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April 4th, 2010:

Pall of filth casts shadow over marathon

logoLast updated: March 25, 2010

Source: The Standard

The organizer of the Standard Chartered Marathon is worried about the record high air pollution in the city, which he fears could hit next year’s event.

The organizer of the Standard Chartered Marathon is worried about the record high air pollution in the city, which he fears could hit next year’s event.

The air pollution index hit a choking 500 on Monday – the highest reading since 1989 when the government launched the index.

Worsening air pollution has also played a part in preventing Hong Kong’s elevation in the latest Location Rating report published yesterday by ECA International.

The report ranks countries according to the living standards they can offer expatriates.

Regional director Lee Quane said that air pollution continues to be the dominant factor that makes Hong Kong a harder location for foreigners to adapt to living in.

Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association chairman Kwan Kee said he is worried about air pollution endangering runners in the annual Standard Marathon.

“A lot of education is needed to teach runners about how to cope with different weather conditions and how to take care of themselves,” said Kwan. “We will do our best to provide runners with updated information about the temperature, humidity and the air index.”

However, he said that because of the unpredictable weather, even a change in the date of the run might not help.

He is looking at areas of improvement suggested by the runners of this year’s marathon, held on February 28.

“The route, date and the opening hours for the roads will all affect the organization of the coming marathon, and we are in discussions with various government departments to work on this,” Kwan said.

The champion of the women’s full marathon, Mok Chi-ling, hopes the date of the race can be changed to some time in January, when the weather should not be as bad.

Even though she had trained hard for the event, she was unable to run as well as she had hoped to. Humidity was the main problem, not the air temperature, she said.

“The high humidity causes more energy to be exerted because of dehydration, and you need to drink a lot of water to replace this,” she said.

“I have become more worried because of the worsening air pollution. A marathon requires a lot of physical exertion especially after the 30-kilometer mark, and breathing will be very difficult if the pollution is bad.”

Mok added that she copes with the pollution by training in the mornings, when the weather is better and there are fewer cars around to contribute to the worsening air pollution.

Written by Kaylene Hong