IT'S no longer just muscle strains, diet and optimum conditioning athletes have to worry about. As final Olympic preparations are made, a new threat to their health has been identified – the MP3 player.
Scotland's national athletics body has drawn up a strict new health and safety code. The track guidelines describe digital music systems – used by leading athletes to psyche themselves up before major events – as "potentially dangerous" because of fe
ars they could lead to collisions.
The document also calls on athletes to treat running tracks like a road and to stop, look and listen before approaching one – as well as warning them not to swim in water jumps.
Critics of the code have described it as an example of political correctness overtaking common sense. But others insist it is a necessary measure to protect the safety of runners.
The new list of "Track Etiquette" has been drawn up and adopted by Scottish Athletics, the national governing body for track and field events.
It provides a point-by-point guide to basic rules which must be adhered to and states: "Don't use headphones or your mobile phone on the track or infield. This is potentially dangerous and may stop you from hearing other track users or safety announcements. Treat the track and infield like you would a road. Look both ways and make sure it is safe to cross at all times."
It also warns: "The steeplechase water jump is not a swimming pool and the jumps pit is not a beach. Similarly, the high jump and pole vault mats are for landing on, not for resting or playing."
Jason Henderson, the editor of Athletics Weekly, said runners should be free to exercise their own judgment calls: "It is one of those things that people like to make their own mind up about. People should use their commonsense.
"If you are training on a track by yourself there is absolutely no danger, it is absolutely fine to wear headphones. But if you are out in the streets and near traffic there is perhaps an element of danger to it."
He said, however, that the issue of MP3 players was becoming a hot potato in the running world: "People are already getting hot under the collar. It is interesting that Paula Radcliffe, the ultimate role model when it comes to distance running, wears an iPod when she trains.
"My personal view is that iPods are fine to wear in training and I, for one, wear one when I'm out running."
Amateur runner and co-founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness Laura Midgley said the code was counter-productive.
She said: "This is yet another example of the nanny state edging its way into our lives. People are quite capable of using their commonsense and don't need a Green Cross Code to realise there might be runners on a running track.
I much prefer running to music. Music spurs you on and helps keep you going."
Earlier this year Radcliffe revealed that she listens to the American R&B star Kanye West when she is training.
A spokesman for Scottish Athletics said the rules were intended as "guide only" and stressed they should be used in conjunction with the rules of individual athletics venues.
