http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/sports/in-delhi-pushing-through-the-wall-of-air-pollution-.html 2014-11-24 03:19:32 In Delhi, Pushing Through the Wall (of Air Pollution) Despite very high levels of air pollution in India’s capital city, the Delhi half-marathon is one of a growing number of running races across the country. === NEW DELHI — They wore turbans, headbands, crazy wigs and baseball caps, but almost none of the runners in this city’s annual half-marathon wore masks Sunday despite air pollution levels that were among the worst in the world. Ankit Jaitley, stretching near the start of the course in the predawn gloaming, said he was excited to try a half-marathon, covering 13.1 miles, for the first time. But Jaitley, 26, of Delhi, said he was worried about the pollution. “I’m allergic to pollution and dust,” he said. With intense levels of both in Delhi, how did he manage his morning training runs? “It’s a problem,” Jaitley said. “But I think it’s better to run than not.” First held in 2005, the Delhi half-marathon has become a signature sporting event in this capital city and was expected to draw more than 12,000 runners for the half-marathon and 18,000 for a seven-kilometer (4.35-mile) fun run. The Delhi event is one of a growing number of running races across India, which does not have much of a sporting culture outside cricket. Middle-class children here are expected to study intensively for all-important exams in the 10th and 12th grades, and few are given time for after-school sporting events. But more than 125,000 Indians travel to the United States for college each year, and India’s vast diaspora includes millions living in countries where sports are culturally important. Those who return have served as the core for local running groups that have sprung up in recent years across the country. Dilip Jayaram, chief executive of Procam International, which organizes the Delhi race, said India had 150 well-organized road races annually. It had almost none 15 years ago, he added. “Running has just taken off,” Mr. Jayaram said. While runners lavished praise on Delhi’s course layout and organization, some complained that other races in India could be chaotic. The lead runners in India’s traffic is the deadliest in the world, and traffic lights and road signs here are often so widely ignored that they seem mostly decorative. Delhi has tens of thousands of “When I first moved here, everyone told me that I wouldn’t be able to run,” said Eve Bugler, who is from London but now spends much of her time in Delhi. “Stray dogs, crazy traffic, safety, bad pollution — everyone had a reason. But I found the running community here to be really welcoming.” Sunday’s air pollution, however, was intense. Most of the city’s government-run air monitors were suspiciously off-line at the time of the race, but The United States Environmental Protection Agency considers any reading above 200 “very unhealthy” and recommends that children avoid all physical activity outdoors in such conditions. Such readings would almost certainly cause highway shutdowns and near-panic in Beijing, where awareness of the problem is far higher. In Delhi, which has the Jason Coleman, a teacher at the American Embassy School in New Delhi, was one of the few runners wearing masks. “Apart from doing the right thing for me, I wore it in hopes of bringing some awareness of the problem,” Coleman, 38, said. “I want people asking why this guy is wearing a mask.” Even some of the world’s elite runners, who competed for a $262,167 purse, said they had trouble with the smog. Jos Hermens, a sports agent who represented some of the elite runners in Sunday’s race, said Guye Adola of Ethiopia, who won the race in record time, had an unusually bad cough at the end. Adola nodded when asked a few moments after winning if the air had been a problem. And Gladys Cherono, a Kenyan who came in second among the elite women, said: “It’s hard to breathe. Completely.” But most of the Indians interviewed after competing were nonchalant when asked about air pollution, now one of the They may be right. While environmental regulators in the United States recommend against exercising in intense air pollution, they presume such pollution levels are rare, which they are in the United States. Following American guidelines in Delhi would mean almost never exercising. In a prerace telephone interview, “It’s just awful air, but I would probably exercise anyway,” he said. Suresh Srinivasan of Delhi, who said Sunday was the sixth time he had run the Delhi half-marathon, simply shrugged when asked about the pollution. “The only thing that caused me problems were my shoelaces,” he said. “I had to stop and retie them.”