Marathon Winner Disqualified for Using iPod

[bill gates is your daddy]

Wait a minute.

So you are not supposed to use a MP3 player because you will be able to keep a more constant rhythm while running? I am having to guess that the official claim is that you can program certain songs with specific speeds and pace out your entire race in song. I personally would see this as engenius. But since we don't live in a world that supports engenuity we get crap like this.

Now what if I memorize songs and sing them for the entire freaking race? Will I be disqualified for that? I am essentially doing the same thing. I will be using songs to help me keep a certain pace up throughout the entire race.

What if I don't sing them out loud. What if I sing them quietly in my head? Is that still breaking the rules? What's next...you have to complete a frontal lobotomy before you are allowed to run a marathon so you cannot unfairly keep pace in your own head?

When did we become such a whiny-ass population where we have to reward mediocracy because someone is not good enough to win themselves?

I am sick and tired of handing out trophies to little f-ing tards that cannot win a game because they suck. You want to win and be rewarded at something then try harder. Become better at it. Practice. If listening to music helps you do this then what the hell is the issue?

This country needs an enema.

 

[eyemaster]

They are not allowed to drink either? Accepting a drink from someone else is no good? WTF?

 

[nelson_nel]

Should have used a zune.

 

[nelson_nel]

[citation][nom]nurgletheunclean[/nom]Who cares, it's just a f'n trophy. It's not a Nobel Prize or a Olympic gold medal. She knows she was the fastest, I'm sure she's got plenty of other trophies cluttering up her place already. She won't miss it.Now if it was an olympic gold or a cash prize or something of real value then that would be another story.[/citation]

I'm pretty sure the runners care. Just saying.

 

[redgarl]

Phhh... so I can honestly say that ipod == drugs... cmon, someone must be smoking crack.

 

[grieve]

i cant believe people run... take a cab/bus or drive.

 

[Guest]

That wasn't exactly a "world class" marathon to begin with, nor were those "world class" times. 3 hours and change, the women's world record is 2:15, and a normal world class marathon has atleast a 2:30 women's time, so you're looking at nearly 2 minutes per mile off the world record pace and 1 minute off of a real elite time.

In fact, regarding the lack of anybody elite in this marathon, organizers or athletes, I'll go as far as to say that the iPod is a non-issue. No actual world class athlete would ever do something like that anyways...

Even that being handed a drink issue was dumb, considering that this is not an elite race, nor are these elite athletes. My "semi-elite" pre-race ritual was to eat 2-3 Vivarin caffeine pills 30 minutes prior, and while some may object, it is absolutely not against the rules, so it really shouldn't even matter what she was drinking during the race. Extreme caffeine use is actually very common among the elite. You can fail a post-race drug test for too much caffeine, but you'd have to eat literally about 8 Vivarin, or 16 cups of coffee, which wouldn't help your performance anyways...

 

[Accidental]

Dumb dumb. She should have used a Zune.. everyone knows iPods are banned on most marathons

 

[bruce0750]

Well the thing about sport is that, the athletes are supposed to do the work themselves, both the physical and psychological, which both matter when comes to winning the game.
If the athletes are using Ipods or other Mp3 players during the race, the audio will have effects on the psychology, but this effect is generate by the machine not the athletes themselves. However, if the athletes memorized the songs and sing them in their heads, that is ok since the athletes would have to do the work not the machines.
Winning the game with your own physical and psychological strength, that is the true spirit of sport.
As for the water thing, it is too dangerous to run an entire race without water. I don’t remember but isn’t there a rule that regulates where you can drink? Like they would set up tables every couple miles and serve water. And the last couple miles, that is the real challenge of the athletes’ strength, I can understand no water allow there. If they decided to ban water for the entire race, now that would be too much.

[citation][nom]geoffs[/nom] Yes, the rhythm of the music can help pace you, and it can help distract you from the discomfort of you body, but so can humming, thinking about a specific topic, counting your footsteps, etc.[/citation]
Well depends who is doing it. Humming and thinking can only be done by the runner, of course. But counting and music, if they are done by machines then nooooooooo, shouldn’t be allowed. Athletes should stimulate their mind by themselves, not with help from a machine.

[citation][nom]bill gates is your daddy[/nom] Now what if I memorize songs and sing them for the entire freaking race? Will I be disqualified for that? I am essentially doing the same thing. I will be using songs to help me keep a certain pace up throughout the entire race. What if I don't sing them out loud. What if I sing them quietly in my head? Is that still breaking the rules? [/citation]
Good one, and you would be using your own strength to stimulate your mind, not the help from some sort machine. Again the true spirit of sport is: using your own physical and mental strength to win the game.

[citation][nom]Matt_B[/nom]Next up, disqualification for wearing too comfortable of a running shoe or wearing clothes that are too aerodynamic or wind resistant (only if you are an elite - I guess).[/citation]
I can understand that shoes can help preventing injury, but do they really need high tech aerodynamic or wind resistant clothes?