On Sunday, Melissa Bishop-Nriagu hit the Olympic standard, clocking 1:59:04 in the women’s 800 meters. This will be the 32-year-old’s third Olympics. It will also be her first as a mom. 

Coming out of a frustrating race in Eugene, where her performance was less than she had hoped for, Bishop-Nriagu knew she needed to go for it in California. She had made plenty of sacrifices over the past year, including transplanting her family to Vancouver for a three-month training cycle.

“My husband Osi has been so amazing,” she says. “There is a balance I like to have between family and work, both bring me energy in different ways so I want to make my time [away] as efficient as I can.”

On the track in California, putting her trust in the pacer, got her through the first 600m fast—keeping her focused on pushing to the line in her last 100. It was close. So close she didn’t know she’d made the standard until her coach confirmed it. Three months out from Tokyo, she has a sense of relief because the new Olympic system has made it tough getting into races ranked high enough to meet qualifying standards.

How was she able to make a third run at an Olympic standard while still running after her daughter? For Bishop-Nriagu, when she got back to training, it was all about consistency. “I’ve had time to allow my body to rest and push it when necessary,” she says. “The biggest difference between 2018 and now is that I’ve consistently been putting my training together, like strings of months of training and I’ve remained injury-free.”

Looking ahead, Bishop-Nriagu is grateful for her team who have invested in her goal of an Olympic medal. “My goals haven’t changed and we have a small team of people who are very invested in this goal with me; including my late coach Dennis, and my daughter Corinne.” It’s the people she holds close to her—her daughter, her coaches, her family and her husband, who are the reasons she is fighting for this goal. “A successful Games will be shared with a lot of people in my corner, not just me.”

Olympic goals notwithstanding, Bishop-Nriagu admitted to still struggling with “mom guilt.” In speaking with other working moms, she found the advice she received was pretty simple: “Don’t sweat the small stuff. I know Corinne is fine, she’s happy and doesn’t seem to notice I’m gone,” she says. Yet even on this trip, she admits to feeling a little sad about being way from her daughter, wondering if it’s all worth it. “Now that I’ve run the standard, I can confidently say that yes, it was worth it.” And it fills her with pride, as she should, that Corinne is able to see her mom doing bad-ass things.

Anna Lee Boschetto is a regular iRun contributor, freelance writer and runner with two incredible daughters.

Kevin Jones is a reasonable, smart, data-driven director of risk management who’s worked with everyone from the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon to the Rolling Stones. As American races open up with in-person options, we asked Jones the question on runner’s minds: when will Canada do the same?

Ben Kaplan: What do you do and how do you do it and who do you do it for? 

Kevin Jones: I’m an executive director at Odyssey Medical and we’re a risk management service for any mass gathering. Pre-COVID, 2019, we assessed more than 2,000 events across Canada, from the Fury 5K to the Rolling Stones concert. 

BK: I received an email that Alanis Morissette was playing Toronto in July. Will that happen? 

KJ: No. 

BK: Definitely not? 

KJ: Not with spectators and a crowd. Until we’ve got the vaccination rate above 70%, I don’t think will there be any kinds of large groups gathering. And look at the major music festivals, even the ones in Quebec have been cancelled this summer. 

BK: What are you seeing across the country? 

KJ: Struggling. Look at Alberta. The province was pushing the boundaries and now it’s become the country’s new COVID-19 hotbed.  

BK: Are we going to have in-person races in Canada? 

KJ: I wouldn’t anticipate it. Not until there’s stabilization of our medical care units and the ICUs aren’t above capacity. 

BK: You work with Canada Running Series and I dreamed on my Sunday long run of crossing that finish line with a PB and drinking a beer afterwards amongst adoring crowds. Is that happening? 

KJ: There’s high potential for some small local Canadian races. The local races used to be feeders to the big events, but now the feeders are going to be our leaders. I think in 2021 and 2022, there’s going to be a reverse paradigm: the leaders will look at the breeders and feeders and study how their race went. 

BK: Can’t we have races in the fall? 

KJ: We need to prove to the government any sporting event can be done with a very high margin of safety and there’s lots of variables working with us to get back to in-person racing, including that you’d see compliant behaviour amongst runners to whatever rules were in play because people so badly want to do stuff. 

BK: I love that. Whatever the rules are, we’ll follow. Just let us race! 

KJ: It’s a passionate crowd that loves racing and I think you’d certainly expect more compliance at a race than, say, a big box store where people don’t feel particularly close to their event. But look at the rules around golf that Canada has adopted. Ontario is the only North American jurisdiction banning golfing outdoors and it’s beyond a reasonable doubt that it’s less risky than other activities based on outdoor space and distance.  

BK: Running races are outdoors and distanced. 

KJ: They are, but there is uncertainty on the course and we don’t want people to congregate. 

BK: There are Canadian races being planned for in-person events this summer and fall. The Muskoka Marathon on October 3. The sold-out Petit du Nord in Quebec on October 3. The Banff Marathon, Melissa’s Road Race and all over Prince Edward Island. Is this indicative of a return to racing in Canada? 

KJ: I think there’s hope these are going to happen. And I certainly think a structured race of 3 to 500 people sees more behavioural compliance than, say, a protest of 200 people. 

BK: What about races in Canada? 

KJ: There’s evidence that outdoor sporting activities are lower risk than something like concerts, but I don’t suspect we’ll see large gatherings of people in Canada in 2021. 

BK: What’s a large gathering? 

KJ: Remains to be determined, but in the context of 2021? Over 1,000 people. In terms of what’s the difference between 1,000 and 5,000 people, all of that will be determined in time. 

BK: So how will racing evolve? 

KJ: Small cohorts of, say, groups of 250 people racing at any one time so that by the end of the day, maybe 1,000 people ran the course, but never were they all running at the same time.  

BK: It’s infuriating that while we can’t race with 10,000 people, 20,000 people will run Boston. 

KJ: Their vaccination rate is leaps and bounds ahead of ours and I think the new normal is that everyone has to be thankful for whatever they have the opportunity to do. 

BK: True, but still sucks. 

KJ: No doubt it’s challenging for everyone and the regional differences do make things tough. Even here in Ontario, different parts of the province have issued different lockdown protocols 

BK: So where are we at? 

KJ: A local race with 500 people in Canada is an experience worth having. But I don’t think anyone should set their hops on a 2019-type racing experience in Canada. That’s still a year away.  

BK: What are the benchmarks we should look at for when things become normal? 

KJ: Vaccination rates above 70% and the healthcare capacity at a manageable level. Before we get there, no large-scale event director will be issued a permit. Nor would they want one.

Dr. Brooke Nichols is a marathon runner, health economist and infectious disease mathematical modeler. She’s been working with the Boston and Chicago Marathon as both of North America’s premiere events announced a return to in-person races this October. This week, as many Canadians shared their Boston acceptance letters, Dr. Nichols also released her white paper on the safety of races and determined, largely due to the vaccination rates in the United States and the minimal risk of COVID-19 transmission outdoors, that in-person racing held minimal risk. iRun editor Ben Kaplan reached Dr. Nichols to discuss her findings and better assess our current racing environment.  

Ben Kaplan: Tell us exactly what you do.  

Dr. Brooke Nichols: I’m an infectious disease modeller and have been working exclusively in global policy around the coronavirus for the past year.

BK: And you’re familiar with the flow of large-scale running races? 

BN: I do them all the time, so the intersection of racing and pandemics are really a marriage of my passions, unfortunately.

BK: Where do we currently stand with regards to our return to racing? 

BN: Boston’s coming in October. 27,000 participants are running Los Angeles in November and the Chicago Marathon is scheduled on Sunday, October 10. 

BK: Are these events going to be like the races we’ve run before? 

BN: Not exactly. The approach we’re taking is to prioritize all the touch points of a race to determine what matters and what doesn’t.  

BK: What doesn’t? 

BN: There’s two subsets when we talk about races: the big ones, where people come from everywhere into a community, and the small local events that are mostly run by members of the local community. People congregating impacts the local community, but it’s also about who’s coming into the community and how it affects local transmission. That’s one of the big things organizers need to look at regarding the Olympics.

BK: Right, and the Olympics are scheduled for this July. So how do we safely run a race? What’s going to happen with Boston? 

BN: First, ensure that people don’t arrive sick. Athletes are notoriously stubborn. I ran Comrades 90K sick, not good. Now, however, I think people are aware with the coronavirus that if you’re sick and don’t feel well, don’t race. Boston and the bigger races might have more trouble with that then the local events because if you’ve trained forever for a goal race, it’s hard not to show up. 

BK: How do races make sure runners aren’t racing sick? 

BN: Allow mechanisms for refunds or compensatory measures. We don’t want to incentivize people to show up sick.  

BK: What about testing?

BN: That’s going to be hard for smaller races, at least right now. Later, when we start seeing home self-tests for like $3, when that starts to happen, that will change the calculus of things. Boston, for instance, is now suggesting that two negative COVID tests are required before race day, even if athletes have had two doses of a vaccine. 

BK: Boston has also eliminated their staging area in Hopkinton and will release athletes in a rolling start. What else should we expect at in-person events this fall? 

BN: At the starting line and finish lines, we recommend that runners wear masks.

BK: So not when you’re racing? 

BN: Not when you’re racing, no. And we want to allow for two metres of spacing in the starting pen. We know that racers are going to crowd at the front, so that’s why, when distancing is hard, we want people in masks.

BK: Then you start your race, put your mask in your pocket and then throw it on after you cross the line? 

BN: Basically. Though we are allowing people to breathe for a second at the end before they put the masks on. We don’t want people to congregate, but we understand people are a mess at the finish line and I don’t want to recommend immediately putting on a mask. I know how it feels to finish a race. 

BK: I miss racing so much. 

BN: We know so many of us do. And things will change as more people get the vaccine but for now, for instance, we’d want runners to put their masks back on before a volunteer gives them their medal.  

BK: What other unique precautions will be taken? 

BN: Waves of runners released in staggers over times. 

BK: What precautions won’t be taken? 

BN: Pre-packaged food or water. That’s not how coronavirus is transmitted. Sometimes we’ve gone over the top on the wrong things. I don’t want people to over-sanitize everything. It doesn’t matter for coronavirus transmission.  

BK: There will be volunteers? 

BN: Volunteers can be handing out water in masks, or manning water tables—but there may need to be more tables required than before to ensure people don’t congregate around a small aid station. 

BK: Races have already been happening. What have we learned from the events that have been held? 

BN: There’s been races of 4,000, 5,000 and 6,000 people in the U.S. and there’s not been a documented case of runners getting the coronavirus. I will say, however, that’s a difficult metric to determine, but a big outbreak we’d certainly hear about. 

BK: And there was a 5,000 person event held recently in Japan. 

BN: That’s right. It was reported publicly and again, there wasn’t a single case of COVID-19. 

BK: So the news for a return to running seems broadly good. 

BN: I think so. There’s more and more data about the spread of COVID outdoors being minimal and during the race itself, the most vulnerable people are the staff members or volunteers working together all day.

BK: Do you think it’s safe to run an in-person event?

BN: I think the risk of transmission at an outdoor event, especially when you run and zigzag through a course and don’t run in a pack or arrive on a bus together, are safe, yes. I think races returning look really good in the United States for the fall.