Will the Hackney Half Marathon Have Air Quality Data on May 17?

At the 2026 London Marathon, all 59,000 runners received real-time air quality data for the first time. AirTrack by Air Aware Labs provided personalised route insights for elite athletes and a live app for everyone, showing how pollution levels changed along the course.

The science behind this shift suggests that during endurance exercise, athletes breathe 4 to 10 times more air than at rest. A 1 µg/m³ rise in PM2.5 has been linked to around 32 seconds added to a marathon time. Slower runners are more exposed because they spend longer on the course.

World Athletics' sustainability framework already includes air quality in its assessment criteria. Mandatory compliance for selected events begins phasing in from 2026, with further expansion through 2027–2028.

There is currently no standalone air-quality certification requirement, but air quality data is increasingly used as evidence within broader sustainability reporting and event evaluation.

For race organisers, the question is increasingly not whether air quality data is possible, but whether it will become an expected part of major running events.

Read the article on air quality data in running events.

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Readers were invited to make their predictions ahead of the event:

• 63% said no
• 38% said yes

One reader commented: “doubt it for this year, maybe for next.”

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Before race day, Lía Budnik and Ojsavi went for a 5km run in Hackney using the AirTrack app, tracking air quality in real time along the route while discussing how pollution affects runners and sharing their own predictions.

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