Let Me Hear You Make Some Noise

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A few weeks ago I was on a widget high and managed to turn this blog's sidebar space into quite the visual cocktail. Like any sudden spike in euphoria, it didn't last long and once I crashed, I realized what a mess I'd made. I've since cleaned up my act, but one item that did survive the purge is a new way to see my latest stories on CompleteRunning. (Thanks, Mark, for the code!)

For those who aren't familiar, the site is a one-stop-shop for runners of all abilities. I'm part of a team of writers that contributes articles and opinion pieces, videos, photos, recommended sites and even inspirational quotations. I try to cull newsy items from the previous week into short pieces, when possible. The latest is on a headphone ban this year for all of the races surrounding and including Minnesota's Grandma's Marathon. Violators will be disqualified and their finishes stripped from the results.

In case you haven't heard, earlier this year the USATF modified its rules to prohibit electronic devices such as mobile music players, TVs (TVs?!) and cell phones in any events that the track and field organization sanctions. That includes a lot of road races. And, it includes iPods, which usually are not officially allowed in competitions but worn by a lot of people anyway without penalty. The issue tends to raise a lot of ire in the running community. You can check out the comments following the story and you'll see what I mean.

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