Sport science
Running on air As I lace up for my morning run I take stock of what I need to carry: water bottle, check; light snack, check; cap, check; mask, check… wait – what was that? There was a time not so long ago when my runs gave me my dose of fresh air. When the cool, fresh breeze would tease my senses and make me want to run further. As I put one foot in front of the other all I would hear was a refreshing wind brushing past my ears. The rhythm of my breathing would be like music as I became one with nature. Running was like meditation or pranayama – the breath of life. With increased urbanisation our cities are becoming more polluted and the joy of running has been marred. What tickles my senses now is the particulate matter – soot – which smothers our cities. As a cardiologist I have always focused on fitness. I am also a triathlete and love to run, bike and swim. My colleague, an environmental engineer and fellow runner, vouches for the fact that air quality over the years has worsened and made it more difficult to run – especially for long distance runners. As marathon runners we train long and hard and poor air quality is now becoming an occupational hazard. But, unlike drinking water, we have no choice – we have to breathe the air that is available to us. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures 91% of the world’s population live in areas with above average levels of air pollution. World Athletics says that: “athletes are disproportionately affected by poor air quality due to the nature of their profession. It becomes worse when they train for large proportions of the day in cities where the air pollution is more intense.” According to WHO figures air pollution kills seven million people annually; almost equal
Air pollution has forced cancellation of some major distance running events in recent years but Dr Srikanth Sola describes a new technology to combat it to the number of people killed by tobacco. Nitrogen oxide is among the four key pollutants that air quality monitors can capture, along with particulates PM10 and PM2.5 (meaning tiny particles with a diameter of less than one-hundredth of a millimetre and twenty-five
thousandths of a millimetre respectively), and soot. The presence of these contaminants have a significant correlation with the runner’s performance. Despite months of meticulous training if the air quality on the day of competition exceeds a safe level it can be a major spoiler. Distance Running | 2020 Edition 2
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