Dr. Tom Lawton Ran 22 Miles in a Mask To Prove A Point Does wearing a mask really impair your oxygen levels as some people claim? Recent internet sensation Dr. Tom Lawton went to extremes to find out. After a prolonged period of not running, he ran 22 miles in a homemade triple-layer mask, testing his oxygen levels along the way. His goal was twofold: to prove it’s safe to wear a mask while walking about and to raise money for charity.    In this episode, Coach Claire delves into the details of Tom’s mask experiment, finds out if he thinks runners should wear masks, what his experience as a critical care doctor has been like in the UK with the coronavirus, and also what he thought about recent controversial RTTT guest Matthew Hammersmith who has been putting on in-person races during the pandemic. Spoiler alert: Tom is not fully for or against what Matt is doing. Check out his opinion and see if you agree.   Tom Lawton is an intensive care doctor with the Bradford Royal Infirmary in Yorkshire, England, a healthcare researcher, and triathlete.  After being fat and wheezy through childhood, he took up rowing at his university, and hated running with a passion. Unable to run more than about a quarter of a mile without knee pain and a loud “slap” accompanying each foot strike, he foolishly ran (well, mostly walked while sobbing in pain) the London Marathon to raise money for charity. He then vowed never to run again. A decade later and unfit once more, a drunken wedding bet saw Tom enter the first Ironman Wales. He started running under protest and arrived at the race having managed training runs of no longer than 10 miles. Undeterred, he excitedly scarfed down everything he’d picked up from the expo during the bike section. Alas, at least one of those things did not agree with him and he spent most of the run being sick. Nevertheless, he still somehow managed to beat his London Marathon time, which prompted him to pick up triathlon training for real. Since then, Tom has continued to improve and has finished each of his last six iron-distance races in under 10 hours. However, the pandemic has put a stop to all that and he has been unable to train much since January due to a combination of work and the stress of caring for sick patients.  Tom desperately wants to get back to training, so he wants everyone to do whatever they can to keep this virus under control, and he has become a keen mask advocate. In order to prove they were safe to wear around the shops, he pushed a bit more oxygen through one by running to the ICU and back, and has spent the last few weeks exposed to the Internet’s underbelly in the aftermath with his aforementioned 22-mile run.  Questions Tom is asked:          5:03 You are a critical care doctor in the UK who has recently gotten quite a bit of attention for running 22 miles wearing a triple layer mask to prove that wearing a mask does not cause a drop in oxygen levels.  Before we get into that story, can you tell me a bit about what life is like with the pandemic where you are?   6:56 Can you talk a little bit about what the hospital you were working at was like in April with all the cases coming in?   8:20 Was your hospital overwhelmed with COVID patients?   8:50 In the United States, a big part of the decision to wear a mask or not seems to be a very political one.  We Americans prize our freedom and individualism and some people just don't like being told what to do, so they don’t want to wear a mask.  Are you seeing that in the UK as well, that kind of attitude?   10:54 Let's have you tell the story of the run that got shared around the world.  How did you set it up and what’s the story?     14:47 Tell me about the mask you were wearing on your run?   15:49 How did you measure your oxygen levels on the run?   17:02 What kind of feedback are you getting from people? Are people saying that, “Well, you’re an athlete. Of course your oxygen levels are going to be great,” or “I have asthma. This isn’t going t