There I was, huffing and panting after my morning jog, when I picked up the newspaper and read, “Jogging in pollution: Exercise in futility?”

The article was about increased pollution levels in cities and how athletes were concerned about how all the stuff that’s dirtying our air could lead to serious health risks.

In particular, it said “elite athletes and their retinues are also looking with trepidation toward Beijing, the site next year of the Summer Olympic Games and one of the most polluted cities in the world”.

Said one expert, “Athletes typically take in 10 to 20 times as much air”, meaning they also take in as much pollutants.

Now Singapore’s possibly one of the cleanest cities in the world, on ground and in the air, but still a couple of times every year, we live at the mercy of the winds and have to contend with the haze. And these past few weeks, we’ve also had to live with intense fogging activities as the Singapore government declares war on dengue fever.

Then my eyes scanned another headline which said, “Warning: That iPod can hurt you in a storm”.

Jogging in storms being one of my favourite activities, I was particularly intrigued by the article which said that a Canadian jogger had suffered wishbone-shaped chest and neck burns, ruptured eardrums and a broken jaw when lightning travelled through his music player’s wires.

And just last week, I read about a Chinese construction worker whose mobile phone exploded in his pocket because the battery got too hot in his pants. He was seriously injured in extremely delicate parts.

So when did the great outdoors become so dangerous when we now have to fear the air we breathe, the insects that are becoming more lethal and the exploding gadgets we carry?

And think too now of how when we travel, we have to fear our running shoes, our belts, our laptops and lately, bottles of water that could blow up in our faces and moisturizers that could be lethal liquids in disguise.

And now we have to fear doctors who live in our midst, thanks to the latest terrorist scare in London.

As the American humorist and columnist Garrison Keillor wrote, “… the fiasco in London is bound to bring new directives from the Department of Homeland Security forbidding doctors and nurses from operating motor vehicles. It only makes sense. Where there is smoke, there is fire. The war on terror must be pursued wherever it leads and right now it points towards people with stethoscopes.”

So if you’re out running, with a mobile phone in your pocket and an iPod in your ear and whether it’s sunny or thundery and you see a doctor coming towards you, be afraid, be very afraid.

Good points. I was particularly struck by the (idea of)probability of athletes/ joggers 'poisoning themselves' by their very acts in pusuit of vigour.
I myself 'gave up' on outdoor exercise, upon moving to Bangkok (from England). It dawned on me that jogging and cycling (in such general air conditions) were actually doing me more bodily harm, than good.
Frank.
P.S. Now that I live in Phuket, things are much improved!