Running without headphones

At 5:30 AM in Pune, the tekdis fill up. Groups gather at the bottom of the hills. Chai stalls open for the people coming back down. Much of what makes a run in this city worth getting up for happens within earshot.

PuneRunners stands for running without headphones. This is why we hold that position, what research says about music and running, and where that research does not reach.

Be there for the run

A marathon has a finish time. It also has everything that happens before you reach it.

There are people running beside you. Volunteers giving their morning to help you through yours. A few words of encouragement when the distance starts to feel long. You can run your own race and still be part of something shared.

We want to hear the people around us, stay with our own effort and be part of the day we showed up for.

My experience

WNC was my first half marathon. I wore earphones. The race was crazy, but I did not enjoy it much.

At Bajaj I went without them. I enjoyed it a lot.

The contrast made me think about what I want from a race beyond finishing it.

Aakash Kamdi (opens in a new tab)

What the research says, fairly

Music helps in measurable ways. A 2020 analysis of 139 studies and 3,599 participants linked music to better mood, better performance on exercise tasks and lower perceived effort. The average effects were small to moderate, and most of the work was done in exercise and lab settings.

Single studies are more specific. In a treadmill study of 11 elite triathletes, running in time with music kept them going about 18 to 20 percent longer before exhaustion than running without it. In a simulated 5K with 15 runners, music in the first 1.5 km led to a faster start, and perceived effort did not differ between conditions.

Those are different measures from finishing a race faster. We did not find a study in this group that measured marathon finish time.

Our position is not that music does not work. It is a choice about what we want a race to make room for. The effort. The people. The day we trained for.

Listen to your effort too

There is another part of the day worth hearing: yourself.

In that 5K study, the authors suggest music may draw attention away from the feeling of fatigue and toward what is outside you. It is one small trial, and research on attention in endurance sport has not settled. We offer it as a thought, not a rule.

Without a playlist, you may find it easier to notice your breathing, your pace, and the moment you need to settle down instead of following the excitement around you. A good song can lift you. It does not know your race plan.

Being present is practical

Marshals need to be heard. So do runners passing, volunteers directing people through a water station, and anyone who needs space on the road.

Near traffic

Near traffic, distraction deserves particular care. In a virtual street-crossing study of 138 college students, those listening to music or texting were more likely to be hit by a vehicle than undistracted students. That was walking in a simulation, not running a race. It still shows how much attention a soundtrack can take.

Early Pune mornings

Early Pune mornings add their own reasons to listen: two-wheelers, stray dogs, low light before sunrise. Run facing traffic, wear something bright, slow to a walk around dogs, and tell someone your route if you head up the hills.

Race rules

Rules differ by race. The Pune City Marathon FAQ for its 1 March 2026 event says participants who use headphones do so at their own risk and must remain alert. The Southampton Marathon Festival in the UK does not permit headphones on shared-use courses. An event may not say how it treats open-ear devices, so ask the organiser, and follow your event's instructions.

Many marathons allow headphones. HYROX and triathlon do not. The HYROX rulebook lists headphones as a forbidden item, and the World Triathlon Competition Rules list headphones as illegal equipment.

If you want to run with something, we suggest open-ear headphones, so you can still hear marshals, traffic and the runners around you. As a club, we run without earphones.

Your pace. Your journey. Your people.

At PuneRunners, we talk about finding your people. We mean the people who make starting feel less difficult. The ones who respect your pace. The ones whose progress you can celebrate without comparing it with your own.

A race can be another place to find that connection. You do not have to talk the whole way. Sometimes it is enough to hear someone, answer them, or thank the person handing you water.

Running without headphones leaves more space for those small exchanges. They will not appear in your results. They can still be part of what makes the day worth remembering.

"No one runs alone" is something we want to put into practice. Headphones off. Notice each other. Make it easier for a new runner to feel part of the group.

There is still a place for music

A playlist can help you get out of the door. It can make a familiar training route feel less repetitive. For some runners, it helps them feel settled. There is nothing wrong with that.

If audio helps with your sensory needs or makes running possible for you, that matters. Follow the event's rules and ask about any accommodation you need.

A seven-day experiment

You do not need to give up music for good. This is a seven-day menu you can try inside the training you already do.

How it works

Days 1 to 7 are calendar days. Each day has one audio-free option. If you already planned an easy run that day, use it for the audio experiment. If not, do the audio-free walk, rest or reflection for that day. Never add a run, and never squeeze extra runs into the week. If you miss a day, carry on with the next one. Do not make it up.

Day by day

Day 1. Planned easy run: run the first five minutes with no audio. No run planned: take a short walk without earbuds. Notice three sounds you usually miss.
Day 2. Planned easy run: run the first ten minutes with no audio. No run planned: rest, and write down what you noticed on Day 1. Notice when you wanted audio.
Day 3. Planned easy run: go without audio for the first half, and rate your boredom from 1 to 5 at the halfway point. No run planned: walk without earbuds and rate your boredom from 1 to 5.
Day 4. Rest, or an easy walk without earbuds. Write down how you feel. Do not turn a rest day into a run.
Day 5. Planned run with a friend or a group: run with no audio and notice what you hear them say. No run planned: talk to a running friend about the week so far.
Day 6. Planned easy run of your usual length: go without audio for the first two thirds. No run planned: rest, and note how effort felt on the days you ran.
Day 7. Planned easy run: go without audio the whole way. No run planned: an audio-free walk, or rest. Write three lines: what was better, what was worse, and whether you would try it at a race.

What to record

After each day, write down your effort from 1 to 10, your mood, and one thing you heard.

Safety

If the route feels unsafe or the run feels unpleasant, stop, move somewhere safer or end the session. Do not use audio to cope.
Choose familiar, well-used routes. Run facing traffic, wear something bright before sunrise, and slow to a walk around dogs.
Tell someone your route if you head up the hills, and watch your footing on trails.
If you have a medical condition or pain, or audio is part of how you run, skip any day that does not suit you and talk to your doctor or the event organiser.
Do not change anything big on race day on the strength of one week.

After day 7

If you want to go further, repeat the days that worked over the next week, still inside your usual training. Move from the first part of a run to more of it only when the earlier step felt easy. Then tell us what you heard, on WhatsApp, r/punerunners (opens in a new tab), or Instagram @punerunnersclub (opens in a new tab).

Common questions

Is it safe to run with headphones?

It depends where you run. Near traffic, dogs and two-wheelers, hearing matters. The best-known safety study we found simulated walking, not running, so we treat it as a reminder, not proof.

Does music make you run faster?

Research has measured other things: time to exhaustion on a treadmill, speed over the first 1.5 km of a 5K trial, and averaged performance across many exercise tasks. We did not find a study in this group that measured marathon finish time.

Are open-ear headphones allowed in races?

It depends on the event. Read your race's own rules, and ask the organiser if they do not say.

What if I need audio to run?

Then follow the event's rules and ask about any accommodation you need.

What does PuneRunners stand for?

Running without headphones. It is our position, not a medical rule.