15 runners DQed for wearing headphones!

Amen - hopefully there will be more of that in the future.

I like it!

I wonder if they would DQ an illegal immigrant running this race...for being in the country illegally. Probably not, just goes to show you how selective we are as a country in choosing to uphold certain laws and disregarding others.

Wow, I'm sure them wearing headphones really affected you.

Weston (CT) Memorial Day did this as well. Plenty of signs posted during registration, and they even had someone going around during the pre-race lineup w/ a box for people to deposit them for safekeeping.

http://www.hitekracing.com/results08/west0524.htm

You're so right about that double standard - I've heard that when you get pulled over for speeding, the traffic cop doesn't even bother to check whether you've cheated on your federal income tax too! WTF kind of selective enforcement is that???

double standard wrote:

I wonder if they would DQ an illegal immigrant running this race...for being in the country illegally. Probably not, just goes to show you how selective we are as a country in choosing to uphold certain laws and disregarding others.

I wasn't aware that being an illegal immigrant violated the race rules (or, putting it another way, I wasn't aware that wearing headphones was against the law).

I never wear them in races... and almost never in training... but I can't see what the big deal is all about.

Especially at this race as they had at least 4 parents pushing kids in jogging strollers. As they were zig zagging at the start (lots of people/narrow road), I could just picture a bunch of people going down.

When I pushed my kids I always started in the back row and worked up slowly as things thinned out.

stupid rule.

If deaf people are allowed to race, why cannot people wear earphones?

I wear earphones but can still hear things around me. I don't see why they should be banned. Maybe the ones that go in the ear could be banned since those really do restrict what can be heard around them.

If I get DQd I do not really care. If I don't come home with a stupid medal, I am fine with that. I would rather lose the chance to win a medal than give up my radio or ipod.

Who the f*** uses earphones anymore? Earbuds.

honk at the dog park wrote:

stupid rule.

If deaf people are allowed to race, why cannot people wear earphones?

What kind of logic is that?!?!?!

By the way, my take, headphones for training=okay, very acceptable on easy days with no running buddy. In races= not okay, even though they don't help at faster speeds, they can help people at slower speeds to fight through the pain to times that have yet to earn. They should earn it like everyone else...

YOU CAN'T PULL THE WHITE CARD EVERYTIME AND GET AWAY WITH VIOLATING THE RULES. THE 'I'M WHITE SO LET ME SLIDE' EXCUSE DIDN'T WORK AGAIN. HAH HAH HAH.

I gotta wonder why they decided to enforce this rule rather than the no dogs and strollers.

Most races have a 'no strollers or dogs' rule and these rules have been broken long before the 'no headphones' rule was around.

honk at the dog park wrote:

I would rather lose the chance to win a medal than give up my radio or ipod.

They can take my headphones away when they pry them out of my cold, dead skull that was crushed by a truck I didn't hear.

As a former race director of Weston 5K, we have had a no headphone, no dog policy for several years, however this is the first year that we have actively enforced the no headphone rule. We do allow strollers if they start at the back. There are several reasons for enforcing it this year. We are a high school event and as such wish to set an example for the kids. As the mother of 3 college students, I know these IPODs are blasting and not on a setting that you or I might find reasonable, but loud enough to block the noise of an approaching car, another runner or pedestrian. Additionally, last week on the University of North Carolina Campus, a runner was struck and killed by a bus when she turned into its path- she was wearing headphones and obviously was oblivious to it approaching. And, it is a USATF rule and Weston is a USATF certified course. We tried to be sensitive to users and posted "the universal sign" as well as text posters that said, "If you wear headphones, you will be disqualified". We also placed posters on day of registration table and announced it several times during pre- race announcements. Runners were offered the opportunity to hand in headphones for safekeeping at the start. Out on the course a race official yelled at runners to remove headphones, but guess what- they could see he was yelling at them, but hadn't a clue what he said. To try to be fair to everyone, we removed runners from prize/place contention, but posted their times on a separate list. It is my belief that in the future times should not even be recorded and I hope to see other race directors follow suit. I think once, people understand that we are trying to make it more enjoyable and safe for everyone, not just trying to be difficult, then they will comply because if our insurance coverage comes into question, then road races will be a thing of the past. We do not have the luxury of closing our roads to traffic for the duration of the race, so with the help of police and volunteers and the co-operation of the runners, everyone can enjoy the racing experience.

JAs wrote:

We tried to be sensitive to users and posted "the universal sign" as well as text posters that said, "If you wear headphones, you will be disqualified". We also placed posters on day of registration table and announced it several times during pre- race announcements. Runners were offered the opportunity to hand in headphones for safekeeping at the start. Out on the course a race official yelled at runners to remove headphones, but guess what- they could see he was yelling at them, but hadn't a clue what he said.

If they had that much warning and still wore them, they deserved to be DQ'd.

The dumbest rule ever concocted by an organization. I hope they have the brains to overturn it as soon as possible. If they don't want distractions on the course why promote distractions with all the bands at races? Also tell all the ladies at Wellesley College to please shhhhhhhhhh as the runners go by, it's for their own protection, thanks.

Who cares? They dont affect me (usually). My father had a very good. He is a mid 50s 8min mile guy for 10k to half marathons. He wears headphones when he runs and races. He could care less if he ever got disqualified. He does not win age group awards, he gets is time and splits on his own watch, and does not stay around for the awards. He likes to race to improve himself and have a goal to train to.

So who cares?

[quote]JAs wrote:

We are a high school event and as such wish to set an example for the kids. As the mother of 3 college students, I know these IPODs are blasting and not on a setting that you or I might find reasonable, but loud enough to block the noise of an approaching car, another runner or pedestrian. Additionally, last week on the University of North Carolina Campus, a runner was struck and killed by a bus when she turned into its path- she was wearing headphones and obviously was oblivious to it approaching. Out on the course a race official yelled at runners to remove headphones, but guess what- they could see he was yelling at them, but hadn't a clue what he said. [quote]

You are telling me you know the volume that every single headphone wearer was using? Give me a break.

If I wear headphones and carry an IPOD with it turned off am I ok under your stupid rules?