Man in the mask is not dangerous

Press, 1 May 1981, Page 13

Man in the mask is not dangerous

By

JOHN DREW

■ ‘'Hey, what have you been doing, robbing a bank? - ’ The cry came one recent evening as I ran past a group of good-humoured, late-night shoppers chatting on the footpath in a city street. I was on . my' way home from a 30-mile tairiing run on the Port Hills — so it certainly was not the furious pace. of a fugitive robber which took their notice. The sight of a runner wearing what could well be taken for a smog mask, in smog-free conditions, has puzzled many who pass me when I have been training on the town and country roads. I seldom have a chance to explain my mask has nothing to do with smog. Even then only wish it did. In built-up areas public responses vary.. Hand-in-hand young lovers.' in the grip of glandular delusion, usually pass me by without comment. Now and again there is a howl of derision from a beat-up carload patrolling the city with the exuberance of youth. So I sympathise with some friends and othe,s who sometimes rib me for wearing a mask round the parks when the air is clear and smog free. Its not, however, always the vulgar minded who laugh at what they cannot understand. On a*3o-mile training run on the Port Hills, wearing my mask on a sparkling clear day, a Canterbury representative athlete, who holds a doctorate in one of the scientific disciplines, called out with a scintillating flash of perception: "there's no smog up here.” Again there was no time to explain the mask had nothing to do with filtering particles of air pollutants or other allergens . . . that the function of the mask was to warm and moisten the cold dry air on the hill, the cause of paroxysms of Exerciseinduced Asthma which can put me. coughing and spitting with suffocation, on to the side of the road in a few minutes. After about 18 years of distance running, since I began training at the age of 48; after more than 40,000 miles of training and racing: I had found myself relegated to being able to run only about 15 minutes or so. Anything much further than that and E.1.A., which I am told is a common affliction, leaves you struggling for air. You leave a trail like soap suds along the road behind you, until the paroxysm brings you wondering if it’s possible to take another step and yet escape total suffocation. That’s what happened when I tackled the annual New Brighton 50-mile race for the ninth time, at the age of 66. The toughest phases of the journey, from’ about 27 to 45 miles,'can mean every step is an aching act of anguish. You wonder how to cope with the physical and mental horror of getting to the finish. On top of this, what do you do in a 50-mile race when you are, for most of the distance, in panic of strug-

gling and gasping to get in enough air to enable you to take the next step. It was something of a miracle last year that I was able to complete that “50” at all. considering that I was handicapped with the respiratory affliction of Ex-ercise-induced Asthma. This condition first hit me when well over 60. A doctor was honest and direct. He tested my air intake before and after running. ‘'My word, you have got it alright,” he said brightly. But, he added, there was nothing much to be done about it apart from throat dilator sprays and pills: and he seemed doubtful if these would help much. Later. I saw an article by Dr George Sheehan in a top United States running journal implying that humidified and warmed air can inhibit E.I.A. Dr Sheehan is about as well known among North America’s 25 million regular runners as Mr Reagan is in politics. From a paint shop I bought, for less than a dollar, a couple of felt masks. My experiments in varying weather and conditions, in events ranging from 42.25 km to 100 km, show that when inhaled air is warmed and moistened by wearing a felt mask, E.1.A." is totally abolished. Meantime, an associate profesor at the University of Western Australia has been saying much the same thing. And “sportsmen’s asthma cold air masks” are being advertised for sale in Britain and the United States. It was pleasing also to meet overseas athletes when I completed the 20km road walk and marathon at the World Veteran Games whs wanted to know about how a mask can abolish E.I.A. One of these was Mr O. G. Flaherty, of Edinburgh, the new secretary-elect of the World Veteran Athletes Association. He had the same affliction himself, he said. In the “50” last year I had to lie down at 25" miles but speedily called for' help to haul me to my feet because, in the prone position, I was close to being totally suffocated. What a difference when I tackled the 1981 New Brighton ••50” on April 4. It was the tenth time I had completed this race. It was the twentieth year the race had been held. It was like a dream come true. My time was 2 hr 2min faster than in the “asthma” run the year before. Instead of the gasping, 'struggling wreck at the halfway mark last year, this year I was ready at half-way to attack the remainder of the race and ran the second half five minutes faster than the first. A fortnight later my time in my fifth annual Mount Hutt marathori of 26.2 miles was some 50 minutes better than the previous one, two years before. What a fine double present in advance for my sixtyeighth birthday. And not a bad lead up for the Nike City of Christchurch Marathon oh Mav 31.