Haze forces Malaysian fitness groups to swap outdoor runs for shopping mall laps

Runners in Malaysia are swapping their usual routes through parks and city streets for laps around shopping malls, commandeering air-conditioned corridors to keep up their training as a stubborn blanket of haze makes exercising outdoors increasingly hazardous.The switch comes as smoke from forest and peatland fires continues to foul the air across parts of Southeast Asia, with Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding districts among the hardest-hit areas.By 9am on Thursday, 15 of Malaysia’s 68 air quality monitoring stations were recording unhealthy pollution levels. Readings reached 163 in Negeri Sembilan, while parts of Kuala Lumpur and neighbouring Selangor remained above 150, according to data from the Department of Environment.At Atria Shopping Gallery in Petaling Jaya, just outside Kuala Lumpur, dozens of runners spent Wednesday evening weaving through the mall’s upper-floor corridors, clocking up laps past shops and escalators in a workout that would ordinarily have taken place on the streets.The free event, organised by fitness studio The Active Chimp with the mall’s approval, attracted nearly 200 registrations – far exceeding the 50 to 60 participants organisers had anticipated.“We were actually expecting the first run to attract around 50 to 60 people, but it was actually overwhelming,” The Active Chimp founder Keith Tan said.Participants run past The Active Chimp fitness studio at Atria Shopping Gallery in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, as unhealthy air pollution disrupts outdoor exercise across parts of Malaysia. Photo: Iman Muttaqin YusofOrganisers eventually limited participants to around 150, with running coaches setting the pace along a roughly 500-metre circuit and helping participants avoid shoppers.Tan, 40, came up with the idea after struggling to find somewhere to run without exposing himself to the haze. He approached the mall’s management after noticing how much space was available during quieter hours.