Give me a beat

Listening to music gives you an undeniable emotional edge when running. In fact, some races will not let runners who are professional or vying for an age group prize listen to music as it is conceived as an unfair advantage.

There are purists out there who think that listening to music, podcasts, audiobooks, etc. takes too much away from the experience of running and inhibits your ability to get in "tune" with your body. There's also the safety aspect to consider. Running with music obviously hampers your ability to hear oncoming traffic...or bears.

But, I think those that take advantage of audio company far outweigh those that don't. So, for those of you who DO listen in...I thought it would be great to get the ultimate play list going.
Songs that I favor tend to be ones that I know well and can hum or sing along to or that remind of happy times. A nice thumping beat doesn't hurt either. Here is a sampling of what is on my running playlist right now:

Bruises - Chairlift
Lose Yourself - Eminem
You Make My Dreams Come True - Hall & Oates
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Simon and Garfunkel
Home  - Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros
Lonely Boy - The Black Keys
Callin' Baton Rouge - Garth Brooks
Rockin' the Suburbs - Ben Folds
Paper Planes - M.I.A
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Sunshine - Jonathan Edwards
Faith - George Michael
Time to Pretend - MGMT
See The World - Gomez
Messages - Xavier Rudd
Anything by Vampire Weekend

Let's hear it from you. Post your favorites in the comments. Remember - there are no judgements when it comes to taste in running music!

Run for your lives,
Bree