Runners wondering if the time has to come for major road races to operate in near-normal fashion can take heart in a white paper developed by an infectious disease epidemiologist that was commissioned by Running USA, a trade association that represents the running industry.
Noting that three mass participation races since February attracted more than 5,000 runners each without any known COVID-19 transmission, the paper, written by Dr. Brooke Nichols, is intended to be used as guidance for race organizers across the country. Nichols is an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.
“As vaccination rates increase across the country, and our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) transmission improves, there is a clear path towards the return to racing,” Nichols wrote. “Given the relatively limited risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission outdoors, coupled with several mitigation measures, it is possible to continue racing while minimizing transmission risk.”
While some might question the objectivity of a paper commissioned by an industry trade association, Denver infectious disease specialist Ray Blum supports its conclusions. Blum is also a passionate runner.
“Dr. Nichols has done an admirable job addressing the issues,” Blum said after reading the 15-page report. “It is well-referenced and makes sense to me.”
Already some major events are gearing up for mass participation racing in the fall, including marathons in Boston, Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles. Nichols asserted that “there is now a growing body of evidence on how to return to running events safely,” based on the success of Spartan races in Jacksonville, Fla., and San Antonio, Texas, which attracted 6,000 and 5,500 respectively in February and March. A Tough Mudder race in Atlanta last month attracted 6,200.
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“As vaccination rates increase across the country, eventually the likelihood of severe diseases and mortality will decline, as will the likelihood of transmission events,” Nichols wrote. “However, during this transition period between a pandemic phase and endemic phase of the epidemic, many mitigation requirements are still required to keep participants, staff and volunteers safe in the context of running races.”
The report notes that COVID-19 transmission is extremely rare outdoors. It recommends three-foot social distancing, and that masks be required in gathering places such as packet pickup areas and expos. It recommends that masks be worn in start corrals, finish areas and for the first several hundred yards of the race course until runners are spaced out. It says runners could then take their masks off, but they should keep them on their persons for use in the finish area.
“The World Health Organization does not recommend the use of facial coverings during vigorous exercise, given that one meter (three feet) of distance is maintained,” the white paper says. “Running in groups that stick together for the race should be discouraged by race leadership. In general, because of airflow and dispersion due to being outdoors, as well as the limited duration that any two participants spend near each other on the course, the probability of transmission during racing is strongly reduced.”
Andrea Dowdy, executive director of the Colfax Marathon, said this year’s marathon and its associated races (half marathon, marathon relay, 10-miler and 5K) will unfold much like they have in the past except for their timing. Colfax is normally held in May but will be held Oct. 16-17 this year. The 5K is usually held the day before the other races.
“Because I have multiple days and multiple start areas, I anticipate that I can be at the numbers I used to be in the past,” Dowdy said. “For the people who start in (City Park), which is the half, the full and leg one (of the marathon relay), I will spread out my physical area for the start line. I do expect Colfax to look much like it used to, in October.”
The Bolder Boulder Memorial Day race has been canceled for this year, but race director Cliff Bosley is hopeful that its Labor Day counterpart, the Fortitude 10K in Fort Collins, can happen this year.
“We do waves at all of our races,” Bosley said. “We’ve got that built-in mechanism to scale up the size of a wave — the physical distance of a wave — and the ability to pare down the number of people in a wave. We’ve also got the ability to figure out how much time should be built in between waves. Because we control those three dynamics, I think we can work within this framework to put on a really safe event.”
Blum, who is the president of Denver’s Infectious Disease Consultants, had one suggestion to add to the conclusions in the Running USA white paper.
“The number of people coughing at the end of a race is significant,” Blum said. “They will need room to spread out before their masks are able to be donned and their coughs subside. Excluding staff and non-participants from this area would make sense as well. While the risk of transmission is extremely low outdoors, a congested finish line could be problematic.”
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