Why are MP3 Players against USAT rules???

because you are a hazard... to me and everyone else.

- to expand a bit, the TDF riders have use the 2ways for strategy and to get a heads up on hazards ahead. And many of them do not like THAT (as it can/has be argued it is unsafe)

Running (and further than that... riding especially) with headphones blocks out most if not all other sound around you... many triathlons are on open roads, have hazards...etc that you need all of your senses to deal with. Nothing worse than being on a trail training run and having somebody in front of you in the way, oblivious to the world around them just jammin.

Edited by Leegoocrap 2010-09-29 9:43 AM

Because everytime you listen to Born to Run, a small kitten dies.

This current thread contains the explanations - I don't mean the posts there about pro vs con, I mean the posts where folks actually provide the reasoning behind the rule.

Cheers, Chris

Because the TdF is not run by the USAT, and probably has different race directors than any of the races you have done.

Different sport, different rules. You can tackle people in football, but not baseball.

Unless you're coming into home

John

I'm not sure why you need an explanation.  It's a rule.  If you don't like it, don't race.

So start bike racing where you can use your MP3 player.

Simply put, Triathlon is a solo event - you against the clock. 

Bike racing (a la Tour) is a team event. 

You can't draft in triathlon either.  They ride in Peleton's the whole way in the tour.

Spoken like a parent talking to a child.  Nothing wrong with asking "why" about rules, laws, regulations, practices, etc.  This is what makes the world a better place.

If I were RD, I'd ban them at my race.  Not for safety reasons becuase I do not believe listening to music poses a safety hazard.  I know all the argument but I just don't buy it.  If the rides has his head up his arse, he's not going to "hear" what's going on regardless if he has music in his ear or not.  I would ban them beucase I think listening to them is rude.  I use an iPod when I swim, when I bike alone and when I run alone...but never when I run or bike with someone else.  I can hear everything just fine with background music.  You can talk to me in a conversational tone/volume and I can hear just fine even with music....and that is why I say it is not a safety issue.

 

~Mike 

I agree with you, Mike, that you can hear if you play the music at a reasonable level.  Let's remember, however, the lowest common denominator idea to rules.  You have to remember that just becasue you do it, doesn't mean everyone will.  Many people play their music way too loud. 

I was running behind a guy last night and I could actually hear the music - at least what it would sound like if mice were singing it.  One song stopped and another started.  When it started, the sound of it starting startled the guy and he looked to his right as if there was something coming from that way (the miracles of headset stereo). 

I laughed about that for almost a mile.  You cannot rely on common sense when making a rule. 

LOL.   I don't get the analogy though. Tdf?  USAT?  What does one have to do with the other?  That's like saying they allow drafting in pro cycling, why can't I draft in a tri?

Yeah, the rule at our house is, if you have on headphones and I can hear the music you are listening to, it is way too loud! 

~Mike

I'm glad they are banned. They are a crutch for most people. I don't like them one bit being used in public or in races.

Not sure how much of a safety issue they are but I would imagine in some circumstances they do pose safety issues.

I just have a problem with people listening to music ona personal device during a competition.

Could you imagine if Tom Brady had his ipod on in while playing QB? What about a golfer hitting shots on TV with his ipod on? I just don't like it.

Call me old fashioned.

I always find it funny when people head off to run with a group or a partner and all parties are sporting ear buds.

At Savageman, when I was going through the town of Westernport (before the wall) a guy passed me and I could clearly hear his music.  He was at least 6ft away and it was very audible.  It made me cringe thinking about how loud that had to be in his ears.

I actually disagree with Mike on this one.  I don't buy into the "rude" point of view because that is none of my business.  People do the events for their own personal reasons.  If the device is determined to be either a performance aid or a safety issue, then I think there is good reason.  It's also rude to blow snot rockets and fart but I have seen and heard both. 

or that you can draft on the swim and run but not on the bike. 

~Mike

Heck, I've done both. 

I shgould clarify that I was agreeing with Mike that it is possible to wear headphones and still be able to hear. 

many people are rude.  I've gotten used to it (Man, how sad is that??)

One reason I think they are rude is becuase of the spectators.  If someone makes the effort to come out to watch a triathlon and cheer on the participants and are on the side of the road encourging participants with and "attaboy/attagirl" and the participant can't hear them becuase they are lost in their music, I think that is rude.  It is also rude to other participants.  I have come up behind runners (in marathons) and offered encouragement as I passed them or they passed me and there was no smile or nod or anything...becuase they never heard me.   So that is why I consider them rude.  Just my opinion.  I'm not looking for anyone to agree or disagree, it's just how I feel.

~Mike

Agreed...but drafting actually makes you FASTER by stealing the services of another rider.  My iPod, provided I am considerate and not a hazard to others as I would contend I am, has no effect on other racers and pound for pound should/could not make me faster. 

Additionally the often quoted "talk to others along the way" issue is counter intuitive to the Individual Sport argument.  I would contend my iPod makes me MORE individual than the person who is jabbering w/fellow runners...not less.  And it has never prevented me from saying, "Good job, Runner" or high-fiving a volunteer.  And dead kittens aside...the song Born to Run doesn't actually MAKE a person Born to Run.  If it ain't in your legs by race day...the iPod ain't gonna put it there.

It does however help me avoid focusing on the sound of my pitiful gasps for breath...which I will concede is a personal advantage I enjoy and would like to continue experiencing. 

I assume there is a T.T.F.U. aspect to this I will need to embrace, but I am going to have a hard time making this switch.  Music has no calories, no cancer causing side effects, and just inspires me while I'm exherting myself, so the arguments for limiting it are feeling somewhat arbitrary. I may just be taking 2min/leg penalties and continuing to enjoy myself.

Not an arguement, but an example (one of many for those that have been around racing enough) of why it is a safety issue happened to me at the start of a 10K. Going out at the front of the pack a young woman suddenly makes a left hand turn and stops to adjust her ipod. She is standing sideways on the course directly in front of a pack of runners fixated on the ipod she is holding in her hands. As I step to the left to avoid her my foot cathces the seam between the street and curb. Pop goes my ankle and I run the next 6.1 miles wishing I would have ran her over. I suppose I should be thankful as my anger distracts from the pain.

There are always going to be things that happen during races that are out of control of RDs and other racers, but I think it is important to reasonably try eliminate the things that impair, distract, and annoy.





Edited by TriJedi 2010-09-29 3:12 PM