Ahead of tomorrow's New York City Marathon, the ​New Yorker ​asks "Are Smartphones Ruining Distance Running?"​ In the piece, Mary Pilon accurately writes that:

"With a smartphone in tow and a playlist humming, a runner may miss the crunch of leaves underfoot, the enthusiastic cheers of benevolent strangers, or even her own breath. And, for many runners, leaving the mobile device at home is the most liberating part of the sport. 'When I'm running, I don't have to talk to anybody and don't have to listen to anybody,' the novelist and marathon runner Haruki Murakami writes..."

​Correct. That is exactly why smartphones are not ruining distance running: you don't have to talk to anybody, and you don't have to bring your phone with you. It's great. Here's a secret: people were capable of being unaware horror shows while running before the iPhone was invented.

Distance running doesn't require smartphone control. It doesn't require anything at all, if you don't want it to. Smartphones are maybe ruining distance running for other people--or making them enjoy running more if they think so--but they don't have to ruin it for you.