He huffed and puffed and proved he had the ‘lung’ distance…A chain-smoking grandpa smoked his way – literally – throughout the entirety of a 26.2-mile marathon and finished in 3.5 hours in the top third.
Grandpa smokes his way to the finish line in marathon
Don’t try this at home, kids…A Chinese grandpa has gone viral as pictures showed the 50-year-old runner, known as Uncle Chen, lighting up and smoking cigarette after cigarette during a 26.2-mile marathon.
Everyone’s heard smoking, and sports don’t mix, but someone forgot to tell Uncle Chen.
He placed 574th out of around 1,500 runners, roughly within the top third, at the Xin’anjiang Marathon in Jiande, according to a certificate posted on Weibo, the Mirror reported.
Chen finished with an impressive time of 3 hours, 28 minutes, and 45 seconds, the New York Post reported. According to the Marathon Handbook, his time to complete the race is considered a “good” marathon time.
According to the online comments, people couldn’t believe Uncle Chen completed the entire marathon while smoking and were also amazed that the chain smoker never ran out of cigarettes.
Smoking grandpa is getting faster
One of the most astounding facts that were revealed was that despite smoking all the way while he runs – Uncle Chen is also getting faster every time he competes.
His latest time was three hours, 28 minutes and 45 seconds. That’s better than his time at this event in 2019, in which he ran in three hours and 32 minutes. That was better than his time at the Guangzhou marathon in 2018, in which he ran in three hours and 36 minutes.
American Cancer Society on activity and smoking
According to the American Cancer Society, when someone starts smoking, the damage it causes comes soon after. Lung function will continue to worsen as long as the person smokes. However, it may still take years before the problem becomes noticeable enough to be diagnosed.
The most common conditions are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Smoking can also worsen existing lung conditions, such as asthma, as well as increase the risk of lung infections, such as pneumonia and tuberculosis.
Tobacco, cancer, and death
According to the American Cancer Society, tobacco is responsible for about 1 and 5 deaths each year, and tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the US.
Smoking causes about 20 percent of all cancers and roughly 30 percent of all cancer deaths in the US. About 80 percent of all lung cancers and lung cancer deaths are due to smoking.
Smoking increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), esophagus, kidney, cervix, liver, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and colon/rectum.
