Sort of. The idea is to avoid people using music to keep a certain beat/pace.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

I've never understood the obsession some have with yelling "on you left" when passing. If you're going to pass, just pass. It's not that hard or complicated. Yelling "on your left" doesn't make it any more safe.

I always thought the idea was to make triathlon as boring for participants as it is for spectators.

Aside from safety, I feel this is an often-overlooked aspect of why it should not be allowed. It seems like having a playlist of favorite tunes at a good tempo would be an unfair advantage. A measurable advantage? It's hard to say. It could be interesting to find/do a study of the effects of running with/without music on physiological indicators.

Besides, we all know listening to music is just a gateway to drug use/doping. Especially 70's rock. Look at all the people who use drugs - practically every single one of them has listened to music.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

So, apparently all of those people blasting music from their stereos for the athletes is outside assistance. And the music played at the aid stations. And the finish lines. And the band that set up on the corner.

The ref's really gotta crack down on this quickly. Pretty much the entire race is cheating and getting away with it.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Amazing...the lack of common courtesy in the whole county just boggles the mind. That and a serious lack of common sense. Hey DA...it is also best to announce your passing so the bike in front of you doesn't take a sudden left itself and drop you on the pavement....but maybe that would be an improvement in this case...Wow.

And I will bet your one of the new crop of DA's that runs WITH traffic and has head-phone on...another case of natural selection! Please do not have children until mother nature in the form of Darwin can catch-up..

Another wow.

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STIndiana
America Multi-Sport, Inc.
America's Half June 10, 2017
USAT RD Century Club
http://www.americamultisport.com

Took longer than expected to get to the "real runner" hogwash. I don't wear headphones when biking on a public road so that I can at least hear the dump truck before it kills me. I'm not so concerned with someone running a half a mile an hour faster than me buzzing by, and if a "real runner" cannot navigate around a person in their way without having a heart attack and screaming ON YOUR LEFT APPLEDOUCHE, then I would contend they aren't a "real runner" either.

"It seems like having a playlist of favorite tunes at a good tempo would be an unfair advantage."

I think it would only be an advantage to MOP or BOPers. Never in my life during a race have I felt "I wish I had some music to psyche me up right now so I can go faster." I can't imagine why anyone would want to not be able to hear the sounds of the race.

+1

Here is a link to some information about the fact that it does in fact make you faster.

This is the key excerpt:

Numerous studies, most notably by Dr Costas Karageorghis and colleagues at Brunel University, London, have shown that running with music helps improve endurance – by 15%, according to research they published in 2008. A new half-marathon, Run to the Beat, was founded off the back of their findings, with scientifically selected music played along the course to boost runners’ performances.

As dedicated iPod runners will know, much of the benefit derives from the motivational and uplifting qualities of the right music – which, the studies have shown, reduces perceived exertion in runners, helping them feel positive even when exercising at high intensities. But new research underlines the other part of the equation, also explored by the Brunel scientists: the role music plays in helping you keep a good rhythm, and therefore run more economically (using less oxygen for a given pace).

A peer-reviewed study published by the scientific journal Plos One tested three groups of runners on treadmills. One group ran with no sound at all; one with a metronome matching their cadence; and one with motivational music, also matched to their cadence. The runners with no sound performed least well, but interestingly, there was no difference in time to exhaustion when the runners were using the metronome and when they were using the music. However, the motivational effect was greatest with music, so the researchers concluded that motivational music with a “prominent and consistent beat” is the best sound to run with.

Disclaimer: I'm really splitting hairs with everything I've said about this, so please don't think that I'm horribly offended by people with headphones or anything - it's just thought-provoking to me.

Technically, I see public music as being quite different - everybody is being subjected to the same music and it is not necessarily the music of each athlete's choice. Unless you like that god-awful Black Eyed Peas song they seem to play at every race I do. In a sense, that levels the field in that regard. We've all been equally abused by the Black Eyed Peas.

I've got pretty specific tastes in music, and the mainstream pop/country stuff everybody's playing makes me want to run away (maybe that makes me faster and I'm the cheating bastard? lol). Does being subjected to music I don't like hurt me? I don't know. Does having my own music help me? I don't know that, either. There is somebody who probably loves Black Eyed Peas, so I guess they get a free boost. Personally, I don't train or race with headphones. My hearing really isn't all that great anymore, so I need all the sensory intake I can get. Besides, the sound of my heavy heel strike is somehow motivating...

To counter my own argument, I suppose one could drag this down the slippery slope of ensuring that nobody has any kind of individuality to level the field. "Don't like the course nutrition? Sorry, you can't bring your own, and we're only serving meatballs on the course. What? You brought your own shoes? Sorry, everybody must wear size 7 Reeboks - it's only fair. Have a great race!"

So, is having music any more beneficial than having nutrition that works for you or having equipment that fits and works well for you? Probably not, but I don't know. It's certainly not a black and white thing. Is a slight benefit offset by being only slightly offensive? Are headphones the end of the beginning? Like a buddy of mine says, "porn used to be about what's sexy; Now, it's about what's possible. That's where we've gone, so how did we get here?"

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

I'm right there with ya. Even training, I enjoy the sounds of the world around me. I guess that's what works for me, while headphones work for others.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

These topics are always splitting hairs. That's what makes them so fun. For every reason given, sensible or not, there is an equally valid counter. I'm pretty sure the right answer falls somewhere around, "Because I said so."

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I wish they did allow them, it would certainly help with the mental aspect, but I can also understand why they don't.

I've actually done a major TT in Holland where they were allowed and did 25 mile PB by nearly 2 mins..!! (did a short 52..which is especially good seeing as all UK TT's are 'down hill' apparently..!)

There is also the 'resistance to change' at play here. Prior to MP3s, there were no effective ways of carrying music with you when running. Boom boxes were a little big. MP3s have only been around since 2001. So when they first became available, there was resistance to the new technology. Hence, lots of the antiquated rationale for not allowing them.

At some point, the tide will shift. It did with marathons. They initially banned them. They were new afterall. It is normal to fear new things. But the masses ignored the prohibition. Now they are universally allowed.

I find it strange the technology changes we accept and those we fight. Changes to the bike are ok. Changes to the running shoes are ok. The changes in swimming that resulted in wetsuits being allowed were accepted but then limited.

Merely having a phone on you is technically not allowed but routinely ignored. As long as they aren't used for recording or communicating they are tolerated. Especially since they are now used for tracking the athletes.

It is the evolution of the technology impact on the sport. Some fight it but ultimately they lose the silly fight to hold back change.

I do get a little chuckle when I care the living sh** out of headphone wearers when I pass them from behind. No amount of intentional shoe scrapping will get their attention. Anything you say like "on your left" or "excuse me" will scare the crap out of them as much as the sudden appearance of you passing them. This includes our friends that are avid runners.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

Actually, they were allowed for years; I don't think there was anything in the rules. Then USATF banned them, and some individual running races DQed runners for using them. Now, the rule says listening-only devices can't be used, but the local race committee can allow them if they want (except never allowed for championship races). That way, if something should come up in the area of safety, it would be the race committee's responsibility since they chose to allow them.

Is a DQ too strong a penalty for a running race? Perhaps, but that's the only option. For a USAT race, it's consistently been a time penalty for using them (each time you're seen with them), but could be a DQ if there is a perceived safety issue.

I've gotten this exact same response from people without headphones. Oblivion takes many forms, with or without music.

The worst is when you actually yell, "On your left", they get frightened, jump, and then move left. No headphone rule will cure that kind of behavior.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I had a similar thing happen a few years ago. The funny thing is I was running on the dirt/gravel next to a MUP. I heard the guy on the bike but for some reason decided to yell when he got about 2' away. I guess some people just like being douchebags.

Yes: From the USAT website 3.4[/url] Race Conduct c. Obstruction. Participants shall refrain from intentionally or accidentally blocking, charging, obstructing, or interfering with the forward progress of another participant. Any violation of this Section shall result in a variable time penalty.

Way to win friends as a good representative of your business.

It's probably safer to watch the people ahead of you and just pass, than it is to constantly be shouting "on your left". You don't hear bike racers shouting "on your left" when they make passes, wonder why that is?

Of course, if you don't pass very many people, you many not be that experienced at it yet.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

I haven't wished for it, but our HS X-country used to have someone at the 2.5 mile mark playing Crazy Train during races, and to this day when I hear that song while running I almost always start picking it up. Pavlov had nothing on us.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

I personally wouldn't want to wear headphones during the run leg as I think I would miss out on some of the things that make these races so great. It's nice to hear the cheering crowds and take in all the other stuff going on around you. Also, every mike you're communicating with the aid station volunteers about what you want.

Or, maybe he's a kickass swimmer and cyclist. Just saying...

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

No, they are not universally allowed in running events:

From the 2014 Huntsville Rocket City Marathon website - "Notice: Due to insurance purposes, unregistered runners, unauthorized vehicles, bicycles, skateboards, roller blades, strollers, baby joggers and other wheeled devices, animals, and the wearing of headphones are STRICTLY PROHIBITED in the race." http://runrocketcity.com/race-information/

Old NYT article on the subject: http://www.nytimes.com/...ewanted=all&_r=0