Runners swap streets for shopping malls as haze chokes Singapore

The pounding of running shoes echoes through a Singapore shopping mall as fitness enthusiasts desperate to exercise take refuge from choking haze.

Smoke from wildfires in neighbouring Indonesia has sent air quality in the city-state plummeting to its worst levels in more than a decade in recent weeks, cancelling outdoor activities.

Those seeking exercise, including runners training for international events, have found an unconventional alternative: air-conditioned shopping malls.

On Sunday more than 80 runners turned the corridors of Marina Square shopping centre into makeshift running tracks, clocking laps past storefronts on two floors before shops opened for business.

There are strict rules.

"No sprinting, no overtaking, no shouting or yelling," Eugene Beh, 52, founder of Singapore Runners Club, told about 60 members before their run.

Spitting and wiping sweat on the floor are also banned.

Beh said they had to cancel several runs outdoors because of the haze, blown in by the wind from forest and peatland fires in Borneo and Sumatra.

Angeline Zeng, 57, who works in banking, completed 10 loops at the mall, or about 10 kilometres (six miles).

With a half-marathon in Taipei in less than a week and a full marathon in December, Zeng needs to clock as much mileage as she can.

Since treadmills at her neighbourhood gym are often full, she and her fellow runners were excited when they heard about the mall runs.

"We were like, wow, we didn't expect that at all," she told AFP.

"I love it because the aircon makes you feel like you're running overseas where there's cold temperatures, so it's really great," Zeng added.

But she said that circling inside the mall becomes "boring" after a while.

"Maybe for shorter runs this is okay but if you need to do long runs, maybe not so suitable," she said.

Singapore Runners Club member Doris Tan, 42, said she thought running indoors would be a bit suffocating.

"I didn't expect it to be so cool... but if you have to ask me, I still prefer outdoors," she told AFP.

Paul Wong, a 54-year-old retiree from a club called X-Run, completed 21 loops inside the mall, or about 21 km.

With just over a month until the Singapore International Marathon -– which many other fellow runners are also training for -– Wong would have to run up to 80 km per week, but the haze has forced him indoors.

"For the last two weeks I've been running close to 100 kilometres on the treadmill. The longest I've run is 28 km for two and a half hours, it's very mental," Wong said.

"The mall run is definitely better because the treadmill feels like a hamster run. You just keep repeating the routine."

Eddie Chan, lead coach for X-Run, said they had to present a carefully laid-out plan to get approval from the mall for the runs.

They had to consider factors like walkway width, tight corners and holding the run early in the morning before the shops open.

"The biggest challenge for outdoor training is the weather. Humidity is very high, plus the haze now, the impact is doubled and tripled, so it's very hard to manage," Chan told AFP.

"By converting to indoors, you definitely reduce all the impact from the outdoor experience and continue running."

The air quality improved this week but on Wednesday Singapore remained one of the 20 most polluted major cities in the world, according to Swiss-based air quality monitor IQAir.

The two running clubs are likely to extend the mall runs if poor air quality persists, and plan to ask more malls to open their doors to them.

"I believe there will be opportunities. This is something new in the sports scene," Beh said.

"Hopefully, with the permission of building management, this can spread out to other sports groups."