Austin ISD cross country coach pulls team from race due to heat concerns

AUSTIN, Texas - Every day before school, the Murchison Middle School cross country runners catch the sunrise and beat the heat. 

"We practice Monday through Friday at 7 a.m.," said Coach Travis Thomas. "Most of our meets are on Saturday mornings, so even if the race is at 10 or maybe even 11 a.m., it's still not the maximum heat of the day."

However, an upcoming race in Lockhart is planned for Friday evening, when temperatures are forecasted to reach the triple digits.

After hearing from some concerned parents, Thomas decided to pull the team from the race. 

"I may have something of a blind spot here because I do run in the heat, and I'm an adult. And maybe the kids experience it differently," he said. "Some of them don't have the same experience running. Some of them aren't as aware of maybe when they're about to have a heat-related issue, and they don't think about hydration as much maybe as I do."

Earlier this week, FOX 7 spoke to the mother of a Bowie High School football player who ended up in the ICU after the first game of the season.

"We just have to look at it in a different way if this heat is going to continue," said Jennifer Norman-Wolfe. "We have to not be afraid to make some big changes with some of these outdoor activities."

For athletes who are competing in the heat of the day, the UIL has recommendations online that include knowing the signs of heat illnesses and allowing unrestricted access to water.

"These are kids who may not be as aware of the symptoms. They may have psychological reasons that they want to push through and ignore their own symptoms. And we coaches are usually not doing the same things that the kids are doing," said Thomas. "So we might want to put ourselves in their shoes and think what it might feel like to be in a set of football pads or running a long distance in the heat of the day."

AISD protocols for athletics during extreme weather conditions are listed here.