One suspects that in a decade or two the analysis today in the New York Times about the banning of portable audio devices for runners in competitive races will seem archaic. My guess is that the New York City Marathon, to be run this Sunday, is pretty much in the historical middle from a time when no such thing as a practical portable audio device existed (pre transistor radios) and a coming time when we will all have tiny —perhaps nano— audio devices pretty much permanently planted in our ears. Today’s story says a major reason the devices are banned is so runners can hear official race announcements using unblocked ears. Surely in the future, runners’ audio devices will be overridden during races by official announcements, something like listening to music while dozing on an airplane to be interrupted by the pilot’s voice with news of turbulence ahead. For now, though, as the Times reports, enforcement of the ban is a non-starter:

But for competitors who use music as a motivational tool while training and competing, the ban was frustrating, as if the race directors were forcing them to run barefoot.

With technological advances leading to smaller and smaller audio players that are easier to carry and conceal during races, the rift in the sport and the debate over the issue seems to be here to stay.

“They can ban iPods all they want, but how do you think they are going to enforce that when those things have gotten so small?” said Richie Sais, 46, a police officer in Suffolk County on Long Island, before running the Marine Corps Marathon.

“I dare them to find the iPod on me,” he said, adding that he had clipped his iPod Shuffle, which is barely larger than a quarter, under his shirt.