In A Sport Where Processing Oxygen Is Essential, Requiring Masks For Racing Is Wrong

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

High school cross country runners in Oregon and New Mexico were allowed to re-join their teams, finally, this week. 

Unfortunately, they are also faced with the prospect of racing with face coverings designed to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus. 

Coaches in both states are doing what they can to push back and create a safe space where kids can not only gather – but breathe. 

Cross country should not be confused with jogging. If public health officials and elected politicians paused just a moment to evaluate what's happening when high school kids are running hills or 200-meter repeats – let alone racing – it wouldn't take them long to realize that oxygen and lung power is the foundation of the sport. 

Any type of mask, by its very nature, restricts airflow to some degree.

Phil English, the esteemed and long-time coach of Eisenhower High in Yakima, Wash., quickly led action to get the mask rules eliminated for cross country runners in Washington state, at least for competition. 

"I tackled this at the local level with the health department," English explained. "But the intent was always to get this requirement waived statewide. I just went at it in a different direction. I went up the chain, instead of down the chain."

English put a compelling argument together, cited scientific studies on the impacts of masks on breathing, and found 20 doctors ready and willing to back the request with their signatures. 

"It came as a surprise to us," English said. "We weren't expecting it as we were moving forward to open the cross country season."

His biggest takeaway: "No one in their right mind would push this. A lot of us felt like this was going to become a health hazard, that the cure was going to be worse than the disease."

Then he sent it to health officials and state politicians. 

English persuaded the right people, not an easy task these days, and last week the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced that cross country runners in the state would not have to wear masks in competition. 

Oregon coaches, such as Siuslaw's Chris Johnson, Jesuit's Tom Rothenberger and Summit's Kari Strang, are now trying to press decision-makers in their state to do the same. 

In New Mexico, where heels are firmly dug into mask-wearing at all times, there may not be a way out of this. (To be fair, as of Wednesday, the Gov. of New Mexico lifted the mask rule for some outdoor activities, primarily to relieve university and semi-pro sports).

"We've hit a roadblock at every level," Albuquerque Academy coach Adam Kedge said. 

In New Mexico, not only are masks required for high school athletes at all times, there is a pod restriction of four athletes per coach. The state directly east of wide-open Arizona, it seems, has the most limited path forward of any of the 50 states. 

That's not to say that Kedge and his athletes aren't happy to have something or that they won't play by the rules. 

But it's frustrating. Every coach in America can see for themselves that 36 states have successfully managed a season that included a state championship meet. Yes, some were modified and others forged ahead with little or no alteration. 

But every one of them happened without masks in races, which is the place where athletes push themselves the hardest. Wear them to the starting line, sure. Put them back on after the finish line, OK. 

There is no evidence that high school cross country competitions have contributed to the nation's staggering totals of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations or deaths. Runners can be socially distant when they are not racing. And when they are, they are not face to face.

The athletes themselves are taking the lead. Washing hands. Maintaining personal space. Avoiding unnecessary gatherings. When one of them becomes ill, they quarantine to protect their teammates.

Eleven months into this, health officials in Oregon and New Mexico seem unaware that this activity, conducted outdoors, does not spread the disease and has been conducted many times responsibly and without incident. 

Back in April of 2020, it was a different story. Everybody from Dr. Anthony Fauci, to the CDC, to state health officials, grappled with creating a set of best practices. What works? What doesn't? It's why schools and all of sports shut down last spring. 

What we know now is that the virus is far more transmissable in a closed room with stagnant air than it is outside. 

Last April, Dr. Stuart Weiss, the medical director of the New York Road Runners, wrote:

“Running with a face covering will change the dynamics of breathing, depending on the material the face covering is made of. It will be harder to breathe in, and that may affect performance.”

Dr. Weiss added that running with a mask may result in increased nasal mucus production as well as creating a pool of sweat around the mouth.

None of that is dangerous, but it's unpleasant. 

This week I spoke with Strang, the coach at Summit High in Bend, Ore. 

"Cross country is hard enough as it is," she said. "Why are we making it harder for them to breathe in order to do something they love?"

Strang readily admits she is a "stickler" about masks, even in workouts. In the grocery store. At school. At any gathering where people can't maintain social distance, especially inside.

 She draws the line at races and this week helped write the "Oregon Youth Cross Country Mask Regulation Change Request," following the lead of English in Washington. 

In New York state, where there have been no state championships held during the 2020-21 school year, some school districts required cross country runners to wear masks. 

In Section 5, for instance, where there were small meets conducted in October and November, runners at Guilderland and Bethlehem had to race in masks against other runners who did not. 

Last fall there was also ample concern about a looming wave of cases, which turned out to be true. 

The Armory in New York City opened for small, socially-distant time trial events and even staged a couple of "meets" before the facility was re-purposed as a vaccination center. 

Kids wore masks in races up to a mile. 

Joseph Perazza from Staten Island ran 4:25.68 for 1,600 meters in a mask. It was a tremendous feat. It's a bit like climbing a Himalayan peak without the aid of supplemental oxygen. 

But it was also indoors.

NBA and college basketball players are not wearing masks when they are on the court. College runners are not required to wear them for cross country or indoor track when they are competing. 

And cases are going down, thankfully. In Oregon yesterday there were fewer than 200 people hospitalized with COVID-19, down from more than 600 at the start of 2021. 

California and Nevada have both opened cross country practice and listed cross country as "low risk." Neither state requires masks for competition.

It's time that Oregon and New Mexico, and any other holdouts, give student-athletes the same grace. Look at the science. Look at the evidence provided by the other states. 

Kids have been through enough. 

Wearing a cloth mask, in the rain, in a 5,000-meter cross country race? 

Think about that for a moment. That's like running with a rag stuffed in your mouth. 

The long wait for a return to high school sports doesn't have to be like that. Most states have already done it safely and responsibly. Most recently, North Carolina pressed through its season in January after using all reasonable caution at every step.

Oregon and Washington and California have already canceled the state championship meets, which points to a disappointing lack of imagination to figure it out. 

Now that these students are back and training, they are re-establishing goals and working to improve, to test their abilities again.

Don't make this any harder than it needs to be.