How Bad Air Quality Slows Down Marathon Runners

How much bad air quality slows down marathon runners

By Claire Malaltoli Edited Lewis asked

Ask a great race for any week what they are doing. That’s a wet condition, because the rain is freezing or sunny, because it can be slower in a race than in the workout. The runners have been training for marathons, and can be crushed if the hardened performance causes something outside of its control, such as the weather. These athletes can have another factor to obsess for days to achieve their race: air quality.

A new study published last December Sports medicine The connection between air pollution has been found in higher levels, standard environmental protection agency and Slower marathon end hours. The results suggest that the humble amount of air pollution may affect athletic performance.

Researchers performed zero at levels of air pollution known as fine particles or PM_2.5. These are the microscopic particles that accumulate in the air, such as forest fires, agricultural waste and car depletion. Particles are so small that they can do it deeply in the lungs and can also be accessed in the blood. Previous studies have long involved these small air particles in various issues. Research found correlations between PM exposure_2.5both short and long, and a lot of health problems, including cancer, Cardiovascular disease and lung precondition.

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Research has also shown Who exercise during bad air quality, for example, when there is a high level of these fine particles in the airIt is harmful To our health. But little is known for air pollution in resistance events, such as marathons, athletes at the same time work and take a breath.

To better understand this, researchers used a machine-learning model in two private matter in the finals of 2003 and 2019. This learning model comes from various sources, including air sensors, samples and topography. Using this model, from a marathon course than one kilometers can be one kilometer.

The following data was then compared to marathon events for more than 1.5 million finish for male finish and more than a million times for female runners. Researchers adapted for other weather factors, such as high heat or high humidity.

The results showed that they only have a micro-micro for each cubic pm per PM_2.5 Levels are 32 seconds slower, for men with male marathon and 25 second slower motels. In addition, these are the deepest tests called “faster than median” – in other words, they were faster but not necessarily elite levels were runners.

Elvira Fleuryk, Harvard th Chan’s Public School’s doctoral student, is the main author of the study. “In assessing your performance, think about it’s hot day.

“These results can change the” effective dose “in the terms of certain contaminants,” Matthew Ely said, assistant Professor of Human Physiology at Providence College. Ely was not involved in the current study.

While there are not many research on air quality and race performance, in resistance events, this new research is currently in line with what is available today. A A minor study published in 2023 in Scientific reports The US 46 University has followed the 334 University Athlete throughout the US and measured air pollution and exposure to the ozone during the 21-day training period, five kilometers (3.1 kilometers) tournament race. Researchers found both pm under the influence of higher levels_2.5 And the ozone during the workout period, on average, had a slower race.

Beyond race times, results open new questions about exercise, air pollution and runner safety. In fact, researchers want to better understand what is happening in the physiological level when people run poor air quality. Because this study has only a correlation and the correlation between air quality, it is essential to understand the next step for research, fleury, to understand what is happening in the body. Researchers speculate that increasing the thin matter of the particle could be reducing the performance of the blood vessels, increasing inflammation and violating the function of the lungs and brain.

The findings also suggest that air quality can have a deeper effect than before-thought. It is important that the study found that fine particles are increased in the levels below the standard ambient air quality established by EPA.

In New York City, the main marathons of Boston, Chicago, Tokyo and London, such as large urban areas, Ely. “We all know that exercise is important to us. We also know that environmental pollutants are present in big cities,” he noted. “Should we pay more attention to something?”