Jeanne wrote an article about running with headphones over at Complete Running that I wanted to respond to. She is trying to understand some local running clubs that are mounting campaigns against the process. One of the the things that she brings up is how it relates to deaf runners:
What do deaf runners do? If part of the argument against wearing headphones is that you can’t hear well enough while wearing them — not even with only one earpiece in, turned low — to be cognizant of what’s around you, well, it seems to me that deaf runners face a real dilemma.
Most deaf people are not 100% deaf, and can hear some noises. I have spent a lot of time running with deaf people (I went to RIT, which hosts NTID, the largest technical deaf school in the country) and for the most part, they get on just fine. If they are about to run through an intersection with a car coming, or they keep going after everybody else is turning, you just tap their shoulder or throw rocks at them.* One of my friends, who became deaf towards the end of his time at school, now lives in DC and has had a lot of trouble with not hearing bicyclists coming up behind him. He has started wearing a shirt that says “Deaf Runner” on the back to warn people behind him that he may not respond if they try to let him know they are there.
Still, after reading so much about the perils and the non-professionalism of running with headphones (on one running discussion board, someone asked the cogent question: “In what other sport do you see people training while wearing headphones?”) and the general disdain in which those who do use headphones are held (a runner friend tonight told me he thought it was “assinine” to run with headphones), I figured it was time to give this issue my full attention.
On the topic of headphones and safety: Most people who wear headphones get on just fine. Dawn points out in the comments how it’s like talking on a cell phone in a car; some people can handle it safely, some people can not. However, it is more dangerous to run with headphones than without, just as it is more dangerous to run when you are deaf than when you are not. Adults can make a decision about how much risk that they are willing to take, and as long as the risks that they take are not perilous to me than I do not really care.
When I was in high school, I was hit by a car once. It did have to do with my stupidity, but I was not wearing headphones. My not assessing a risk properly and a woman driving way too fast combined to make both myself and the car less than happy campers. It is not an experience that I really want to repeat. I prefer to leave behind anything that can distract me from knowing at every moment exactly who and what is around me and coming up on me. Some people, though, need to get hit by a car before they think that it can happen to them.
Or does this campaign stem from a general feeling that the wearing of headphones is cheapening the sport? Or that by using headphones you’re just distracting yourself from the very thing you need to be paying attention to — namely, your body and its reactions?
On the topic of headphones distracting you from your body, I’d never really thought of it like that. The reason that I hate listening to music while I work out is because the music influences the workout. Rather than getting my own rhythm, I am moving to the beat of the music. I prefer to set my own pace.
I can certainly see how it does distract you from your body, though. I love communing with my body, examining each and every ache and pain, watching my surroundings, listening to my heart beat. I just really enjoy the act of running. I don’t need or want any distractions.
I’m not simply distracting myself from what I’m putting my body through, I’m also giving myself a little reward by getting to listen to a book, or favorite podcast, or music. This is my time, and I love that I can entertain my mind and push my body at the same time. I hate to give that up.
As for the entertainment value, I value the time to think and prefer not to be distracted. Sometimes when I am hurt and treadmilling it at the gym or if I’m on an exercise bike I will listen to podcasts and such (talking, not music) because I absolutely hate doing anything other than lift weights or swim indoors. I can certainly appreciate the multitasking, however. If people can listen to their music or talk shows without posing a danger or inconvenience to those around them, then I think that they have every right to listen to it and it does not bother me.
If somebody is wearing headphones, though, and blocking a trail or making it more dangerous for myself in some way, then I am going to call them on it.
In the comments, Anne brings up another point that I had never thought of before.
One thing I’ve noticed is how “the iPod” has reduced the amount of socializing during organized races. You simply don’t approach someone wearing earplugs or headphones because there’s the assumption he or she would rather listen to music than you.
I have to admit, while I have seen this at races, I have not really noticed it or been cognizant of it. When I go to a race, I naturally gravitate towards the other people that are there for similar reasons as myself. I am there to compete, and the local racing scene in Southern Maine is pretty good. There are 3 very large local teams that are quite competitive, and a couple of more teams that you see at a lot of the races. I have made some good friends at races, and we all get together and chat before, during, and after the racing. While I do tend to ignore strangers in headphones, there has never been a shortage of new people for me to meet and socialize with.
*Note, I only threw rocks at a deaf teammate once, and that was because we were taking a side trail while he was already 70 feet up the side of the next mountain. He was almost fully deaf, and couldn’t hear us yelling to him; being a much better runner than most of us (at the time) we opted to try getting his attention with the only means we had at our disposable. They were small pebbles thrown just hard enough to reach him or land in front of him so that he’d turn around. I do not actually condone throwing rocks at anybody, whether they can hear them coming or not. It was a good run, though.
Hey, thanks for such a thoughtful discussion. You brought up some excellent points I hadn’t thoroughly thought thru. And you have my full permission to throw , er, pebbles at me if I EVER block your way on the trail.
🙂
I actually wrote a large portion of that shortly after you posted the original article, but it was already full article length so I instead I just emailed it to myself at home and then revisited it this evening when I had more time to reflect and there were some comments to also bounce off of. I was also able to move some points around to make a wee bit more sense.
I work with the Deaf for a living. While I have never run with a Deaf person before, I can say they are typically more cognizant of their surroundings than hearing people (but not always). They are used to living without sound. So their ability to run/drive/function without auditory input is much better than a hearing person’s ability if that person were temporarily deafened (possibly by headphones).
That is the way it is perceived where I live. “Real runners don’t use headphones.” The running community is very competitive here. I know few people here who run because of health and fitness. Most run because of competition. Only rich people run for health and fitness. Since I am an American in MĂ©xico, I am considered in the “rich” category.
I have never really listened to music. I became a runner after I got into podcasts. My running time is my podcast listening time. Since I am currently subscribed to 47 podcasts, I am running a lot more. (OK, so maybe I listen sometimes when I am not running.) Music has never been part of my running, though I run with headphones on just about every run that is not a race.
I used to be guilty of this. I would pull out my earphone and shut off the player if a friend approached, but if I did not know the person, there was no need (in my mind) to turn off the player. I raced a few times with my player. Then I decided to get more into the atmosphere of the event. I have left the player at home since and may consider using it in the future for half or full marathons, but for short races I would prefer to interact with those around me.
So, I use headphones, but train alone. I ditch them for races now. I agree that they can be dangerous, you just have to become more aware.
I fixed your formatting problems.
As for being able to run/drive/function better without auditory input, that’s debatable. It might have been the area where I went to school, but most of the deaf drivers were horrible behind the wheel. I don’t think the problem was that they couldn’t hear, though. I think that the problem was that they liked to talk too much while they drove, and in order to talk they had to take their eyes off of the road for extended periods of time.
Running down the road watching a car swerve back and forth while two people signed at each other was not a way to inspire confidence in the safety of said car and its likelihood to avoid you.
One of my deaf friends on my team drove me back to the apartment once, and I never got in a car with him behind the wheel again. It’s even scarier when you are in the car with them and not just trying to figure out if they are going to cross the road and hit you.
Oh, I never meant to imply that they are good drivers. Heavens, no! I guess I did say that wrongly. They do however seem to be more aware of their surroundings than a temporarily deafened hearing person.
So-called runners who wear earphones are much like irresponsible dog-owners who keep their dogs off leash and don’t clean up after them (and if you are a “real” runner, you have had MANY run-ins with dog owners). They cause a lot of problems for runners and are quite selfish and unaware that they are ruining the experience and sometimes endangering others all for thier own convenience. Try talking politely to an irresponsible dog owner whose dog has just bit you, or an ipod “runner” who doesn’t hear you yell “trail!” or is just making a nuisance of themselves…they all come back with the same defensive, self-righteous attitude that it is somehow YOUR fault for being too sensitive or a jerk.
Having a forum or discussion about ipod-listening fake runners will get you nowhere.
DO you notice that they all excuse themselves with anecdotal “evidence” such as “I’ve never seen anyone get hurt” or “no ones’s ever complained.” You tend to find what you’re looking for in an argument and fake runners are looking for what they always look for…a good time and an artificial ego/performance boost at the expense of real runners and the integrity of the sport.
Since anecdotes seem to be the currency traded around this forum, here’s one for ipod listeners to chew on…my dear friend Trudy Thomas was struck and killed by a car two years ago while running with headphones. All it takes is one death of a person you know to see how assinine ipods are while running. I promise you, no real runner uses them. No real runner whould let a friend use them. No real race would let you compete with them. No real runner will ever respect you with those things in your ear. If you need them to run, then runnings not what you’re after.
Running has never and will never be about distraction or adreneline or multitasking or making things easier. Running is about work, and using the road/trail and your legs to figure out your head and what this life is about. Wear your ipod to a sermon or a lecture or a movie or while talking to a loved one or proposing to yor sweatheart and you start to understand exactly what you’re doing when you wear an ipod on a run. You could have learned something, felt something, bettered your life, or fallen in love. But you traded it for a beat and nonsense lyrics and the opportunity to be an antisocial, poser, ignorant, selfish, fake, arrogant, and unmotivated prick. You won’t get what you’re after if you’re running with earphones, I can promise you that. The only consolation we real runners have is that you fake runners will be gone in a year or so…on to the next fad that doesn’t require so much effort and getting out and all that.
Maybe try a fake sport like biking. Plenty of your kind of overweight out of shape people in “sponsored” spandex jerseys peddling bikes en masse to the local coffee shop to pound danishes and talk about how hard core they are.
Cheers!