Bejing Pollution - ESPN piece (Read 990 times)

Thought this was pretty good... http://track.flocasts.org/videos/play/70318-olympic-haze-beijing-08 MTA: This really pisses me off. Why are the games being held here again? Regardless of the pollution, this country has done nothing to deserve this historic event.

Im going to hijack my own thread. Props on your workouts, weekly mileage, and PRs - your PRs in your 60s are better than mine in my 30s.

Thought this was pretty good... http://track.flocasts.org/videos/play/70318-olympic-haze-beijing-08 MTA: This really pisses me off. Why are the games being held here again? Regardless of the pollution, this country has done nothing to deserve this historic event.

WHY? Only one reason I can think of...FEAR. Everyone else in the world is afraid of China...afraid to say no. No one could possibly want to compete in athletic events there. Still, it's almost beyone comprehension how this could happen.

Really interesting. It's ten minutes long but worth it. Top secret polution masks are our secret weapon. The last half of the video withe Stephen Andrews, the environmental consultant who lived in Beijing for years to study air quality, talking about manipulationg air quality numbers is absolutely frightening. What a fiasco.

The company where I work has extensive business dealing in China. I am not one that gets to travel there but several of my lunch time running parters do. None of them run outside because and I qoute one "my lungs felt like they were on fire after about three miles". Yuck! I feel for the athlestes as these folks are at the top of their game, have maybe one shot in a lifetime at the Olympics, and now have to compete in what amounts to a cess pool of air. Very sad.

The company I work for owns a company in SE China near the sea. That city is just as polluted. Even if the USA and the rest of the world cut their greenhouse emissions, China's is so bad it wouldn't make one bit of differance. Had friends that visit China last year-every city is bad

The company where I work has extensive business dealing in China. I am not one that gets to travel there but several of my lunch time running parters do. None of them run outside because and I qoute one "my lungs felt like they were on fire after about three miles". Yuck! I feel for the athlestes as these folks are at the top of their game, have maybe one shot in a lifetime at the Olympics, and now have to compete in what amounts to a cess pool of air. Very sad.

That guy is exagerating. I was in Beijing in February. I ran. I've run in Beijing in years past as well. It was polluted but it was no big deal. For us mortal runners who are not on the razor's edge of our performance limitations it's no problem (at least for me it wasn't, no lung fires or other melodramatic symptoms). For Olympians it's a huge problem. And I definitely wouldn't want to run there day-in day-out.

The Olympics were held in another city with terrible air quality back in 1984.

L.A. in 1984 is not Beijing in 2008. L.A. in 2008 is not Beijing in 2008. Poor air quality relative to other places, yes. Ridiculously polluted, no.

That guy is exagerating. I was in Beijing in February. I ran. I've run in Beijing in years past as well. It was polluted but it was no big deal. For us mortal runners who are not on the razor's edge of our performance limitations it's no problem (at least for me it wasn't, no lung fires or other melodramatic symptoms). For Olympians it's a huge problem. And I definitely wouldn't want to run there day-in day-out.

I am glad to hear that the experience for you was ok during the winter months. As a former resident of your neck of the woods, I can recall driving over the 680 hills into the valley and seeing a brown haze that would make the hair stand up on the back of one's neck which may mean you probably are acclimated to a higher level of pollution than others. So my guess is your tollerance (at least physically) must be greater than those of us here in the Midwest but even you "wouldn't want to run there day-in and day-out". Just makes their point that the place is not condusive to good health and running in their personal experience. I will be sure to pass along your advice about melodramas to my running partners at lunch today as it should make for an interesting discussion to pass the miles. That being said, it still doesn't change the underlying fact that the conditions are impacting the competition in ways that will limit performance of longer distance runners and has caused top level runners to drop from specific races for worries about long term health effects. And if it impacts Olympians why would it not impact mortals as well?