Swap Out Your “Buds”

You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose…but, unfortunately, you can’t pick how those around you run.

Headphones, those little buds that seem to be attached to runners’ ears on race day, are becoming a bigger and bigger problem.

I feel strongly that wearing headphones is absolutely, positively the stupidest thing that a runner can do on race day. Yes, it’s even dumber than starting out too fast, missing a turn (which could be attributed to being distracted with headphones and not watching the course) or forgetting to hydrate.

Gosh, this really grinds my gears. Why? Why do I let myself get so worked up over this?  Let me share with you my thoughts, and then I will share some thoughts of others that I talk to on race day about this topic.

In my opinion, headphone wearing runners are:

1.       Party Poopers! Running events are designed to be highly social (unless you’re actually good, in which case you need to finish fast for prize money). Cheering others around you on helps to gain motivation. It’s the motivation of people running alongside of you, pushing toward the same goal. Even if you huff and puff out a “Good job” or “are we there yet?” along the course, it not only helps the other person perk up a little, but it pushes you to keep going.

Example 1: During my half marathon this Sunday, I congratulated 3 women running past me. I said “good job, ladies, keep it up!” through short breaths. What response did I get? Nothing. Nada. Zero response. Lame.

2.       Oblivious to those around them. They are in their own little world and miss out on critical announcements or instructions.

a.      Example 2: During the half marathon, it was an out-and-back. Volunteers kept yelling “keep to the right! Runners are coming!” Well, the headphone-wearing hooligans around me either (1) Didn’t care of (2) Didn’t hear the instructions because they took up the entire path. They finally got over just in time for the first 4 lead male runners to pass, then drifted left again, just in time for the next wave of runners to come by, forcing some of them into the grass to avoid collision. Ridiculous.

3.       Unlawful. Many races clearly state “no headphones”. It’s for your safety! You need to hear announcements, updates, people around you, etc. It’s not because the race director doesn’t like Kayne or Ozzie setting your cadence. They care about you and your safety.

What others say:

1.       Headphones keep them going. Okay, I can understand that. Maybe only wear then when training. Sometimes running solo gets lonely and it takes all 5 of the Spice Girls to keep you going.

2.       They train with headphones, so why change on race day? True, you aren’t supposed to do things drastically on race day, but finding a new way to motivate you shouldn’t be life-or-death.

3.       My iPhone tracks my pace, speed, distance, etc. for me. Congratulations. I’m happy that you’re relying on technology for this. Whatever happened to the good old fashioned Timex and mentally calculating where you are? What else is your brain doing when you’re running? Don’t let it go mushy.

So, please, if you’re a headphone wearing hooligan, please reconsider your ‘buds on the course.  Then, on race day when you’re with hundreds of your closest friends covered in Body Glide, you can bask in the gloriousness of other sweaty, stinky, panting, runners who are grinning like fools because they made a running comrade along the course.

I challenge you, for your next race, swap out your music-blaring ‘buds for the living, breathing kind that need to feel the sense of belonging with fellow runners as badly as you do – I guarantee you’ll have a heck of a lot more fun and will be grinning from ear-to-ear.