So as a participant in New York Road Runner's races as sign this waiver:

*"*WAIVER OF LIABILITY:
I know that participating in NYRR events is a potentially hazardous
activity. I agree not to enter and participate unless I am medically
able and properly trained. I agree to abide by any decision of an event
official relative to my ability to safely complete the event. I am
voluntarily entering and assume all risks associated with participating
in the event, including, but not limited to, falls, contact with other
participants, spectators or others, the effect of the weather,
including heat and/or humidity, traffic and the conditions of the
course, all such risks being known and appreciated by me. I grant to
the Medical Director of this event and his designee access to my
medical records and physicians, as well as other information, relating
to medical care that may be administered to me as a result of my
participation in this event. Having read this Waiver and knowing these
facts, and in consideration of your acceptance of this application, I,
for myself and anyone entitled to act on my behalf, waive and release
New York Road Runners Club, Inc., Road Runners Club of America, USA
Track & Field, the City of New York and its agencies and
departments, the Metropolitan Athletics Congress, and all sponsors, and
their representatives and successors, from present and future claims
and liabilities of any kind, known or unknown, arising out of my
participation in this event or related activities, even though such
claim or liability may arise out of negligence or fault on the part of
any of the foregoing persons or entities. I grant permission to the
foregoing persons and entities to use or authorize others to use any
photographs, motion pictures, recordings, or any other record of my
participation in this event or related activities for any legitimate
purpose without remuneration."

I actually have to sign a waiver just as I would if I were a runner for some of the races I help at.

For full disclosure, I've run two marathons, one with an Ipod and the last one(This past Sunday without). I run with one on during most if not all my training runs. My question to you is, when you're driving your car, do you have the radio on? If so, I'm curious as to how you're able to operate a car and still be aware of your surroundings and emergency vehicles. Should we outlaw car radios? Please explain.

I've seen people fall in races before and usually it's tripping over someone in a pack or tripping over a garbage bag someone has discarded on a cold morning but I've never seen anyone trip over someone because that someone was listening to music. Should we also outlaw spectators and people playing music on the side ofthe road because those things can be a distraction as well.

cardinalfan

Your car radio example is a good one. There's a difference between having a radio on in your car and operating a car with headphones on. The second case with headphones makes it a lot harder to hear, is a lot more distracting and I believe is illegal in many if not all states. Something to think about.

Unfortunately I have seen people wearing headphones trip others, cut them off, even saw an iPod wearer get another runner tangled up in her dangling cord. Never saw that happen with a headphone-free runner.

I wonder about being a volunteer sometimes. I had troubles with getting the attention of headphone wearers at an intersection where I have been volunteer in charge of getting everyone across a street safely to run the last section of the course against traffic. Several times I've had headphone wearers ignore me, turn down the street instead of crossing and then try to cross later by themselves in front of oncoming cars. We've had a couple of near misses - angry drivers and honking horns, fortunately no accidents. But I wonder, if someone had gotten hit, would I be blamed because I was supposed to be directing them - even though they didn't pay attention and/or couldn't hear because of their headphones? That race is no longer being run, but I don't think I would want to volunteer again if it were- not if runners in headphones or using iPods were still allowed.

Of course it's possible to listen to an iPod at a low level, but when you see a lot more problems with runners and iPods than with runners who don't use them and you have trouble getting their attention, it does become a safety issue. It's not possible to tell which iPod user is going to be most distracted or who has the volume omn high and who does not, but it's certainly a no-brainer to say that having your ears blocked with earbuds is going to have some limiting effect on your ability to hear and to react compared with runners who do not use them. IPods are not necessary to running races - safety is. If you go back to your comparison with cars, there is a difference with a radio that is in the car as background noise and having headphones on while driving. The law in many states isn't well you can use headphones, but only if you keep them on low - it's no headphones.

I think you'll see a lot of complaints at first and maybe even some backtracking at some races, but overall I think you'll start seeing a lot more races enforcing a headphone/iPod ban and eventually runers will get used to racing without them. There's a whole lot more going on in a race than there is in a training run, and many who train with iPods find once they do try a race without them, that they enjoy the whole race atmosphere more without them.