Rules Committee - I see what you are saying about the USATF rule that prohibits those competing in Championships for awards, etc from using an Ipod. The question is, was the Lakefront Marathon a USATF Championship Event? I'm looking at their website right now. There is nothing on their homepage that indicates they are a Championship Event. There are USATF and RRCA logos on the right side of the page, but no text indicating any sort of Championship status. Buried on the FAQ page, the 21st (yes, 21st) FAQ says "we serve as the Wisconsin Marathon Championship. If you compete for a USAF (sic) award or for prize money you may NOT use them." The next FAQ allows states that pacers are not permitted. The 31st FAQ point addresses that your friends MAY give you food or drinks "adjacent to dedicated water stops."
Related to their Championship status, I find it odd that the Runner Guide, a 12 page pdf available on their website, only mentions that they are the USATF Wisconsin marathon championship and RRCA Wisconsin championship buried in a paragraph titled "Assembling at the Starting Line" on page 4. On page 6, where they actually print the USATF rules about headphones, they don't say anything about being a Championship event. If they're going to enforce a headphone restriction on those competing for Championship awards, that info should definitely be included at that location! They also state on page 8, related to Chip Timing, that they are a Championship event, but again, this info is buried.
Also, on their Race Rules page (http://www.badgerlandstriders.org/lfm/index.html) rule #10 prohibits headphones for those competing in USATF Championship events, but nowhere on this page is there any indication that this race is any sort of Championship event.
Race Rule #7 is an interesting point in this discussion, as it pertains to unofficial aid stations: "With the exception of “citizen aid stations” where neighbors provide additional aid available to ALL participants, you may not accept aid outside of the designated aid stations. This means that your friends and family cannot meet you on the course to provide aid to you."
I would say it should have been reasonable for Ms. Peller (outside aid violation) to understand that rule. On the other hand, I think it's reasonable that Ms. Goebel (headphone violation) would not have known this race was a Championship event. If they had published their Championship designation reasonably clearly, or at least right next to the USATF headphone rule, I would feel differently.
At minimum, Ms. Goelbel should be able to be reinstated in the results, albeit without being awarded the Wisconsin Championship. After all, she could easily claim that by wearing headphones she was choosing not to compete for the State Championship, however she was not giving up her right to participate in the race and she did follow all the race rules to be an ordinary participant.