I was originally going to comment here to say that I do not quite understand the extremely intense level of vitriol from fellow commentors on this post (and I still don’t!), but I saw this article this morning and am curious to know your take on it. While it doesn’t have to do with the headphone ban, it does have to do with marathons. Personally, I find the general argument of the aforementioned article completely detestable, and was wondering if you’d read it.

Also it is pretty unclear how ‘able-bodied privilege’ is at play. I think we have every reason to suspect that Hugo is all for folks in chairs, hearing-impaired runners, &c participating in these events; what he clearly objects to is the *choice* of some people intentionally to isolate themselves from the race (which, I’d want to add, seems considerably more selfish than Hugo’s alleged obsession with his PR).

Hugo, Grandma’s Marathon is terrific and you should do it, if for no other reason than Duluth is a great town.

Elizabeth, I watched Andersen-Schiess, and like you, was transfixed.

Folks, I don’t run USATF. Why do YOU all think USATF did this, given the state of the sport today? Why are the insurance companies charging higher rates for headphone-permitting races? If you think it’s unjustified, take it up with them. I think — as an amateur athlete — it’s a good idea. But my judgment didn’t carry the day; those who know and care most about road racing made what seems to me to be an excellent decision, one that favors both safety and the integrity of the sport.

Pittsburgh’s late, lamented marathon gave everyone a street-width. Cleveland’s Rock and Roll marathon had the entire road as well. Kona’s marathon (the marathon course for the Iron Man) was the most narrow with an out-and-back course and between the hearing-impaired runners, stroke survivors, and the occasional diabetic with a blood glucose of 45 mg/dl, we still had no problems. It’s worth noting that the Pittsburgh Marathon started out fairly crowded and on cobblestone.

The Youngstown International Peace Race (now just the Youngstown Peace Race 10K, darn it) never had a problem. Last time I ran it, there were plenty of headphones, and the streets are among the narrowest for any major race I’ve run.

I also worked the Pittsburgh Marathon as a volunteer, amateur radio operator, and paramedic. I also worked and ran the Great Race (a far more popular 10K) in the same capacities (and ran it, too) with a narrowing about the Mile 4 marker. I’ve treated just about everything and have never seen a headphone-related injury. I’ve seen cardiac arrest, slip and fall, torn ligaments, hyperthermia, hypothermia, etc. The worst had to be the 2001 Pgh. Marathon at Mile 15 when the person pulled up in front of me screaming with a charlie horse. I darn near quit right then and there. Traumatic limb amputations don’t scream that much….

At a pinch in a course, I don’t see “on your right” helping anyway. The turn from Forbes to Morewood in the Great Race is nothing but people jostling for position. There are a lot of injuries there — and there have been since the Great Race started — there were no Sony Walkmans then. The exception would have been for a time in the 80s when the Great Race was rerouted and didn’t go through the Forbes/Morewood intersection.

A trail marathon would be different, but any race I’ve ever run on a trail had to put up with the Saturday morning joggers anyway — far more likely to have headphones and not be paying attention. My usual workouts are often on trails — either bike or running, and I know enough to never assume someone’s going to hear me — or respond appropriately. While on the bike, I do yell “On your left” on occasion, but far enough away to not frighten someone and to give myself plenty of time to react. Too often, they react wrong or don’t hear me.

Do you think the USATF should ban hearing-impaired athletes? Should they ban slow runners who dissociate instead of associate as they run? Marathoners who take more than 4 hours?

If you’re going to ban headphones, you logically need to either ban the hearing-impaired or make them run with a hearing person.

Perhaps you should be seeding yourself better at these races–or the race organizers themselves should be more strict about enforcing the start placements or runners, like the do at Boston. I’ve noted that when I start with people in my proper time frame (they have started to put up signs and designate race numbers with colours to facilitate this in some big Canadian races) after the first couple of kilometers the groups gets moving at similar speeds. ‘Mis-seeders’ are more annoying and hazardous to me than ipods. I also find the bunched group hard to run behind/around. You know them–they’ve probably mis-seeded themselves, and are running 5 abreast down the road, talking and not being attentive to what’s around them. They’re not wearing ipods, but they are suddenly stopping in the middle of the road to walk their 1 & 10, causing other runners to slam into them.

I see your safety concern, but I think that race organizers & learn to run groups & mentors/race buddies would be better served if runners were given some basic etiquette and kept more strictly to their seeding.

Oh, and don’t wear your damn race t-shirt until you’ve finished the race (or at least started it!).