Best headphones for marathon running: battery, weather and the rule book

Check the rule book first

This is the step most buying guides skip, and it can cost you a result. Race policies on headphones are not uniform, and they are not all advisory.

The B.A.A.'s published Boston Marathon rules say at 5.2.4 that the B.A.A. “discourages the use of portable music devices and headphones in the Boston Marathon by all participants”, and at 5.2.5 that participants in the Professional Start, Wheelchair Division and Para Athletics Division “are not permitted to wear headphones”. Rule 5.2.6 sets out an accommodation route for participants with a disability under the ADA who need an otherwise forbidden item.

UK races under England Athletics guidance are stricter and more specific. MK Marathon Weekend's published policy is that “the use of bone conductor and Shokz OpenFit headphones is allowed” and that “NO OTHER types of headphones/earphones will be allowed at this event”, with the stated consequence that anyone seen wearing anything else “will be disqualified from the race”.

Battery against your finish time

Do the arithmetic before you shop. The figure you need is not your goal time, it is your goal time plus the walk to the start, plus the corral wait, plus the warm-up, plus a margin for the day going badly. For a four-hour marathoner that is realistically six hours of the headphones being switched on; for a five-hour finisher, seven or more.

Against that: OpenRun Pro 2 and Suunto Wing 2 at 12 hours, OpenFit 2 at 11, Cleer ARC 5 at 12, OpenRun Air 2 and AeroFit 2 at 10. All of them clear it comfortably, which is exactly why we have excluded the shorter options from this page: the 6-hour Shokz OpenMove and the 7-hour Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro are fine for training and are a bad idea on race day.

One structural advantage of a neckband: there is no charging case, so there is no top-up mid-race and nothing to leave in a bag drop. An earbud's headline total, 48 hours with the case for the OpenFit 2, is irrelevant on a course. Read the per-charge number only.

The table

Rain, sweat and four hours

A marathon is the longest continuous soaking most headphones ever get, and the IP ratings in this category are not uniform. IP55, which covers the OpenRun Pro 2, the OpenFit 2 and the AeroFit 2, means protection against water jets and is fine for sweat and for rain you run through. IP66 on the Suunto Wing 2 is heavier spray. IP67 on the OpenRun Air 2 and IPX7 on the Cleer ARC 5 mean temporary immersion, which is the margin you want if the forecast is bad and you will be out there for five hours.

The practical rule: if rain is likely, pick from the IP67 and IPX7 rows. If it is a dry autumn morning, the IP55 sets are not the weak link. What none of them are rated for is being left wet in a kit bag afterwards, so dry the contacts before charging. The rating system is explained at earbud IP ratings explained.

What 26.2 miles does to a fit

Things that are unnoticeable at 5K become the only thing you can think about at mile 20. Three of them:

Weight and pressure points. The Suunto Wing 2 is 35 g, the OpenRun Pro 2 is 30.3 g and the OpenRun Air 2 is 26.4 g. On a band, that load sits behind your ears for four hours. Lighter is genuinely better here in a way it is not on a treadmill.

Sunglasses and a cap. A band, glasses arms and a hat all want the same space. Put the headphones on last, and practice the combination on a long run rather than discovering it in the corral.

Sweat on the controls. Every pick here except the AeroFit 2 and the Cleer has physical or pressure buttons. A touch panel with four hours of salt on it does things you did not ask for, and at mile 22 you will not have the patience.

The awareness case is the same one we make everywhere on this site, and at a marathon it is at its strongest: aid stations, lapped runners, vehicles on a rolling closure, a marshal shouting a direction. The full argument is at can you hear traffic with open-ear headphones?

Buyer's guide: race-day headphones

Charge the night before, not the morning of

A 5-minute top-up gives the OpenRun Pro 2 2.5 hours, which is a rescue, not a plan. Full charge, then airplane mode off, then into the bag.

Nothing new on race day

The oldest rule in the sport applies to headphones too. Run at least one long training run in the exact combination of headphones, hat and glasses you will race in.

Buy a band if you are racing in a crowd

Start corrals and narrow turns mean contact. A neckband cannot be knocked off. An earbud can, and you will not stop to look for it.

Consider running the first half without them

Plenty of experienced marathoners save the music for the back half, when it does more. That halves your battery requirement and makes the early miles easier to pace by feel and by the runners around you.