Mist blowers to ease marathoners' breathing during Mumbai Marathon 2025

One of the key concerns of the 20th edition of the Mumbai Marathon to be run on Sunday is the pollution A lot of social media chatter is about our smogcovered roads and how it will affect athletes on race day A senior BMC official said at least six mist blower vehicles will be deployed along the route The vehicles will be deployed through the marathon 42 km route in six wards ward A C D G South G North and H Westrdquo the official said This is roughly the area from Santacruz to the tip of South MumbaiMist blower vehicles deployed to combat smogMist blower vehicles are used to control pollution by spraying a fine mist of water or other liquids to remove pollutants from the air The BMC has used these earlier too on some occasions to combat dust pollution in the city This should come as some relief to runners whose practice sessions are a cocktail of sweat and smog as significant pollution means runners are stating ldquoWe get winded fasterrdquoAthlete Bhagirathi known only by her first name and her coach Sunil Sharma have been reeling under the smog and haze of Mumbai Sharma a runner and coach hailing from the Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh said ldquoWe are training amidst humidity and intense pollution here It is difficult to run and breathe I wonder how people survive here Bhagirathi who has a stupendous 255 hrs time in the full marathon will be competing this Sunday She lives in Wan which is in the Chamoli district in Uttarakhand Besides the mintfresh air her home which is the last village in India is also at an elevation of 22000 ft That is great for runners as the thin air means runners need to strive harder and then running at lesser heights becomes easier Now over to Sunday we go back with renewed appreciation for the fresh air of home where Bhagirathi will put her best feet forward Then we go back with renewed appreciation for the fresher air of homerdquo he laughedSouth Mumbairsquos Suresh Rathod started running the marathon in 2011In a citizens science initiative on Friday NGO Awaaz Foundation working in the space of combating air pollution claimed it used a sensorbased monitor to record PM25 particulate matter at eight locations along the length of the Mumbai marathon route The aim said Awaaz spokespersons ldquowas to ascertain the health impact of air pollution on marathon participants particularly those with preexisting health concernsrdquo ldquoPM 25 are the tiny particles in the air that are 25 microns or less in diameter easily inhaled by humans Exposure to high concentrations of PM 25 is linked to respiratory diseaserdquo it saidThe carrotVikas Kabra a Nepean Sea Road resident who is running the full marathon distance 422 km said Pollution is very significant and we can feel it on practice runs There is a definite difference and I tire faster than before as the carbon dioxide enters the lungs Uphill running in practice is more strenuous This will be one more challenge for me and I am sure for other runners as wellrdquoFinance professional Anand Kane from Mumbai who is running a half marathon 21 km said ldquoWe let the city grow onto us and now we find ourselves squirming for space when it comes to doing outdoor activities As amateur runners we depend heavily on the physical and environmental infrastructure the city affords usrdquoKane explained that it was ldquoThe carrot of development that keeps dangling ahead of us keeping us going forward where environmental pollutants as in the mishandled outcomes of development keep dragging us back on physical and often mental health too as in many cases both have a connectionrdquoDistance cutSouth Mumbairsquos Suresh Rathod started running the Mumbai Marathon in 2011 and ran the full marathon until 2019 He said ldquoThis year I am running a 10 km run because of the climatic conditions The smog actually interferes with the breathing pattern and there is greater exhaustionrdquo Rathod added that he is ldquoDiabetic so first of all smoking and then sugar conditions will not be very appropriate for me to do a full marathonrdquoldquoI have been diabetic since 2008 and when I decided to do my first full marathon in 2011 I finished in 355 hrs The reason was that the weather was good and there was good preparation for the full marathon Now running for long in smoggy conditions can decrease onersquos ability to run at full capacityrdquo said Rathod who has run around over 100 marathons including full marathons half marathons ultrathons like a 50 km run and breezy easybreathing 10 km runs