Runners banned from using personal stereos at events like the London Marathon? How absolutely insane. I know for me I would be incapable of running without some tunes to keep me going. And I fail to see where the danger lies - surely a controlled environment like the Marathon is as safe as a personal stereo user will ever get.

For more Marathon-related titbits, see my blog on training for the event at www.thepublican.com/staffblogs

who never wore them in the first place.

Nobody here honors it. Every race I run has the ban listed in the rules and everyone still wears them because without them it would be boring and long, which it already is.

Hopefully it remains one of those things they say they do just for insurance and keep at not enforcing it.