that disallows headphones is one that I won't run.
  • kshadows
    kshadows Posts: 1,315 Member
    Hmm...it's definitely not a traffic thing, as this is a closed course. But I can understand the safety thing. My best friend and I really want to do it and it isn't until June so maybe I'll have to wait and see how I progress leading up to that!
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    usually its a safety thing - there are alot of people around and they want you to be able to hear if a runner calls out "passing on the left" or something. Trail races ban them more frequently because there is usally less room to pass people.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Hmm...it's definitely not a traffic thing, as this is a closed course. But I can understand the safety thing. My best friend and I really want to do it and it isn't until June so maybe I'll have to wait and see how I progress leading up to that!

    I ran 2 closed course marathons that disallowed headphones for "safety" reasons. I usually got bored, so I quit doing no headphone runs/races. A 5K I'd probably be able to handle, but nothing more than that.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    Oooohhhh. Never heard of that. I'd love to know why.

    I know I need my headphones so I know how far I've done and I've got my music to keep me motivated and not thinking about my breathing.

    I haven't run without music...I don't know if I could!! I do find that I NEED to focus on my breathing or I end up with a side stitch. I'm not worried about distance OR pace...I just want music!!

    When I started out I HAD to have music also. I had a special playlist of "running songs" on my iPod and would shuffle through them on my runs. After about a year I started doing long runs with a friend and would leave my music at home for those runs. And then I just stopped using it altogether. I've done runs as long as 16 miles by myself with no music and I like to use that time to reflect on things. I can pay attention to how my feet are hitting the ground and how my heart and lungs are feeling and my posture and then I can work on things inside my head - related to finishing the run or totally unrelated to running.

    But as was stated in the first response to your post, the reasons for not having earphones allowed at a race:
    safety.
    Emotional crutch.
    Cheating (pacing devices).

    Mostly the first, then the third.

    great response...I don't think I could run outside WITH music. It would be too distracting. I do use them on a TM, though. I love the sounds of a race..the breath, the footsteps. It's really cool to be in a big group of people working that hard.

    The primary reason races discourage or disallow them is safety, I would think.

    Oh.. Yeah, I forgot about treadmills. I have run on a treadmill a total of three times in the past two and a half years and I listened to music every time. There's no way I could have gotten through that hell any other way.
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    Meh. I've worn headphones at all my races when encouraged not to. It's you're an elite or anything and going to be knocking people over because you're not paying attention. I turn music off at the start when I'm in the big pack and trying to get around folks and they're trying to get around me, and that clears up after a mile or so.
  • kristy6ward
    kristy6ward Posts: 332 Member
    During training runs I listen to audio books, but during actual races, I've never used ear phones. Theres usually so much going on that there is no need for such a distraction. But if headphones really are a must, look around, I'm sure there are a ton of other races near you that will allow them.
  • davemunger
    davemunger Posts: 1,139 Member
    For me it's a manners thing. You are running in a crowd and need to say something to a fellow runner ("Hey, I like that shirt!" or "You've run the Peachtree 10K too?" or "Your iPod is falling off your belt!"). If they have their music cranked up it just makes the run less fun / social.

    But the safety issue is real, even on a closed course. I was running a half marathon one time and there was a wheelchair competitor with a bicycle escort. The chair went much faster than the runners on the downhills, so the cyclist was shouting to the runners ahead telling them to move aside. The folks wearing headphones didn't budge, and there were several near-collisions.

    That said, I don't think I've ever seen the rule actively enforced.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    Depending on the size of the race, the entire first mile of a 5K can be congested with people and it is hard to get around people who have their music up way too high. For a short race, I would not worry too much about not having run without music. The atmosphere of the race will be so different, you will likely not notice it . Also, many larger races will have bands or music pumping throughout the course. In fact, for your first 5K, I would suggest NOT wearing headphones, just so that you can take in all of the sights and sounds.
  • mjpTennis
    mjpTennis Posts: 6,165 Member
    Safety.

    I started with headphones too as I started running on a treadmill. Soon got rid of them for the sounds of mother nature. You can also really concentrate on your "sounds" - your heartbeat, your breathing, and in a race all of that is magnified with others around you. Glad you read the details and have some time to adjust. Have a great time training and running the race.
  • Eric_DeCastro
    Eric_DeCastro Posts: 767 Member
    I haven't run a race that didn't allow headphones but my very first one I did it without, I just concentrated on my breathing. and trying not to face plant.
  • lunapetu0311
    lunapetu0311 Posts: 96
    Interesting! I have run over a dozen races and have never seen a request to not wear headphones! I am guessing it's just a safety thing?? Maybe wanting runners to be more aware of their surroundings? Or just the race officials' personal preference for runners not to wear headphones. I cannot run without music! ;)
  • EdTheGinge
    EdTheGinge Posts: 1,616 Member
    Safety definately safety, my local one has that rule. As for cheating I haven't heard that one before, surely a running watch could be used for pacing as I know that's how I use mine.

    It's fine with the crowds around and they tend to put music on around you'll barely notice it, I was concerned with my 1st half as I'd only ever trained with music but it was actually quite nice to not have it going on and actually interact with others.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    You will understand why during the start time and within the first mile. It is usually a congested mess because of poor etiquette of people attending races. Especially in a 5k. Runners with pace times that have no business being near the front will line up ahead of faster runners, creating walls you will have to work around. If the race has large attendence then it will most likely be elbow to elbow running room for the first mile or two until things get worked out. I swear there isn't a race I've been to yet where I didn't want to put an elbow into the backs of a wall of women wearing tutus blocking most of the road. I will run with headphones during races regardless of rules but I always have my music lower and one headphone out until the pack really spreads out. AT the end of the day they won't really yank you out of the race or disqualify you...maybe if you win a podium spot it is a different story...haven't had that problem yet.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    most races have music banned. most racers don't abide by that rule.

    but honestly, some of my best runs have been without any music.
  • summertime_girl
    summertime_girl Posts: 3,945 Member
    I've never heard of cheating with pace times. You can either run that fast, or you can't.

    Lots don't allow headphones. I usually bring mine (bluetooth, so no cord) and wear them around my neck if they aren't allowed in the ears.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
    I totally get the safety reasons, but I don't understand the cheating/pacing thing. How does someone cheat at running?

    Also, I avoid races where they ban headphones. I need them for intervals...my runkeeper tells me when to walk and when to run. I also would rather run needles under my fingernails than run without music. At races though, I always keep on headphone out so that I can hear what's going on around me.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    I've never heard of cheating with pace times. You can either run that fast, or you can't.

    Lots don't allow headphones. I usually bring mine (bluetooth, so no cord) and wear them around my neck if they aren't allowed in the ears.

    I don't know anything about it because I'm not fast but I've seen a lot of races where headphones/music/whatever are only banned if you're running for money.
  • waskier
    waskier Posts: 254 Member
    Personally, I never run with music because I like to be aware of my surroundings.

    They are banned for safety reasons and for courtesy to other runners. I can't tell you how many times I have been cut off because someone is running with their headphones in and did not hear me tell them I was passing. Also, I was running a marathon a few years ago and a pack of women, all running together and with headphones in, missed the course director telling them to turn off for the half marathon route and at the last second they were running the course in the wrong direction to get back to the turn and bumping into all of the marathoners. It was very annoying, to say the least.

    This^^^^^
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    It's a safety precaution, pure and simple.

    I've never heard of using pacing being cheating!
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Safety.

    I started with headphones too as I started running on a treadmill. Soon got rid of them for the sounds of mother nature. You can also really concentrate on your "sounds" - your heartbeat, your breathing, and in a race all of that is magnified with others around you. Glad you read the details and have some time to adjust. Have a great time training and running the race.

    I love the peace and quiet when I'm out for a run. Getting bored on a run would just never occur to me. There are always things to think about and look at. I need to be able to hear my HRM tell me if I'm going too fast or too slow. It's almost like meditation. My husband though, he functions best in a noisy atmosphere, so he always wears headphones. I have to watch out for him when we run together, because he can't hear anyone coming up behind him. I image he is quite a trail hazard without me there. :ohwell:

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