RUNNERS: AIR QUALITY MATTERS

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RUNNERS: AIR QUALITY MATTERS

    


Most runners don’t give air quality much thought when gearing up for a marathon. But maybe they should. New research out of Brown University’s School of Public Health suggests that the air you breathe on race day could be the difference between a personal best and a tough slog.

The study, published in Sports Medicine, looked at how tiny airborne particles—known as delicate particulate matter—affect marathon finish times. The results? Runners who compete on more polluted days tend to finish slower. The difference wasn’t huge—an extra 32 seconds for men, 25 for women, for every slight uptick in air pollution—but as any marathoner can tell you, every second counts.

“Just think about all the time, money, and sheer effort someone like Eliud Kipchoge spends chasing that sub-two-hour marathon,” said Elvira Fleury, who led the research as a grad student at Brown and is now at Harvard. “Top athletes obsess over shoes, training, nutrition, even weather. Our study shows air pollution belongs on that list, too.”

The numbers behind the research are impressive: more than 1.5 million male and over 1 million female marathon finishers, tracked between 2003 and 2019 across nine major U.S. races, including Boston, Houston, and Los Angeles. The team matched each runner’s finish time with detailed air quality data, thanks to a sophisticated model developed by environmental epidemiologist Allan Just. This lets them map pollution levels at every mile of every course.

“We could see, mile by mile, how much particulate matter was in the air during each race,” Fleury said. “Without that, there’s no way we could have connected the dots across so many different races and years.”

The culprit here is particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns—stuff you can’t see, but can feel if you’re breathing hard for 26.2 miles. These particles come from things like wildfires, car exhaust, factories, and even fertilizer.

It’s not just about athletic performance, either. Previous research ties air pollution to heart and lung disease, cancer, and shorter lifespans. The Brown team thinks the exact mechanisms—higher blood pressure, constricted blood vessels, reduced lung function, even short-term brain fog—may explain why marathoners slow down when pollution spikes.

And it’s not just a problem for elite runners. “People who finish marathons are typically in great shape,” said Joseph Braun, an epidemiologist at Brown and a co-author of the study. “But we found that even these healthy folks are affected by air pollution, and at levels that are technically considered safe. That means air pollution is a risk for everyone, not just the vulnerable.”

The takeaway? Cleaning up the air isn’t just good for public health—it might also help you shave a few seconds off your next race. The researchers say continued efforts to cut emissions from power plants, transportation, and industry will benefit everyone, from elite athletes to weekend warriors.

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