Grandma's Marathon headphones could be banned

LISTENING to music on headphones -

something that is cherished by most amateur runners - could be on its way out of marathons.

Ahead of Sunday's famed New York Marathon, runners are strongly discouraged from counting on Beyonce or Bon Jovi for support through their iPods.

The move comes after USA Track & Field, the national body for running, barred the use of headphones and portable audio players at its official races this year.

It wants runners to be more aware of their surroundings and able to clearly hear race announcements or warnings from other runners, in order to avoid injury or lawsuits, reported The New York Times.

The ruling has split the running community in America, although Singapore enthusiasts can listen easy.

'The banning of earphones is not in our rules,' said Chan Chow Tin, Singapore Athletic Association's chairman (cross-country and road running).

'And why should earphones be banned? Music can help psyche the athletes. It will help take away their pain and make them feel better.'

But Chan, who is also the race director of next month's Singapore Marathon, admitted that if the International Association of Athletics Federations ever decided to ban music on the run, Singapore would have no choice but to abide by it.

And some events run by Singapore-based organisations already ban headphones. The rules for the recent Lombok Triathlon in Indonesia specified that headphones were not allowed.

The race was run by Tribob, a Singapore-based outfit which organises coaching sessions and races for triathletes here.

Trying to enforce such a rule on a course filled with 38,000 runners armed with smaller and smaller audio players may be futile. Because of that, the New York City Marathon will not attempt to police its field on Sunday.

But some have already taken a hard line, like June's Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, where about 7,000 runners took part.

Race officials collected iPods at the start and then mailed them back to competitors. And the 30 runners who broke the rules and used headphones were disqualified.

'We proved that it is very possible to enforce,' said Scott Keenan, the Grandma's Marathon race director. 'If other races are allowing it, then shame on them.'

New York City Marathon's race director, Mary Wittenberg, admitted that if all the major marathons agreed to enforce the ban, New York City would follow.

'Our overwhelming concern is safety, but I think somebody is crazy to wear an iPod at this marathon for other reasons,' she said. 'You want every single sense tuned in to the experience of running the race of a lifetime.'

Elite runners do not listen to music in races because they need to concentrate on their own bodies and hear their competitors, and some die-hard, old-school runners follow suit.

Tucker Andersen, who has run in every New York City Marathon since 1976, said headphones could create dangerous situations for other competitors.

He remembered incidents in which runners, oblivious to the people around them, cut off others in a dash for a cup of water.

Some participants at Singapore events agreed.

Vicky Campbell, an NUS Triathlon participant, said: 'The use of earphones is not banned during the NUS Triathlon. But I don't use them as it can be quite dangerous if we are distracted by music.''

But, for competitors who use music as a motivational tool while training and competing, the ban was frustrating, as if the race directors were forcing them to run barefoot.

'I dare them to find the iPod on me,' said Richie Sais, 46, a police officer in Suffolk County on Long Island, before running the Marine Corps Marathon.

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