Smokers can be fit too!
Monday, April 24, 2017 at 12:59
Simon Clark

According to the organisers of yesterday's London Marathon, 40,382 people took part.

I wonder how many were smokers? Theoretically, given that 19 per cent of the adult population in Britain smoke, there may have been as many as 7,672 smokers on the starting line.

I accept there may have been fewer but logic suggests that there must have been several hundred (at least) who were among those who successfully ran the 26.2 mile course.

The truth, as we know, is that a great many smokers are perfectly fit and healthy and are capable of the same physical deeds as any non-smoker.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a friend of mine was recently part of a small team that set off from Barneo Ice Camp, a Russian-operated drift station on the frozen Arctic Ocean, to walk to the geographic North Pole.

They began their trek on April 4 and reached their destination six days later (see above), having walked 120km on ice, much of it in temperatures below minus 30 degrees Centigrade.

Expeditions like that rarely get any publicity nowadays. Like the climbing of Everest there are so many people doing it the feat has lost its allure.

In this instance however my friend's achievement was mentioned by the Irish Times which reported that:

The expedition camped, each participant pulled a pulk or sledge weighing 40kg, and lived on freeze-dried food, cooked with ice that took several hours to melt.

See Wicklow climbers celebrate arrival at North Pole with Scotch and cake.

But here's the point of this story. When my friend returned home he told me that not one but at least two of the team were smokers, including one of the guides.

The other was my friend's tent mate who thought nothing of smoking inside the tent.

In spite of this nobody died ("The pork scratchings and Kendal mint cake were much more dangerous," said my friend) and the entire team successfully achieved their mission to reach the North Pole on foot.

I mention this only because it bucks the current orthodoxy that implies that smoking and serious physical achievements are incompatible and anyone who smokes is bound to be a physical wreck, sooner or later.

The truth is far more complicated than that but we live in a world where few people are interested in nuance, least of all tobacco control, and everything has to be black or white, good or bad.

I bet there were hundreds of runners gasping for a fag after the London Marathon yesterday. Something however tells me that if they did light up they won't be featured in any reports of the race.

Instead they will be airbrushed from history – just like Churchill's signature cigar in this famous photograph.

See also: Smoking and climbing and Smokers' lungs can help at high altitude says climbing expert.

Article originally appeared on Simon Clark (http://taking-liberties.squarespace.com/).
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