Do runners need to wear masks?
Little scientific research studying danger to others
Jane Rosen began yelling sometime in April. By May, it had become routine. The incidents usually occur near her minivan, which she parks alongside Central Park in New York City.
As she attempts to enter or exit the vehicle, a cyclist or a runner will whiz by, so close she can practically smell them.
“I scream, ‘Where is your mask?,’” said Rosen, 73.
Her daughter warned her that these confrontations could end badly. But it feels worth it, she said, because lives are at stake. She’s had about 18 such confrontations. The figure would be higher, she said, if she ventured out more often.
Melissa Mayen, a high school senior in Washington, D.C., had also been avoiding going outside. Then, in mid-may, she set out for a ride for the first time in nearly a month.
She was startled when a man, walking across the street, yelled something about a mask.
“I almost fell off my bike,” she said.
She owns one mask, which her father brought her from a construction site where he works. Aside from the fact that it’s so thick that she can barely breathe in it, she tries to preserve it for higher-risk situations.
“If you are yelling at someone to wear a mask, then give them a mask,” she said.
Several months into the coronavirus pandemic, battles over when to wear masks have heated up, sometimes with political alliances replacing health guidelines.
And few activities seem to have incited more debate than exercise: walkers, cyclists, runners, skaters — everyone seems to have contradicting interpretations of the science and etiquette around how to behave outside.
First, let’s get to the rules:
Runners are required to wear masks, right?
Not necessarily. When cities and states started urging people to wear masks to reduce transmission of the coronavirus, some made exceptions for exercising. Carry a mask, many seemed to say, but if you’re by yourself on an empty street, you don’t have to wear it.
New York City explicitly states that face coverings are not required while walking, running or biking, if you can keep your distance. Likewise, San Francisco has urged runners to carry a mask and put it on when they are near other people.
Since mid-may, Los Angeles has required residents to put on a face covering upon leaving home. But masks are not required while running and biking so long as distance is maintained — though they should be carried, the county and city later clarified.
In Boston, an elevated heart rate is no excuse not to cover your nose and mouth.
“You need to be wearing a face covering when you’re out exercising,” Mayor Marty Walsh said in April.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings “where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain,” but offers no specific guidance on exercising.
Why can’t runners just wear masks?
It can be really hard to runinamask.
Many runners are put off by how challenging it is to inhale as their heart rate rises. It can be much more difficult than walking in a mask.
“It’s harder to breathe, and it’s a lot more clammy,” said Gaston Ly, a store manager at Running Room in Honolulu.
Others forgo one because, even as the virus spreads, masks have not been widely adopted in their communities.
“Oh gosh no!” said Larry Holt, the owner of Ken Combs Running Store in Louisville, Kentucky, when asked if runners there wore masks. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of in my life.”
(In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear asked residents to begin wearing masks in public May 11. Like officials elsewhere, he made an exception for people exercising alone.)
Even in Hong Kong, a city so committed to face coverings in public that it has been widely praised as a model, there is little expectation that runners will wear masks, said Brian Woo, a founder of a running group there.
“I assume it’s just understood that running is not a time for wearing masks,” he said.
Still, there’s evidence that runners should wear masks, right?
There is no scientific consensus around the importance of wearing a mask while exercising, primarily because so little relevant research has been completed.
Researchers do agree that masks slow the spread of the virus. They also agree that it’s best to avoid exercising within 6 feet of anyone beyond your immediate household and that working out is less risky outside than inside.
Donald Milton, a professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health who has studied masks’ ability to block respiratory droplets, suggests their value depends on location.
“Outdoors is relatively safe, and masks would only be important if you are exercising in crowded areas or indoors in space shared with other people,” he said.
How could a runner or biker infect me?
It would most likely occur while you were stopped talking to them, said Julian Tang, a virologist and a professor at the University of Leicester in England. He thinks the risk of infection from quickly passing someone is low, because the “massive air volume will dilute any exhaled virus and the wind may carry it away.”
In general, researchers agree that air circulation outdoors seems to strongly inhibit transmission of the coronavirus. In a study of more than 7,300 coronavirus cases in China, just one was connected to outdoor transmission.
What about sweat?
Stranger sweat is disgusting. But it’s not among the bodily fluids that the CDC warns transmits the coronavirus.
What about spitting?
Spitting is not only disgusting but also dangerous, as saliva can contain viral droplets. Runners, cyclists, skaters, walkers — don’t do it! (Or at least not around others.)