Whew:
Are headphones permitted?
Although the B.A.A. [Boston Athletic Association] discourages the use of iPods and headphones, they are allowed except for those athletes eligible for prize money.
That’s me breathing a sweet sigh of relief. Perhaps this surprises you. As you may recall, I have a no racing with music rule. To date I have never ran a marathon with music, but I like to know that I have the option. My music rule has a critically important exception clause: I may listen to music as a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day back-up plan. It’s like an insurance policy: I hope I won’t need it, but I want to have it in case I do. When the going gets tough the music gets me going.
USA Track & Field, the National Governing Body for Track & Field in the US, sets the rules for all races under its jurisdiction. Decisions by the USATF directly impact only about 60% of US marathons, but the rulings do not go unnoticed by the other race directors. In 2006 the USATF changed their position on rule Rule 144.3 from recommending headphones not be used (but leaving it to the discretion of race directors) to an outright ban on headphones and electronic devices. iPod loving runners everywhere went into a collective panic. Compliance was variable and races attempting to enforce the ban found that policing was difficult. Early reports surfaced about headphone-wearing disqualifications, striking fear in the hearts of those dependent on their music-makers. Imagine an after-the-fact disqualification based on a race photo of you with those illegal little headphones in your ears. Race organizers were met with a deluge of frantic emails. Will I be disqualified if I listen to The Village People? [Answer yes, but only for your poor taste in music. RIP YMCA.]. I recently flouted a race’s anti-headphone policy and I was convinced at any moment a power-hungry official would reach out a yank me from the course. I spent a good chunk of my energy on the look-out for the running police. Rule-breaking stresses me out. I would not be a successful criminal.
Predictably, ‘to wear or not to wear headphones’ became a hot button issue among runners, particularly endurance runners. Ostensibly, the driving force behind the ban was insurance and safety issues (the inability to hear emergency vehicles and official announcements, for instance). While I think that this holds true for a minority of runners [I understand that your music motivates you, but it is annoying me, so please keep your ridiculously loud tunes to yourself - you know who you are, clomping man in mint green short-shorts], most music lovers seem to listen to their tunes at a sensible, not life-endangering, volume. Self-proclaimed running purists feel that the music changes the race experience and that runners should soak up the atmosphere, not Madonna. Musicophiles in turn believe it is their race to run how they see fit and if music enhances their race experience so be it. Some say that if you can only run with music you can’t really run, but one could easily rebut that runners use all sorts of aids to help them run – from running shoes to wicking gear to strategically placed band-aids.
Although the back and forth continues, a greater power has spoken. In January 2009 the USATF amended the headphone rule to include this caveat:
The visible possession or use by athletes of video, audio, or communications devices in the competition area. The Games Committee for an LDR [long distance running] event may allow the use of portable listening devices not capable of receiving communication; however, those competing in Championships for awards, medals, or prize money may not use such devices.
According to the USATF, if you aren’t running for a championship, award, or prize money [i.e. if you are me] you can keep the iPod, so long as the race director agrees. The very wise Boston Marathon bosses are on board. I hope I don’t need a Queen fix to get me up Heartbreak Hill, but if I do I’ll gladly plunk in those earbuds – at a low volume of course, because I certainly don’t want to miss the roar of the crowd motivating me along. Welcome back Plan B, welcome back.
Title Reference: Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence. From the album Sounds of Silence. 1965.
