It’s no secret that smoking cigarettes hinders running performance, but one runner might think differently. A man who goes by the nickname Uncle Chen made headlines when he ran a marathon in 3 hours 28 minutes……..all while chain-smoking a pack of cigarettes. Out of 1,500 runners, Uncle Chen finished 574th. This wasn’t the first time the 50-year-old runner was photographed smoking during a marathon. In 2018 and 2019, he was captured in photos showing a cigarette in his mouth, with one report making the humorous assumption that “Chen only smokes when he runs.” Although Uncle Chen wasn’t shooting for a Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon while chain-smoking, he could certainly qualify if such a category existed — which it doesn’t. Technically, there are no rules prohibiting runners from smoking, since most have the common sense to recognize that it won’t help their performance. It doesn’t seem that Uncle Chen is all that concerned about his performance…….or his health for that matter.
