Next time you go running, leave the iPod at home.It seems many runners love these gadgets. About one year ago, a “Runner’s World” online survey – “How many people listen to music while running?” – accumulated responses from people who listen to everything from music to NPR to podcasts.Yet the replies also showed some runners dislike iPods, citing the importance of safety, the desire to chat with other runners and the wish to simply appreciate one’s surroundings.I have never run with an iPod and don’t plan on doing so. My reasons are one-third for scenery, two-thirds for safety.First, iPods may help us hear our favorite music, but they limit our ability to hear the beauty of nature around us.People who run in urban areas may ask how much beauty there is in that jackhammer pounding away at the asphalt. Yet even city runners can catch the sounds of nature. On my runs up and down the hills of Somerville, I hear birds (and maybe a squirrel or two) chattering in the treetops. If you find a more natural running spot, the experience can be more serene. Sunday, before the Super Bowl, I ran along Lynn Beach under a full moon. I’d suggest the sound of the ocean is more melodic than an iPod.Tuning in to an iPod also means tuning out your own body. When I go up those Somerville hills, I listen to my breathing. If the breaths are getting deeper, that tells me the hills are getting steeper ? and that I should slow down or rest. After my run Monday, I was also able to hear my thudding heartbeat. Perhaps it was best that I subsequently passed up that pastrami sandwich.Lastly, when we put on those iPods and ear buds, we risk external danger.”While there is no law that I am aware of prohibiting it, I would suggest it does put runners at greater risk when running on public ways. (i.e. running on Lynnfield St. vs. inside Lynn Woods),” Lynn Police Chief Kevin Coppinger wrote in an email. “And, if they’re like some people, the sound is cranked up to maximum volume which is even worse!”Chief Coppinger’s concerns about wearing an iPod and ear buds while running stem from why it is illegal to do the same thing while operating a motor vehicle.”The reason,” he wrote, “is that their hearing thus becomes impaired and limits their ability to hear approaching vehicles, emergency sirens, car horns, and other ‘street noise.'”We runners must also be on guard against theft or personal attack. Speed may help us here.”Runners are generally moving along at a good pace so their ‘threat level’ is generally diminished as compared to someone walking down the street alone and at night,” Coppinger wrote.Yet even experienced runners can face danger. Last month, a 31-year-old Brighton woman wearing headphones was assaulted on a run on Commonwealth Ave. in Newton at about 5:15 a.m. The woman, who is a marathoner, told the media that she screamed to ward off the attacker.In a published media report, she urged runners to “know your area, stay alert? run with a buddy.” According to the same report, Lt. Bruce Apotheker of the Newton Police “suggested runners keep their headphone volume low to hear what’s going on around them.”For all these reasons, I strongly recommend that runners keep away from iPods. You can always listen to that favorite song at home, and your health and safety are more important.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].