Beijing marathon choked by smog

In spite of heavy pollution blanketing Beijing on Sunday, the city’s international marathon went ahead, with face masks and sponges among the paraphernalia used by competitors to battle the smog.
The 34th Beijing International Marathon began at Tiananmen Square, with many of the tens of thousands of participants wearing face masks.
The 42.2km course ended at the Chinese capital’s Olympic Park. The men’s race was won by Ethiopia’s Girmay Birhanu Gebru in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 42 seconds, while Fatuma Sado Dergo won the women’s in 2:30:30.