Former nine times Comrades marathon winner Bruce Fordyce has had a go at runners who run with mp3 players for company in a recent blog. I must confess that I am one of the runners he is having a dig at. The vast majority of my training is done alone and if it wasn’t for my iPod I think I would not be enjoying the initial slog of getting fit. I can’t speak for all radio DJ’s but I know that if I had to play half the stuff I have on my iPod on radio, very few people would listen and I would probably be fired before I could say “smells like teen spirit”.

One of the main reasons I enjoy running with music is that I never really get much chance to listen to music that I really love. The hour or so that I spend on the road on a run is pure self indulgent bliss for me. I often find myself drifting away to the place where the memory of a particular song takes me. I’ve relived first dates and breakups, big nights out playing to 3000 people and braai’s at home with close friends. I’ve gone back to school and even recalled varsity mates that I’ve long forgotten. The best part about letting your mind drift like that on a run is you forget about the pain you’re going through. Music is and has always been a massive part of my life and every significant event has a song attached to it. Even my childhood memories of going to road races with my dad have some great songs infused in them. I think as a human you tend to do what you know and I’ve grown up with personal music players and maybe that’s why I feel comfortable running with one. Bruce Fordyce on the other hand didn’t and I think that is why he doesn’t get it. I presume it must’ve been difficult to run a 5:25 Comrades carrying a gramophone. But in saying that I do agree with Fordyce on one thing though, if you are running with someone else, put your iPod away. It’s just plain rude to have your headphones in when you’re in the company of others. That doesn’t only apply to runners either.