iPod use faces hurdles

BY DUSTIN DOW | DDOW@ENQUIRER.COM
Lauren Hartwig plans to break the rules in Sunday's Flying Pig Marathon.

Hartwig will be running to the soundtrack supplied by her iPod, which might play inspirational tracks by U2 or the Killers to help her through the half-marathon.

"The music gets my mind off running long distances," Hartwig, 24, of Hyde Park, said. "But anytime a slow song comes on, I change it. Slow songs make me run slower."

Regardless of the beat, Hartwig will be violating race rules enacted to protect her. A controversial headphone/earbud prohibition in marathons nationwide has turned iPod-toting runners such as Hartwig into scofflaws.

"Really, they're not allowed?" Hartwig's friend Elizabeth Yoke asked last Saturday before a training run, a look of anxiety suddenly transforming her face. "I don't think I'll be able to run without my iPod."

Fear not, iPod addicts: Race officials won't be policing for ear buds Sunday. Runners aren't going to be disqualified for strapping a nano to their bicep or a shuffle on their waist.

"We're just going to discourage people from using them," Flying Pig executive director Iris Simpson-Bush said. "But we're not going to be pulling people off the course or making them remove their iPods before the race."

The iPod issue has become so controversial that the rule, which was put in place in the fall of 2006, will be reviewed by the USA Track and Field long distance executive committee next month.

The USATF sanctions many American marathons, including the Flying Pig, and is responsible for accrediting courses as qualifiers for the prestigious Boston Marathon. Individual marathons are then bound by USATF rules, which include the unevenly enforced headphone ban.

"It's almost become an unenforceable rule," said Fred Finke, chairman of the long-distance board.

"So it would be a failure of my leadership if we don't address this in the next month or two because right now it's a rule that's just not working. Still, it's a safety issue because if you have headphones in, you can't hear directions from a course monitor if there's an emergency."

The USATF has three options, Finke said. Rescind the rule, keep it as is, or rescind it but recommend that races not allow headphones.

No official action can be taken until December at the USATF annual convention. But even the hint of removal is encouraging for Flying Pig officials who have heatedly debated in board meetings over whether or not to enforce the rule.

"If they rescinded the rule, it would be a lot easier for us," Simpson-Bush said. "We don't feel it's appropriate to put ourselves in a position of policing this."

The Flying Pig's policy of discouragement without enforcement aligns with most marathons but is at odds with the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis, where 176 runners were disqualified in October. Ten pairs of volunteers were stationed throughout the course to watch for runners with iPods.

"I thought there would be more enforcement by other marathons," Twin Cities director Virginia Brophy Achman said. "When you're training all those weeks on trails or open roads, it's dangerous to have headphones on."

In Cincinnati, the marathon might be forced into a "sticky situation," Simpson-Bush said, especially if a race winner or top finisher wears an iPod. That would prompt Flying Pig officials to disqualify a champion in order to comply with USATF rules.

But such a scenario is unlikely, because serious runners don't wear headphones in either training sessions or races.

"When you run faster, the headphones tend to be uncomfortable," Finke said. "Slower runners don't notice them as much. So we see most iPods in the half-marathons or with about 50 percent of the people in the back half of marathons."

Mark Dobrozsi of Sedamsville will run in his first half-marathon Sunday, but is so serious about preparing for the race that he abhors the idea of running with an iPod.

"I tried wearing one, but I found myself playing with it and breaking stride and momentum," Dobrozsi said. "Part of running is being able to focus on how you're feeling. The iPod brings in so many distractions to that process."

Those distractions are exactly why Woodlawn's Joe Gast will be wearing an iPod in the half-marathon, running with encouragement from Eminem and Pearl Jam.

"I want to be distracted," Gast said. "I find running to be boring, and without an iPod, it hurts a lot."

Michael Fecher will consider both sides of the argument Sunday when he is running the full marathon, listening to artists such as Big & Rich as well as passing traffic.

"I've got two ears," Fecher said. "But I'm only going to have headphones in one of them."