You are welcome Thanks for all the great posts. I have been lurking and have truly enjoyed your posts. You make some great points, and even while being attacked for your view, you run forward. I will be sending out my e-mail and I will alert as many people to this issue as I can.

The problem that they have is there are no clear statistics and/or facts to back up a complete Ipod ban. As I have said in another post, maybe if I were to see some of these horrible Ipod users that people keep sputtering about, maybe I could see their point, as it stands I just simply don't. I will continue to use my Ipod for any and all races. I know that I am an adult, I am capable of managing my body on a race course, I am respectful of other runners and I am always wide eyed and alert when I am racing.

I see the Senior Center gave NH his internet privileges back. Well, good job with the name calling. One small detail there, though. You completely missed the point of Parker and Susan's post.

First, most races around this country are NOT run on open roads mixed right in with traffic being allowed to flow right in with runners. Most races in this country don't design courses that allow runners to run on the road, in the same direction of traffic with cars in the very same lane as the runners. So, I believe Parker was pretty much dead on. I think that both you and Mary are being quite liberal with the tales of all of your experience if this is how you are recounting it. I have a feeling that your bottomless pit of racing experience is actually just local 5 and 10k's in the North East. If you ever bothered to notice, people do run races in other parts of the world. So, just because you guys do things one way where you live, that doesn't mean that the rest of us do it that way everywhere else. Look, if you guys want to put your race participants in that kind of grave danger, then have at it. It kind of explains your ridiculous facination with being sued, but it is really unsafe and perhaps the USATF should look into your courses and see about banning them. As a matter of fact, I think I will email them the pictures of your race, Mary and see what they think about your idea of a safe race. I can tell you from personal experience, that in the Marine Corp Marathon, the Baltimore Marathon, the Miami Marathon, the Jersey Shore Marathon and the Frederick Marathon that they have a lane completely closed off for us to run in. We don't have to compete with cars for running space.

So, have at it NH. You and Mary, I am sure, can come up with a ten paragraph discertation on how I am wrong. Please feel free to throw in a few insults and call me a couple of names while you're at it.

Colleen, congrats on making it to your first half. Be careful you will find that it is addicting and you will run many more!!! Its unfortnate that they have posted no headphones. did you see that in the rules? did it say something about being strickly enforced? I personally have run with and without and definately find much better with my ipod during half marathons. Since this whole issue has come about, I have chosen to pick only those races that allow them and there are still a lot out there. The elite racing folks that do a lot of the rock and roll still allow them so do many others. If it were me.....since you are a new runner, and you have worked so hard to get to this point, I would check to see if it says strickly enforced? if not, i would take my chances and run with it. Or, be prepared to run with or without and sort of ask folks at the expo (are they having an expo) talk with other runners who have run it last year etc. But in the future, pick other races that allow them or don't run with your ipod in races that forbid them. On this forum we are attempting to make sure us headphone wearers are heard because we don't want the ipod allowing races to diminish!!

I know a lot of folks on this site will chastise me for directing you that way, but i will guarrentee that not everyone who has chosen to run that race are aware of that rule.
Good luck on a super run!!!

<<<<I have a feeling that your bottomless pit of racing experience is actually just local 5 and 10k's in the North East. If you ever bothered to notice, people do run races in other parts of the world

"Feelings" will get you and many others into looking quite uninformed.

You guys can sling all the sour grapes you want but I doubt your repetition there has convinced anyone that maryt and I are the liars you would like us to have been. Notice I've not called any of you liars about your experience, just liars about what you've said I've said in some of my posts.

I only know a little about where Marty T has run but I know that she has run at least one race over 12,000 miles from home and I'd guess many other road trip races as well.

I've run 339 race as of last weekend since Oct 12, 1997 and am on my 34th, 35th and 36th pair of running shoes. I use 3 in rotation so as to not have any one bad shoe cause an injury. Part of my business involves computers and I've written my own running log with every run and race mile logged by location, distance and shoe. I'm compulsive about details. Last weekend BTW was 1300 miles from home. I've 121 5Ks, 53 5 milers, 35 10Ks with rest being 40% under 10K and 60% over 10K.

I've run those races, including 9 marathons and along with 1879 training runs they have been in the 4 corners of the USA and in Canada. My wife and I choose our travel in and around the existance of races when they can be secondary to the main purpose of the trip. Sometimes the trip is for the races. I've done some of the more famous relay races, the Marine Corp 10K mud run at Camp Pendleton. I did a half marathon in Key West. I even lowered myself to run Disney a few years ago so my wife could run her first half.. What a joke of a race. I had my worse marathon at just over 4 hours and still would get a second corral seeding for another one if I ran. Disney probably has the highest ratio of charity runners which is perhaps its only saving grace to claim it as a race. I've run marathon for charity "without" the charity footing any of the bill giving me an entry.

At least half the races I've run only have a police presents at the start where the field is larger (wider). After that it's volunteer course and intersection monitors and "keep" to the left or right depending".

You do NOT know what you are talking about when it comes to road race courses. AND if you are trying to now back and fill to qualify what you've said, I would agree that perhaps what you and P & S have said about the relatively few races you seen, is probably true. However, true as it may be, it is a piddly sample of essentially an isolated view.

The majority of races using USATF insurance are not closed courses, not even close.

You said you will keep using your ipod in race. I agree with you but i want to run a marathon in the fall and ive been looking around and all of them inforce the band, how would i go about searching for a specific one or do i just disregard it?

From what I was reading, allot of people just conceal the device until they are underway. I read about one woman who had her mother meet her at mile 15 of a marathon so she could grab her Ipod. I would need it way before mile 15...lol... I don't like saying just go out and do it regardless of what they say but honestly, sometimes we have to stand up and say enough! I would do some more research on the marathon you plan to run and see how strictly they are going to enforce the issue, most races don't or simply can't because of the number of people. And yes, searching for a marathon that is Ipod friendly is also another option.

NH Senior, i'm convinced that you are just a grumpy old man that needs to get a life. Is your life that miserable that you have to post a a post just to be inconsiderate , nasty and mean????

someone needs to put you out of your misery i'm convinced.

<<<NH Senior, i'm convinced that you are just a grumpy old man that needs to get a life. Is your life that miserable that you have to post a a post just to be inconsiderate , nasty and mean????

If you agree in writing or a waiver to follow rules and then you engage is open discusions about how to break the rules, you display very low moral values.

Is this friggen world upside down or something. I call you and others on your lack of character, and you say I'm mean. Great world indeed. I'm sorry if I hold your lack of character out for others to see. Look in the mirror, that's the person that had the option to be a good person, yet chose to be dishonorable.