No playlists required: iPods banned from marathon

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BY CARA PESEK / Lincoln Journal Star

If you’re one of the 5,200 runners signed up (so far) to run the Lincoln Marathon or Half Marathon on May 4, you can stop thinking about your race-day playlist.

No need to download the “Rocky” theme song or the new Madonna album before the big day. No need to make sure you have three or four or five (or more hours) of suitable running music.

This year, iPods are banned.

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Don't worry about finding the perfect mix for running this year: The Lincoln Marathon has banned iPods from the May 4 event. (Courtesy of Apple)

Don't worry about finding the perfect mix for running this year: The Lincoln Marathon has banned iPods from the May 4 event. (Courtesy of Apple)

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More on the Marathon

More on the marathon

This is part of a series of stories appearing this spring in The (402) about runners training for the May 4 Lincoln Marathon and Half-Marathon. Read more at http://www.journalstar.com/living/402/lincoln_marathon.

The decision to not allow iPods and other MP3 players was a practical one, said race director Nancy Sutton. It’s simply safer for runners if they’re able to hear what’s going on around them — whether they’re running a race or out for a run on their own.

The Road Runners Club of America regards iPods as a hazard, Sutton said.

USA Track and Field — the governing body for track and field, distance-running and race-walking events in the United States — has banned them from USATF-sanctioned events, saying such devices could give runners who use MP3 players an advantage over those who don’t.

Which means that come race day, runners should leave their earbuds at home.

It’s a rule that makes some runners nervous.

Bryan Sypal, 30, who is training for the full marathon, said he used to always use his iPod while running.

He said he felt like he could run harder while listening to music. Plus, it took his mind off the aches and pains that come with running long distances.

But as running became a bigger part of Sypal’s life, he decided to ditch the iPod.

“I’m more serious about my running now than I’ve ever been,” he said in an e-mail. “I think wearing headphones is frowned upon by the running community, so that, too, is motivation enough to try to stop wearing them.”

So he’s cut back and now wears them only when he runs alone, a habit he also hopes to break.

Most wearers of iPods agree that running to a beat also means running faster.

Turns out, you don’t need to be the one wearing an iPod to reap the device’s pace-enhancing benefits.

At mile 21 of last year’s Lincoln Marathon, Larry DeVries, 56, found himself next to an iPod-wearing man who was singing his heart out.

The singing was off-key and annoying, DeVries said.

But it wasn’t all bad.

“The good part of it for me, even though I was particularly slow that day, was I was then motivated enough to manage to speed up and get out of ear-shot of him,” said DeVries, who has run 12 marathons.   

With this year’s iPod ban, that scenario will be less likely on May 4. But it could still happen.

While use of iPods and similar devices is discouraged, those who are photographed wearing earbuds won’t be disqualified, as they were in Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn., last June, Sutton said. 

“It is a difficult thing to enforce,” she said. 

Still, she hopes that most runners forgo their iPods and instead listen to the crowds and their fellow runners on race day.

Conversation has its benefits, too, said Paul Van De Water, 55, who has formed close friendships over two- and three-hour training runs over the years.

“We have solved the world’s problems, been through weddings and divorces, family illnesses, sending kids off to college and war, caring for elderly parents and many other life experiences,” he said.

“You can’t get this kind of comfort or advice from an iPod or MP3 player — no matter how sophisticated the technology gets.”

Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@journalstar.com.